Vaishali is the challenger, winning in the final round of the #chess #Candidates2026. A blow to the soap opera segment of chess fandom hankering for more Sindarov-Bibisara adventures, but a boon for Indian fans who will have interests in both title matches.
That Vidonyak quote should go viral, just saying #chess #Candidates2026
Whoa! Just heard Sindarov's super-coach saying winning the #chess #Candidates2026 is step 2 of their 4-step plan, snd winning the world title is step 3... 😮
Anish showing his fine form, negotiating a sharp surprise with crisp calculation. He's been excellent with black at the #chess #Candidates2026 get @anishgiri.bsky.social on Bluesky
Also looks like @anishgiri.bsky.social has been ambushed in the information trenches #chess #Candidates2026
Doesn't look like Hikaru has an openings files problem today #chess #Candidates2026
Just like the Carlsen-Caruana title match, a ridiculously pivotal first game arguably set the tone for the rest of the Open #chess #Candidates2026
All things considered, the remaining games in the Open #chess #Candidates2026 are threatening to be surprisingly exciting. And the Women's section couldn't be better...
I can now reveal I bumped into Wei Yi signing autographs in the Fan Zone just as his game started to delay broadcast #chess #Candidates2026
Curious if Anish actually declared and sealed what he said would be the moves of Sindarov-Wei Yi today, being positive that final game of the #chess #Candidates2026 would be peaceful no matter what...
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
Just saw @polborta.bsky.social do this in graph form on the #chess #Candidates2026 #FIDE broadcast to introduce the format discussion
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
Uh oh. (This will be clear later) #chess #Candidates2026
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.
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.
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
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
... 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!'
Sindarov in safe mode and Hikaru in 'holiday' mode mean one round 12 game is immediately looking drawn... #chess #Candidates2026
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
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
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.
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...
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
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
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
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
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
Video folks in FIDE Candidates press room
No sleep, 20 degrees warmer, now in the nerve center at the #FIDE #Candidates2026.
