Candidates Chess 2026 LIVE
Candidates Chess 2026 takes place in Paphos, Cyprus, from 28 March to 16 April 2026. It is an eight-player double round-robin, meaning each participant plays every other player twice (14 rounds total).
Participants include Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, R Praggnanandhaa, Anish Giri, Wei Yi, Andrey Esipenko, Javokhir Sindarov, and Matthias Blübaum. Live games start with round 1 on March 29th. The final round is April 16th.
The FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 is the decisive event in the world championship cycle, bringing together eight elite players to determine who will challenge the reigning champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, for the world title. Live games will be daily on Chessdom.com, with coverage of the moves, news, and live video commentary.
Live video coverage of the Candidates Chess 2026
Schedule and live coverage of the Candidates 2026
| Date | Day | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 28 March 2026 | Saturday | Opening ceremony |
| 29 March 2026 | Sunday | Round 1 |
| 30 March 2026 | Monday | Round 2 |
| 31 March 2026 | Tuesday | Round 3 |
| 1 April 2026 | Wednesday | Round 4 |
| 2 April 2026 | Thursday | Rest day |
| 3 April 2026 | Friday | Round 5 |
| 4 April 2026 | Saturday | Round 6 |
| 5 April 2026 | Sunday | Round 7 |
| 6 April 2026 | Monday | Rest day |
| 7 April 2026 | Tuesday | Round 8 |
| 8 April 2026 | Wednesday | Round 9 |
| 9 April 2026 | Thursday | Round 10 |
| 10 April 2026 | Friday | Rest day |
| 11 April 2026 | Saturday | Round 11 |
| 12 April 2026 | Sunday | Round 12 |
| 13 April 2026 | Monday | Rest day |
| 14 April 2026 | Tuesday | Round 13 |
| 15 April 2026 | Wednesday | Round 14 |
| 16 April 2026 | Thursday | Tie-breakers (if required) Closing ceremony |
Pairings of the Candidates Chess 2026 (live)
Round 1 (29 March 2026)
Javokhir Sindarov – Andrey Esipenko
Matthias Blübaum – Wei Yi
R Praggnanandhaa – Anish Giri
Fabiano Caruana – Hikaru Nakamura
Round 2 (30 March 2026)
Andrey Esipenko – Hikaru Nakamura
Anish Giri – Fabiano Caruana
Wei Yi – R Praggnanandhaa
Javokhir Sindarov – Matthias Blübaum
Round 3 (31 March 2026)
Matthias Blübaum – Andrey Esipenko
R Praggnanandhaa – Javokhir Sindarov
Fabiano Caruana – Wei Yi
Hikaru Nakamura – Anish Giri
Round 4 (1 April 2026)
Andrey Esipenko – Anish Giri
Wei Yi – Hikaru Nakamura
Javokhir Sindarov – Fabiano Caruana
Matthias Blübaum – R Praggnanandhaa
Round 5 (3 April 2026)
R Praggnanandhaa – Andrey Esipenko
Fabiano Caruana – Matthias Blübaum
Hikaru Nakamura – Javokhir Sindarov
Anish Giri – Wei Yi
Round 6 (4 April 2026)
Fabiano Caruana – Andrey Esipenko
Hikaru Nakamura – R Praggnanandhaa
Anish Giri – Matthias Blübaum
Wei Yi – Javokhir Sindarov
Round 7 (5 April 2026)
Andrey Esipenko – Wei Yi
Javokhir Sindarov – Anish Giri
Matthias Blübaum – Hikaru Nakamura
R Praggnanandhaa – Fabiano Caruana
Round 8 (7 April 2026)
Andrey Esipenko – Javokhir Sindarov
Wei Yi – Matthias Blübaum
Anish Giri – R Praggnanandhaa
Hikaru Nakamura – Fabiano Caruana
Round 9 (8 April 2026)
Hikaru Nakamura – Andrey Esipenko
Fabiano Caruana – Anish Giri
R Praggnanandhaa – Wei Yi
Matthias Blübaum – Javokhir Sindarov
Round 10 (9 April 2026)
Andrey Esipenko – Matthias Blübaum
Javokhir Sindarov – R Praggnanandhaa
Wei Yi – Fabiano Caruana
Anish Giri – Hikaru Nakamura
Round 11 (11 April 2026)
Anish Giri – Andrey Esipenko
Hikaru Nakamura – Wei Yi
Fabiano Caruana – Javokhir Sindarov
R Praggnanandhaa – Matthias Blübaum
Round 12 (12 April 2026)
Andrey Esipenko – R Praggnanandhaa
Matthias Blübaum – Fabiano Caruana
Javokhir Sindarov – Hikaru Nakamura
Wei Yi – Anish Giri
Round 13 (14 April 2026)
Wei Yi – Andrey Esipenko
Anish Giri – Javokhir Sindarov
Hikaru Nakamura – Matthias Blübaum
Fabiano Caruana – R Praggnanandhaa
Round 14 (15 April 2026)
Andrey Esipenko – Fabiano Caruana
R Praggnanandhaa – Hikaru Nakamura
Matthias Blübaum – Anish Giri
Javokhir Sindarov – Wei Yi