"VAN" (Sports Desk - 31.03.2026) :: After the tactical excitement of yesterday’s round, the players opted for a more technical approach this afternoon in the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026. As a result, all eight games ended in hard-fought draws, leaving the standings unchanged, with Fabiano Caruana, R Praggnanandhaa and Javokhir Sindarov leading the field on 1.5/2.
In the Women’s FIDE Candidates Tournament, Divya Deshmukh and Zhu Jiner missed great opportunities to take the lead each blundering into tactical sequences against Vaishali R and Kateryna Lagno, respectively. All eight contenders are tied for the lead on 1/2.
Viswanathan Anand, FIDE Deputy President, officially opened the second round by making the ceremonial first move in the all-Indian clash between Divya Deshmukh and R Vaishali. After greeting both players, Anand played 1.c4 – the very move later chosen by Divya to begin the game.
Clearly, being a five-time World Champion comes with its advantages when it comes to anticipating a grandmaster’s intentions.
Playing with the black pieces, Fabiano Caruana opted for a rare move order in the Catalan, allowing Anish Giri to secure a slight edge, though not enough to seriously press for a win.
“Anish is generally very well prepared in the openings, so I went for a rare line, but he was ready for it. I suffered a little, but I think I played accurately enough to neutralize the slight pressure he had,” Caruana explained in his post-game interview.
Both players delivered an exceptionally precise performance, each achieving 98% accuracy without a single mistake.
Although Wei Yi made a slight inaccuracy in the main line of French Defence, Praggnanandhaa R was unable to fully capitalize.
“I’ve played against the French recently, so it didn’t come as a big surprise. I think I got a good position and a time advantage in the opening,” Praggnanandhaa said after the game.
Although he eventually managed to win a pawn, the Chinese grandmaster defended resourcefully, steering the game into an opposite-coloured bishop ending and comfortably securing the draw.
The “#GreatBluebaumSweep” may have come to an end, but Matthias Bluebaum can still be satisfied with his start to the tournament. Two solid draws in the opening rounds suggest he has arrived in Cyprus with ambitions well beyond merely avoiding last place.
“The Great Sweep was obviously a joke, but I’m definitely not unhappy at all with how the tournament has started,” he said with a smile before attending the local press duties. In today’s game, Bluebaum opted for a solid Petroff Defence against Javokhir Sindarov. The Uzbek grandmaster was unable to generate any serious chances, and a draw was agreed on move 42.
Meanwhile, Andrey Esipenko pressed a slight but persistent edge against Hikaru Nakamura, even managing to win a pawn. However, Nakamura’s endgame defence proved impeccable: he found a precise way to simplify into a rook ending and held the position comfortably. Despite being the last game to finish, spectators remained fully engaged, following every move until the very end.
The first game to finish in the Women’s FIDE Candidates Tournament was an uneventful draw between Anna Muzychuk and Tan Zhongyi, leaving both players on 50% after the first two rounds. The former Women’s World Champion opted for the ultra-solid Petroff Defence – a favourite at the elite level in China – successfully preventing Muzychuk from creating any real chances.
A few minutes later, Aleksandra Goryachkina secured her second draw of the event with the black pieces against Bibisara Assaubayeva, improving on a recent game between Arjun Erigaisi and Shamsiddin Vokhidov, which had ended in a win for Erigaisi. Well prepared, Goryachkina chose a safe continuation in a complex middlegame, ensuring a solid result.
Playing with the black pieces against Kateryna Lagno, Zhu Jiner obtained an advantage out of the opening after her opponent misplayed her preparation. Gradually improving her position, Zhu accumulated a significant edge and looked on course to claim the full point.
However, in a highly complex position and despite being two pawns up, she blundered into a rook sacrifice that forced an immediate draw by perpetual check.
Arguably, the clearest opportunity to score in this round fell to the young Indian World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh. After pressing throughout the game in a Carlsbad structure with the white pieces, she seemed on the verge of taking the lead in the event when disaster struck.
Following a queen exchange with 37.Qg4!, Divya would have emerged with a clean extra pawn and excellent winning chances in the endgame. “I was not sure what to do after 37.Qg4: I thought my position was very bad,” admitted Vaishali after the game.
Instead, Divya opted for 37.Qg3?, allowing 37…Rxc5 38.Qe5+ Kh7 39.Rb8 Rc1+ 40.Kh2. It appears that White is winning: the black queen is under attack, and mate on h8 is looming.
However, Vaishali had foreseen a tactical resource Divya walked straight into: 40…Qxh3+! 41.gxh3 Nf3+, after which Black regains the queen and comfortably holds the resulting rook endgame. Both Divya and Vaishali later attended the official press conference, where they analysed this dramatic encounter in detail.
The fun zone, hosted by FIDE presenter Angelika Valkova, featured a nineteen-board simul with former Women’s World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. Kosteniuk dominated the exhibition, winning 18 games and losing only one. The lucky victor of the single win received a chess clock as a prize.
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