2026 FIDE Candidates Round 6
Black earns 4 wins between the Open and Women's.
Master level chess is loaded with tactics where one player heavily outmatches the other. But even between the well-matched top players in the world, we get some pretty moments. In this position Black can win in many ways, but she chose the most aesthetically pleasing one (in my opinion). Black to play and crown her attack. Answer given later in the article.
Giri - Bluebuam
Giri’s knights danced so much this game it’s almost comical. I have to share. I don’t know if he was being cheeky, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
Wei - Sindarov
Long think, wrong think.
Sindarov’s narrative this entire tournament is like clockwork: Plays the position, gets something with dynamic chances that isn’t risky for himself, watches the opponent drain their clock. Rinse, repeat, win.
Here Wei spent 35 minutes before choosing the dynamic 13.b4, insodoing burning all of his 25-minute time advantage; the position remains equal. The players kept up with one another, and the position was perhaps just slightly more comfortable for White.
But trouble began for Wei on move 18.
Almost any rook move makes sense. Rad1 or Ra2 are good options. But Wei, after 47 minutes, chose 18.Bxf6?. After 18...Qd7 (played in under a minute) 19.Rad1 Qe6 20.h3 Qxc4, the position is equal, but the clock situation (17 minutes for Wei, 67 minutes for Sindarov) tells a different story. The inevitable time-induced blunder arrived on move 30:
The position is nice for Black, who is up two pawns and has strong control over the e-file and a more active position; but it’s not quite desperate for White yet. White should capture the pawn on c5, followed by piling up on the f4-pawn with Rf3 and Rf1, and opportunely open the f-file and attack the f7-pawn, which gives probably sufficient counterplay to stay in the game. But the central passer d6 looks dangerous too, so Wei took with 30.Rxd6??, missing that after 30…Rxd6 31.Rxd6 Black has the elegant 31…Qe3!, a queen trade that is fatal to accept due to 32.Qxe3?? fxe3, when the passed pawn is too strong.
Therefore Wei played 32.Qf3 c4! 33.Qg4+ Kf8 34.Rd1 c3 35.Qg5? f3! 36.Qxe3 Rxe3 0-1
Zhu - Muzychuk
This game was headed toward a draw, but an inconsistent pawn move in front of White’s king followed by a decentralizing knight maneuver began to spell disaster for Zhu Jiner as Muzychuk took the invitation to crack open White’s position. Watch how idle play can lead to catastrophe. While Muzychuk was a little too compliant with the move 32…c6 (preventing Ne5), this wasn’t enough for Zhu to push back against the pressure.
Tan - Goryachkina
In a very sharp Two Knights Defense line, Goryachkina had found her way into a winning position — even going up a queen against a bishop and rook; but this kind of endgame is hard to win, and Tan’s steely nerves kept up to successfully defend in what must have been a really frustrating missed opportunity for her opponent. Show vs tell is easy to do when I don’t understand the nuances of all these endgames!
Lagno - Vaishali
Time pressure got the best of Kateryna this time, and Vaishali was able to pick off a win by making White’s queen the only defense against checkmate, and everyone knows that a queen is the worst defender.
Both players low on time, White, currently up a piece for a pawn, went for a natural plan to trade off the queens and stop the attack, but Vaishali’s instincts were sound: 38…Rxg3+ 39.fxg3 Qxg3+ 40.Qg2 Qe3+ 41.Kh2 Rg5
The rook threatens the queen and severely restricts the king to the h-file. Mate should come soon. 42.Qh3 Qf4+ 43.Kh1 Rg3 44.Qe6 Kg7 45.Qe7+ Kh6 46.Be4
We are back to the position I gave at the top of the post.
Solution: 46.Rg5! A nice interference tactic to set up Qh4, threatening mate. 47.Bg2 Qh4 0-1. Kateryna resigned in light of 48.Kg1 Rxg2+! 49.Kxg2 Qxe7 with an easy victory to follow.
Assaubayeva - Divya
Bibisara pressed too hard for a win with White and Divya was able to counter and win.
The position is more comfortable for Black, but not in a way that, at least to me, is obviously winning. Qf3 seems like a solid choice, hitting the rook on c6 and defending the pawn on f5. But Bibisara went for it with 40.f6? and suddenly Black has great chances now that White is about to lose all counterplay after this back rank ruse.
I don’t know if Divya smelled blood or danger first, but her follow-up move 40…Rc8! is extremely instructive. Bibisara continued with 41.Rd1, announcing her intention to sacrifice her queen on d8, but Divya followed up again with the very strong 41…Kh8!, completely putting to bed any conceit of a back rank mate by Black. (Alas, the prosaic 41…Rf8 also works, but isn’t nearly as cool).
Now that Black’s position has solidified, the g-file is ready be exploited by Black’s major pieces and the extra h-pawn. 42.Kg2 h5! 43.Qd2 (a slow-paced resignation, as the endgame would be doomed for White) Qg4! 44.Re1 h4 45.Re3 Rg8 46.Qd7 Qf4 0-1
Thanks for these overviews. Better to refer to the Chinese player as Tan, unless you want to imply a fairly intimate relationship with her.