Don't know if anyone has noticed with the #chess #Candidates2026 grabbing attention, but the 2nd game of the Topalov-Erdogmus match is one of the most rollicking I have witnessed in ages
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Hashtag
#Candidates2026
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Just saw @polborta.bsky.social do this in graph form on the #chess #Candidates2026 #FIDE broadcast to introduce the format discussion
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Looks like Sindarov is volunteering for defensive duties in order to clinch his title challenge today. Seems like both the odds-on approach and one that will be dismantled if it doesn't work, according to the law of hindsight sports analysis. #chess #Candidates2026
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Uh oh. (This will be clear later) #chess #Candidates2026
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Not that my enthusiasm is necessarily linked to decisive games in the Open #chess #Candidates2026. Anna Muzychuk though is displaying exemplary technique and could be joining a new logjam at the top of the Women's event after (possibly) a drawless round there.
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What a 12th round of the #chess #Candidates2026 - understandable widespread random violence in the Women's event, but plenty of grim determination and rollercoaster action in the Sindarov chase.
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The players that do turn up for media duty are extremely generous with their time, there are a lot of people that want their sound bites when they get a chance. #chess #Candidates2026
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Javokhir laughingly saying he had prepared 'draw lines' against every d4 defense today... though he had been tempted to see if he could get the flash Berlin draw that Hikaru adopted vs Nepo when Ian was leading the Candidates with a similar late lead #chess #Candidates2026
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... and they're done. Sindarov now speaking to the press after his express train draw with Hikaru. #chess #Candidates2026 Hikaru cheerful with result 'I've got nothing to play for!'
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Sindarov in safe mode and Hikaru in 'holiday' mode mean one round 12 game is immediately looking drawn... #chess #Candidates2026
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The press conferences have been getting reduced in various ways down the stretch, though the big video channels still get some access. Don't know if this is a player request, or a FIDE control thing, or due to varying external factors like the doping controls... #chess #Candidates2026
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Interlude: Shared an elevator with Fabi and had to ask: 'Do you think experience counts for anything any more?' Luckily this got a wry smile and chuckle. 'I don't see how I can say that it does.' Always enjoy a Caruana answer. #chess #Candidates2026
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Noticed the perennial debate about which format is best/terrible for magnificent event X, which flares up every magnificent event. #Chess #Candidates2026 eloquently argues both cases, the Open showing how a fair 2x round-robin can look unfit for purpose, and absolutely brilliant in the Women's.
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If I were writing one of my usual oblique pieces about the #Candidates2026 - and I may in some quiet corner of the Internet like my so far empty Substack - it would be a long contemplation about experience, and whether it actually matters any more in modern #chess...
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Press conferences truncated apparently due to widespread doping controls today. Sindarov was open, honest, and as sensible post-game as he has been over the board. #chess #candidates2026
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Sindarov rejects a sharpish 'win' for a hypersafe 'edge' - Svidler notes this is the first moment that Javokhir reveals signs of thinking about his lead rather than just the board. (Or, perhaps, 'nerves'.) #chess #Candidates2026
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Sigh. Of course, drama is fun. And Sindarov has been too hot for the sporting side of things. At least the women's #Candidates2026 is wonderful total chaos
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Philosophizing (silently so far) about the modern #chess world as I sit in the #FIDE #Candidates2026 press room. How much of the coverage revolves around non-informational bites, attention deficit, and sh*t-stirring. How little context there is. I feel very much a ghost from the past, and rightly so
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Today's #FIDE #chess #Candidates2026 drama seems to be the unlocked Sindarov studies on lichess that may have leaked some of his prep. This seems to be an old incident - he admitted he made this mistake during the World Cup but not since. lichess locked it for him once the discovery was made. 1/2
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Video folks in FIDE Candidates press room
No sleep, 20 degrees warmer, now in the nerve center at the #FIDE #Candidates2026.
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Please note that I make recaps of the #FIDECandidates #candidates2026 every day, so consider subscribing to my channel.
This is the last recap:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJd-...
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I'm off to the #FIDE #Candidates2026 soon, luckily also a holiday as there threatens to be a distinct lack of sporting drama...
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Am I having a Mandela Effect moment? On the #FIDE #Candidates2026 broadcast, Zach related an anecdote where he said he learned Korchnoi did not live in Switzerland, to no reaction from @polborta.bsky.social or Gusti. I remember Viktor living there and playing for the Swiss team. Or?
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the blübaum sweep will be drawing sindarov twice #candidates2026
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Gooo Fabi! Keep the dream alive!
#chess #candidates2026
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Go Fabi! We take these!
#chess #candidates2026
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Esipenko gets my award for "most painful blunder" of round 1. The game move here (31...Qc6??) walked right into the idea of 32 bxc4 bxc4 33 Ba4 34 Qg6! with nastiness coming on b6 and e8. #candidates2026
Can't fault him with 3.5 mins to play 9 moves, but the provocative 31...Bc7 was better.
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Giri's loss to Pragg felt like a slow slide more than the other two decisive games. 20...Rhf8?! (better was trading rooks on the e-file and then ...Re8) was the start, followed by 33...Nd5?! which, with black down 7 mins to 22, felt like a point of no return. #candidates2026
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#chess #candidates2026
Nothing like a loss on the first round to really open the tournament for the favorite!
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