Candidates 2026: R Praggnanandhaa goes down to Javokhir Sindarov in latest installment of India-Uzbekistan chess rivalry
Defeat with white pieces a big setback after beginning tournament with a win; R Vaishali and Divya Deshmukh secure draws
It was never meant to be just about two individuals when R Praggnanandhaa and Javokhir Sindarov sat down across the board in the third round of the 2026 Candidates Tournament in Cyprus. Their duel was the latest installment of the India-Uzbekistan rivalry that has come to define a new era in chess, and this time it was Sindarov who emerged victorious, handing Pragg a painful loss.
The two nations have spent the better part of half a decade establishing themselves as the rising powerhouses in the game. Their young talents keep clashing at every major event. At the last two Olympiads, it was Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs D Gukesh. In the Candidates, it’s Praggnanandhaa and Sindarov.
The foundation of the dynamic was laid two decades ago by two former world champions, Viswanathan Anand and Rustam Kasimdzhanov. Their rivalry ignited in the early 2000s. Anand beat Kasimdzhanov to claim the 2002 World Cup in Hyderabad. The Uzbek returned the favour at the 2005 World Championship before Anand packed another punch. Then, in that very same year, Kasimdzhanov gave Anand another shock in the 18th Magistral Ciudad de León final. That generational thread has now passed to a younger set, and familiarity runs deep.
The rivalry between Pragg and Sindarov also goes back a long way. They first played each other in 2013, and for years, it was the Indian who held the upper hand. Sindarov had once joked that if not for Pragg, he would have won many more events.
“I think if he had not played, I would have won at least a few more cadet tournaments. In 2013, I lost to him twice or thrice in a row. At that time, I knew he would be one of the strongest players in the world,” the Uzbek told The Indian Express after winning the 2025 World Cup in Goa.
Before this Candidates clash, Pragg hadn’t lost a classical game to Sindarov in nine years. His solitary loss in this format had come way back in 2017. Out of the 10 games they had played, Pragg had won four while five ended in draws.
That streak ended in the third round on Tuesday. In a Queen’s Gambit Declined with white for Pragg, it was Sindarov who came much better prepared. He forced the Indian into time pressure in a sharp and complicated position. The game got so heated that both players had less than 10 minutes to make 14 moves before reaching time control.
With the pressure mounting, Pragg cracked. What had been a pawn-up advantage slipped away, and a few moves later, he was an exchange down and resigned.
Another shock of the round came in the game between Fabiano Caruana and Wei Yi. The Chinese grandmaster lost in just 19 moves after sacrificing two pawns in the opening. In a brain-fade moment, he blundered to gift a full point to former World Championship challenger Caruana.
Wei Yi admitted that sacrificing not one but two pawns was part of his preparation before he blundered big time.
“I sacrificed two pawns to fight for the initiative, but after Queen B5, I was out of the book. I played a few terrible moves and then just blundered my piece,” he said after the defeat.
The games between Matthias Blübaum and Andrey Esipenko, and Hikaru Nakamura and Anish Giri, ended in draws. Caruana and Sindarov lead the open event with 2.5 points after three rounds.
After struggling with time management in her first two rounds against Bibisara Assaubayeva and compatriot Divya Deshmukh, R Vaishali looked far more at ease on the clock on Tuesday.
Playing white against Anna Muzychuk, Vaishali came well prepared. She never trailed on time in the first 25 moves. Both played nearly flawlessly, a divergence from the wild trends seen elsewhere on the day.
The game began with a knight trade on move nine and ended in a draw by mutual agreement on move 41, with all pieces cleared except a rook and two minor pieces in a symmetrical position.
Divya recovered from a seemingly weaker position to secure half a point against Aleksandra Goryachkina with black pieces.
Assaubayeva struck first in the women’s section, winning a wild game against China’s Zhu Jiner. After enduring pressure for most of the contest, she turned the tables for her first win. However, the round’s wildest game was between Kateryna Lagno and defending champion Tan Zhongyi of China, an absolute rollercoaster, with the evaluation bar swinging wildly before Lagno eventually prevailed, which meant all three Chinese players in the event went back with losses.
It was never meant to be just about two individuals when R Praggnanandhaa and Javokhir Sindarov sat down across the board in the third round of the 2026 Candidates Tournament in Cyprus. Their duel was the latest installment of the India-Uzbekistan rivalry that has come to define a new era in chess, and this time it was Sindarov who emerged victorious, handing Pragg a painful loss.
The two nations have spent the better part of half a decade establishing themselves as the rising powerhouses in the game. Their young talents keep clashing at every major event. At the last two Olympiads, it was Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs D Gukesh. In the Candidates, it’s Praggnanandhaa and Sindarov.
The foundation of the dynamic was laid two decades ago by two former world champions, Viswanathan Anand and Rustam Kasimdzhanov. Their rivalry ignited in the early 2000s. Anand beat Kasimdzhanov to claim the 2002 World Cup in Hyderabad. The Uzbek returned the favour at the 2005 World Championship before Anand packed another punch. Then, in that very same year, Kasimdzhanov gave Anand another shock in the 18th Magistral Ciudad de León final. That generational thread has now passed to a younger set, and familiarity runs deep.
The rivalry between Pragg and Sindarov also goes back a long way. They first played each other in 2013, and for years, it was the Indian who held the upper hand. Sindarov had once joked that if not for Pragg, he would have won many more events.
“I think if he had not played, I would have won at least a few more cadet tournaments. In 2013, I lost to him twice or thrice in a row. At that time, I knew he would be one of the strongest players in the world,” the Uzbek told The Indian Express after winning the 2025 World Cup in Goa.
Before this Candidates clash, Pragg hadn’t lost a classical game to Sindarov in nine years. His solitary loss in this format had come way back in 2017. Out of the 10 games they had played, Pragg had won four while five ended in draws.
That streak ended in the third round on Tuesday. In a Queen’s Gambit Declined with white for Pragg, it was Sindarov who came much better prepared. He forced the Indian into time pressure in a sharp and complicated position. The game got so heated that both players had less than 10 minutes to make 14 moves before reaching time control.
With the pressure mounting, Pragg cracked. What had been a pawn-up advantage slipped away, and a few moves later, he was an exchange down and resigned.
Another shock of the round came in the game between Fabiano Caruana and Wei Yi. The Chinese grandmaster lost in just 19 moves after sacrificing two pawns in the opening. In a brain-fade moment, he blundered to gift a full point to former World Championship challenger Caruana.
Wei Yi admitted that sacrificing not one but two pawns was part of his preparation before he blundered big time.
“I sacrificed two pawns to fight for the initiative, but after Queen B5, I was out of the book. I played a few terrible moves and then just blundered my piece,” he said after the defeat.
The games between Matthias Blübaum and Andrey Esipenko, and Hikaru Nakamura and Anish Giri, ended in draws. Caruana and Sindarov lead the open event with 2.5 points after three rounds.
After struggling with time management in her first two rounds against Bibisara Assaubayeva and compatriot Divya Deshmukh, R Vaishali looked far more at ease on the clock on Tuesday.
Playing white against Anna Muzychuk, Vaishali came well prepared. She never trailed on time in the first 25 moves. Both played nearly flawlessly, a divergence from the wild trends seen elsewhere on the day.
The game began with a knight trade on move nine and ended in a draw by mutual agreement on move 41, with all pieces cleared except a rook and two minor pieces in a symmetrical position.
Divya recovered from a seemingly weaker position to secure half a point against Aleksandra Goryachkina with black pieces.
Assaubayeva struck first in the women’s section, winning a wild game against China’s Zhu Jiner. After enduring pressure for most of the contest, she turned the tables for her first win. However, the round’s wildest game was between Kateryna Lagno and defending champion Tan Zhongyi of China, an absolute rollercoaster, with the evaluation bar swinging wildly before Lagno eventually prevailed, which meant all three Chinese players in the event went back with losses.
