2026 FIDE Candidates Round 8
Revenge arc in the Open section
Wei - Bluebaum
Here was an instructive opening moment in this Vienna. It took me a few minutes to think of how I would play here. White has just recaptured on c3 after Black took a knight to mess up the pawn structure. Bluebaum chose 8…Bg4 here. But how would you respond if instead he decided to take the pawn with 8…Nxc3? Leave a comment below with your move(s) and/or idea(s).
Giri - Praggnanandhaa
I find the game of chess unique in that even relatively mundane ideas can still be so aesthetically pleasing.
This is the kind of position you might see in a positional chess handbook because of how Giri plays it. Pragg’s 18…h6 is threatening to take the knight, but Giri finds a nice zwischenzug before retreating: 19.dxc5! Qxc5 20.Nf3
White’s plan is very simple: having just given Black a passed pawn, he’s now going to blockade it permanently and show that it is only a weakling. 20…Nc6 21.Ncd4! Nxd4 22.Nxd4
While this is a rather straightforward idea, the fact that it occurs at the top level tells us that if it’s good enough for a master, it should be good enough for a club player — pay attention. White is obviously for choice: Giri has isolated Black’s central pawn and permanently blocked it, making Pragg’s bishop on b7 a disastrously-placed piece. Additionally, Giri has traded off a redundant piece in his army for one that would otherwise be an important counter-blockader of the e5 pawn. The knight is beautifully placed on d4 as it radiates control of the e6 square, for which the e-pawn is eventually destined. In fact, in this configuration, White controls c6, e6, d6, and f6 — massive control for two short-range pieces especially considering one is a pawn. Fast forward another 13 moves:
Progress has been made, but we see that the knight has held itself on d4, safe from Black’s only bishop, who has struggled to find a target the entire game. To boot, the core of the position (Nd4, Re1, e5) has not changed, but Giri’s position is finally ready to explode in Pragg’s face. The promise of move 22 finally unfolds: 36.e6! Qg6 37.Rf2 Rc4 38.Rf4 h5
White’s pawn, owing to its status as a weakling, pushes around the enemy queen and becomes as strong as a rook on the sixth rank. Giri’s plan is to push it all the way to e7, attack f8, and make Black give up a rook for it. Pragg’s last move shows the desperation of Black’s position, as it does nothing to improve his chances, but there is hardly any way to stop Giri’s plan.
39.Qf2 Bc2 40.e7
White’s position reaches critical mass.
40.Be4 41.Rf8+ Kh7 42.Rxe8 Qxe8 43.Rxe4! dxe4 44.Qf5+ 1-0
Prag has no good moves:
44…Kg8 45.Qd5+ Qf7 (or 45…Kh7 46.Qxc5) 46.e8=Q+!;
44…Kh6 45.Qe6+;
44…Kh8 45.Qf8+;
44…Qg6 45.Qxg6+ Kxg6 46.e8=Q+
Nakamura - Caruana
“It’s not so easy to resign. It’s not easy to resign in such a situation. It’s not only a game. It’s a crucial game. And they are rivals... It’s a very painful moment at this part of the tournament.” - Judit Polgar, chess24 live stream
After a toughly-fought middlegame, the Americans found themselves in a double-rook endgame. The saying goes that “all rook endgames are drawn”, but you still have to find the right move.
28…h5??
The only real mistake of the game for Fabi, and it happens to lose. Nakamura played 29.Rd1, securing control of the seventh rank, and Fabi’s position died a slow but sure death.
Black had to play 28…Rab2!, sacrificing the passed pawn on a5 in order to defend the seventh rank: 29.Rxa5 Rb7!
Now White can’t get the “pigs on the seventh”, and the endgame draw is a matter of technique. Alas.
Thus did Giri and Nakamura avenge themselves.
Muzychuk - Divya
Up until now, Muzychuk’s chess has been unimpeachable; but something happened in her game as White against Divya and a severe trend-change exhibited itself in multiple stages in the endgame phase. First, Muzychuk was winning. Then she was drawing. Then she was losing. Divya played with incredible grit and came back to win in a wild queen endgame, which is probably the worst possible endgame to have if you’re low on time, as Muzychuk experienced herself. GIF time:
Lagno - Goryachkina
Kateryna won rather smoothly in a hyper-sharp Scotch where one bad pawn move by Black created critical light-square weaknesses led to the trade of her consequently extremely important light-square bishop. From here White’s bishop pair became increasingly powerful as pieces were traded off until White was left with three passers on both sides of the board and a long-range bishop vs Black’s blockaded passer and short-range knight.
Tan - Zhu
While I myself enjoy the bishop pair immensely, it isn’t always best. In an equal-ish endgame position I found Zhu’s central presence to be quite pleasing to the eye and well-coordinated:
White has a tough trial ahead, because of the connected and passed e6-pawn. Her light square bishop doesn’t seem to do much for the position, and the advanced g- and h-pawns are also looking a bit weak. Her only consolation at the moment is that her rook x-rays Black’s which as of yet has no defender, thus pinning the knight on d5. The game was in within drawing bounds from here, but the weakness of the kingside pawns painted big target signposts on them and Zhu found a way to destroy the g-pawn and make her f-pawn passed as well. Later in this endgame, Zhu danced her knights around White’s position with the coordination of the passed e- and f-pawns to get here:
A knight has traded off for a bishop, and at this point, there is no reason for White not to resign here. Zhu could allow some drama with the move 68…e3 69.hxg7; but instead she goes for the simplest and straightforward idea, because her two passed pawns are better than a piece. 68…gxh6!? 69.Rxf6+ Kc5!? 70.Kf1 Rxb2 71.Bf7 Kd4 72.Rf5 Ke3
Black’s king is shielded from checks, and threatens mate with Rb1.
73.Kg1 Rg2+ 74.Kh1 Rg5 75.Rf6 Kf2 76.Rxh6 e3
77.Rh2+ Rg2! 0-1