FIDE Candidates 2026 Schedule, Format, High Gamers, Prize Cash: The FIDE Candidates 2026 which begins on March 28 and go on until April 16, 2026 on the Cap St George’s Resort & Resort in Paphos, Cyprus, will give 8 gamers an opportunity tp face world champion D Gukesh later within the yr. Alongside the lads’s Candidates, there shall be a girls’s Candidates match as nicely which can function India’s Divya Deshmukh and Vaishali R. One other Indian who was within the combine for the ladies’s match was Koneru Humpy who withdrew from the occasion citing private security issues amid the continuing battle within the Center East. She was changed by Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk.
In the meantime, within the males’s match, R Praggnanandhaa is the only real Indian within the subject of 8 and he’ll be competing towards names reminiscent of Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Matthias Blübaum, Javokhir Sindarov, Wei Yi and Andrey Esipenko.
Right here’s all you might want to know:
Candidates Format
In each the Open and the Ladies’s, the eight certified gamers will compete in a double round-robin match, consisting of 14 rounds.
Candidates Tie-break guidelines: Within the occasion of a tie for first place after 14 rounds, a playoff shall be performed to find out the winner who qualifies for the World Championship Match, as a result of happen in November 2026.
Candidates Time Management
The video games shall be performed with a time management of 120 minutes for the primary 40 strikes, adopted by half-hour for the remainder of the sport, with an increment of 30 seconds per transfer ranging from transfer 41. Gamers are usually not permitted to conform to a draw earlier than the completion of Black’s fortieth transfer.
Candidates Prize Fund
The minimal prize fund for the occasion stands at a document a million euros. The winner will pocket 70,000 euros whereas the participant ending second will take dwelling 45,000 euros. The third place finisher will earn 25,000 euros. As well as, every participant will get 5,000 euros for each half level scored.
Right here’s the complete pairing for the Candidates 2026
Spherical 1 on 2026/03/29 at 15:30
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Javokhir Sindarov – Andrey Esipenko
Matthias Bluebaum – Wei Yi
Praggnanandhaa R – Anish Giri
Fabiano Caruana – Hikaru Nakamura
Spherical 2 on 2026/03/30 at 15:30
Andrey Esipenko – Hikaru Nakamura
Anish Giri – Fabiano Caruana
Wei Yi – Praggnanandhaa R
Javokhir Sindarov – Matthias Bluebaum
Spherical 3 on 2026/03/31 at 15:30
Matthias Bluebaum – Andrey Esipenko
Praggnanandhaa R – Javokhir Sindarov
Fabiano Caruana – Wei Yi
Hikaru Nakamura – Anish Giri
Spherical 4 on 2026/04/01 at 15:30
Andrey Esipenko – Anish Giri
Wei Yi – Hikaru Nakamura
Javokhir Sindarov – Fabiano Caruana
Matthias Bluebaum – Praggnanandhaa R
Spherical 5 on 2026/04/03 at 15:30
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Praggnanandhaa R – Andrey Esipenko
Fabiano Caruana – Matthias Bluebaum
Hikaru Nakamura – Javokhir Sindarov
Anish Giri – Wei Yi
Spherical 6 on 2026/04/04 at 15:30
Fabiano Caruana – Andrey Esipenko
Hikaru Nakamura – Praggnanandhaa R
Anish Giri – Matthias Bluebaum
Wei Yi – Javokhir Sindarov
Spherical 7 on 2026/04/05 at 15:30
Andrey Esipenko – Wei Yi
Javokhir Sindarov – Anish Giri
Matthias Bluebaum – Hikaru Nakamura
Praggnanandhaa R – Fabiano Caruana
Spherical 8 on 2026/04/07 at 15:30
Andrey Esipenko – Javokhir Sindarov
Wei Yi – Matthias Bluebaum
Anish Giri – Praggnanandhaa R
Hikaru Nakamura – Fabiano Caruana
Spherical 9 on 2026/04/08 at 15:30
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Hikaru Nakamura – Andrey Esipenko
Fabiano Caruana – Anish Giri
Praggnanandhaa R – Wei Yi
Matthias Bluebaum – Javokhir Sindarov
Spherical 10 on 2026/04/09 at 15:30
Andrey Esipenko – Matthias Bluebaum
Javokhir Sindarov – Praggnanandhaa R
Wei Yi – Fabiano Caruana
Anish Giri – Hikaru Nakamura
Spherical 11 on 2026/04/11 at 15:30
Anish Giri – Andrey Esipenko
Hikaru Nakamura – Wei Yi
Fabiano Caruana – Javokhir Sindarov
Praggnanandhaa R – Matthias Bluebaum
Spherical 12 on 2026/04/12 at 15:30
Andrey Esipenko – Praggnanandhaa R
Matthias Bluebaum – Fabiano Caruana
Javokhir Sindarov – Hikaru Nakamura
Wei Yi – Anish Giri
Spherical 13 on 2026/04/14 at 15:30
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Wei Yi – Andrey Esipenko
Anish Giri – Javokhir Sindarov
Hikaru Nakamura – Matthias Bluebaum
Fabiano Caruana – Praggnanandhaa R
Spherical 14 on 2026/04/15 at 15:30
Andrey Esipenko – Fabiano Caruana
Praggnanandhaa R – Hikaru Nakamura
Matthias Bluebaum – Anish Giri
Javokhir Sindarov – Wei Yi
FIDE Ladies’s Candidates 2026 pairings
Spherical 1 on 2026/03/29 at 15:30
Divya Deshmukh – Anna Muzychuk
Vaishali R – Bibisara Assaubayeva
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Kateryna Lagno
Zhu Jiner – Tan Zhongyi
Spherical 2 on 2026/03/30 at 15:30
Anna Muzychuk– Tan Zhongyi
Kateryna Lagno – Zhu Jiner
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Divya Deshmukh – Vaishali R
Spherical 3 on 2026/03/31 at 15:30
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Vaishali R – Anna Muzychuk
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Divya Deshmukh
Zhu Jiner – Bibisara Assaubayeva
Tan Zhongyi – Kateryna Lagno
Spherical 4 on 2026/04/01 at 15:30
Anna Muzychuk – Kateryna Lagno
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Tan Zhongyi
Divya Deshmukh – Zhu Jiner
Vaishali R – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Spherical 5 on 2026/04/03 at 15:30
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Anna Muzychuk
Zhu Jiner – Vaishali R
Tan Zhongyi – Divya Deshmukh
Kateryna Lagno – Bibisara Assaubayeva
Spherical 6 on 2026/04/04 at 15:30
Zhu Jiner – Anna Muzychuk
Tan Zhongyi – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Kateryna Lagno – Vaishali R
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Divya Deshmukh
Spherical 7 on 2026/04/05 at 15:30
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Anna Muzychuk – Bibisara Assaubayeva
Divya Deshmukh – Kateryna Lagno
Vaishali R – Tan Zhongyi
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Zhu Jiner
Spherical 8 on 2026/04/07 at 15:30
Anna Muzychuk – Divya Deshmukh
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Vaishali R
Kateryna Lagno – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Tan Zhongyi – Zhu Jiner
Spherical 9 on 2026/04/08 at 15:30
Tan Zhongyi – Anna Muzychuk
Zhu Jiner – Kateryna Lagno
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Bibisara Assaubayeva
Vaishali R – Divya Deshmukh
Spherical 10 on 2026/04/09 at 15:30
Anna Muzychuk – Vaishali R
Divya Deshmukh – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Zhu Jiner
Kateryna Lagno – Tan Zhongyi
Spherical 11 on 2026/04/11 at 15:30
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Kateryna Lagno – Anna Muzychuk
Tan Zhongyi – Bibisara Assaubayeva
Zhu Jiner – Divya Deshmukh
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Vaishali R
Spherical 12 on 2026/04/12 at 15:30
Anna Muzychuk – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Vaishali R – Zhu Jiner
Divya Deshmukh – Tan Zhongyi
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Kateryna Lagno
Spherical 13 on 2026/04/14 at 15:30
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Anna Muzychuk
Kateryna Lagno – Divya Deshmukh
Tan Zhongyi – Vaishali R
Zhu Jiner – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Spherical 14 on 2026/04/15 at 15:30
Anna Muzychuk – Zhu Jiner
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Tan Zhongyi
Vaishali R – Kateryna Lagno
Divya Deshmukh – Bibisara Assaubayeva