2026 FIDE Candidates Round 7
Halfway there.
White to play and win. Solution later in the article.
Esipenko - Wei
Wei outplayed Esipenko handily in a rather messy Petrov Defense where White never got to castle to safety.
Black is obviously for choice here. The open c-file serves his purposes, and despite the nearly symmetrical pawn configuration, the fact that White’s King is on the wrong side of the queen’s rook spells long-term doom for Esipenko. Wei found a really nice multi-purpose move here that I found really pleasing to the eye.
22…Rc4!
Pointing out the problem with White’s d-pawn, further pushing him into inactivity to defend it. This exchange sacrifice cannot be accepted, because after 23.Bxc4 23…dxc4, White has to play the very weakening 24.a3 to prevent cracking the position open further with b5-b4 and c4-c3. Black could then follow up with any number of moves and continue to enjoy a torturous advantage over White due to his extreme lack of activity.
But Black also has good play after 23…bxc4, when the open b-file and semi-open c-file would facilitate a rook sally. Rc8 threatens c4-c3, clearing the file, so that Black’s knight can move out of the way for a check on the b1-h7 diagonal via Bf5, and Rb8 would also threaten c4-c3 and/or a sacrifice on b2 where Black’s bishops and queen could coordinate to finish the job.
After 23.Ne2, Wei continued his attack in a combinatorial style and picked up his first win in the tournament. The final position leaves a very pitiful impression for White’s King:
Sindarov - Giri
Giri did what only Bluebuam was also able to do, which was draw Sindarov in the first half of the tournament and stop the rest of the field’s bleeding. This game was played down to the metal of king vs king as Giri fiercely and accurately defended a bishop vs rook endgame against the Uzbek phenom.
Divya - Lagno
Here’s a position and engine evaluation that goes over my head. A few notes: White is up a pawn, but Black’s position is much more active, so this is dynamically equal. Fair enough, I can accept Stockfish’s 0.0 evaluation here. But after 21…Qh6? Black is now in a losing position (nearly +2.0 in White’s favor), and I still don’t understand why after looking at it. My best guess is that after 22.Bxe4 Rxe4 23.h3 Bxf4 24.hxg4 Bd6 25.Qd5:
White’s position maybe has superior activity after Black retakes the pawn on g4. For what it’s worth, Kateryna played 25…Rce8 instead — another move I don’t quite understand. For what it’s worth, this game later petered out into a draw, so I don’t feel so bad about not feeling confident in my own evaluation of the position. Sometimes computer chess is just too much to actually understand!
Vaishali - Tan
This game had a very interesting opening and ending. While the debate about “hypermodern” opening theory has for the most part subsided, the actual practice thereof can be quite instructive, especially when one side succeeds in provoking the other into over-aggressive play. Thus is the case in this position:
Tan has played the Pirc Defense with d6 and Nf6 against e4 and d4, and as far as I can tell this is a completely unique position on move 8. A strange impression: Black has strong pointed the e-pawn with d6 and Nbd7; she also put both of her bishops on strong diagonals, where they shoot through the center like snipers. This has all come at the cost of a cramped position. Black’s rooks have no open lines whatsoever, and Black’s queen has only the e7 square to move to — it’s not so clear this is the best place for it, but it’s the only potential place right now.
Meanwhile, Vaishali’s position is very clearly geared for an attack. The king’s knight is on e2, ready to support an aggressive pawn push to the f4 square. Her bishop on c2 is waiting for when the g6 pawn loses a bit more defense, or when the h7 square becomes a target. Most long-range pieces in Vaishali’s position are anticipating a kingside castling position by Black.
9.f4?!
Tan’s provocative play reaps a positional reward.
9…O-O (9…exf4 10.Nxf4 would be giving her opponent what she wants) 10.Ng3 Ba6?! (driving Vaishali’s rook to a better square) 11.Rf3 exd4 12.cxd4 c5!
Black is showing White that her center has been over-extended, and the dark squares around her king are weakening move-by-move. All-in-all, this is a very successful foray for Tan.
Tan enjoyed a lot of pressure against Vaishali’s position for a long time, and things were looking to be going her way for most of the game. However, she dropped the ball in her attack (because chess is hard and some positions are very difficult to keep the advantage in), and in a pawn-up endgame, fortunes finally completely reversed.
In this position, Tan played 37.Ra1??, allowing an elementary tactic that Vaishali used to win the game. Were you able to find the right move?
Answer: 38.Rxf6!
Black has fallen victim to a double-attack that will leave White up a bishop with an easily won endgame.
38…Rf1+ 39.Ke2 Kxf6 40.Kxf1.
11 moves later Tan resigned. Had she not been winning for most of the game, I think she would have resigned on Rxf6; but it’s hard to let go of a game you should have won earlier. The especially unfortunate thing about the proceeding move is that Tan had a lot of time on her clock when making this error. Sometimes it happens to the best of us.