FIDE Candidates 2026 Round 2 Highlights: Praggnanandhaa secures draw vs Wei Yi with Black pieces

FIDE Candidates Round 3 pairings

Matthias Bluebaum — Andrey Esipenko
R Praggnanandhaa — Javokhir Sindarov
Fabiano Caruana — Wei Yi
Hikaru Nakamura — Anish Giri

FIDE Women’s Candidates Round 3 pairings

Vaishali Rameshbabu — Anna Muzychuk
Aleksandra Goryachkina — Divya Deshmukh
Zhu Jiner — Bibisara Assaubayeva
Tan Zhongyi — Kateryna Lagno

FIDE Candidates Round 2 results

Andrey Esipenko ½—½ Hikaru Nakamura
Anish Giri ½—½ Fabiano Caruana
Wei Yi ½—½ Praggnanandhaa R
Javokhir Sindarov ½—½ Matthias Bluebaum

FIDE Women’s Candidates Round 2 results

Anna Muzychuk ½—½ Tan Zhongyi
Kateryna Lagno ½—½ Zhu Jiner
Bibisara Assaubayeva ½—½ Aleksandra Goryachkina
Divya Deshmukh ½—½ Vaishali Rameshbabu

Here’s a quick look at what transpired in the Anish Giri vs Fabiano Caruana and Andrey Esipenko vs Hikaru Nakamura games.

Anish Giri vs Fabiano Caruana:

Andrey Esipenko vs Hikaru Nakamura:

FIDE Candidates 2026 Standings after Round 2

1. Fabiano Caruana – 1.5
2. Javokhir Sindarov – 1.5
3. R Praggnanandhaa – 1.5
4. Wei Yi – 1.0
5. Matthias Bluebaum – 1.0
6. Anish Giri – 0.5
7. Hikaru Nakamura – 0.0
8. Andrey Esipenko – 0.0

All players have one point each now after two consecutive days of four draws in the Women’s Candidates 2026.

Round 2 results:

Tan Zhongyi ½-½ Anna Muzychuk

Zhu Jiner ½-½ Kateryna Lagno

Aleksandra Goryachkina ½-½ Bibisara Assaubayeva

R Vaishali ½-½ Divya Deshmukh

Take a full look at how the match between Praggnanandhaa and Wei Yi ended in a draw.

Praggnanandhaa happily accepts a draw after 46 moves and holds off Wei Yi with Black pieces. The Indian Grandmaster now has 1.5 points from two matches.

All the moves so far: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qd2 a6 9. Bd3 O-O 10. O-O f6 11. exf6 Nxf6 12. Kh1 b6 13. Ne5 Qc7 14. Rae1 Bd6 15. Nxc6 Qxc6 16. Be2 Ra7 17. Bf3 Raf7 18. f5 c4 19. Bg5 Bb4 20. Qe2 Bxc3 21. fxe6 Re7 22. bxc3 Rxe6 23. Qd2 Ne4 24. Bxe4 Rxf1+ 25. Rxf1 Rxe4 26. Bf4 Re7 27. Be5 Qg6 28. Qf4 Rf7 29. Qxf7+ Qxf7 30. Rxf7 Kxf7 31. Kg1 Bf5 32. Kf2 Bxc2 33. Bc7 b5 34. a3 Ke6 35. Ke3 Kf5 36. h3 h5 37. g3 g5 38. Bd8 Bd3 39. h4 Kg4 40. Bxg5 Kxg3 41. Bd8 Be4 42. Be7 Kg2 43. Bd8 Kf1 44. Kd2 Kf2 45. Be7 Kf3 46. Bd8

All the moves so far: 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 h6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 c6 6. e3 Bd6 7. Bxd6 Qxd6 8. Bd3 Ne7 9. Qc2 O-O 10. Nf3 Nd7 11. O-O Nf6 12. h3 g6 13. Rab1 a5 14. Na4 Bf5 15. Nc5 Qc7 16. Rfc1 Nd7 17. Na4 Rfe8 18. Nc3 Qd6 19. Ne2 Qf6 20. Nf4 Bxd3 21. Nxd3 Nf5 22. b4 Nd6 23. a4 Qe7 24. bxa5 Rxa5 25. Rb4 Rea8 26. Rcb1 R8a7 27. Qb3

This is not good news for Giri, who lost to Praggnanandhaa yesterday.

Moves so far: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qd2 a6 9. Bd3 O-O 10. O-O f6 11. exf6 Nxf6 12. Kh1 b6 13. Ne5 Qc7 14. Rae1 Bd6 15. Nxc6 Qxc6 16. Be2 Ra7 17. Bf3 Raf7 18. f5 c4 19. Bg5 Bb4 20. Qe2

Another draw for both players. This match comes to an end in 32 moves.

All the moves so far: 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 h6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 c6 6. e3 Bd6 7. Bxd6 Qxd6 8. Bd3 Ne7 9. Qc2 O-O 10. Nf3 Nd7 11. O-O Nf6 12. h3 g6 13. Rab1 a5 14. Na4 Bf5 15. Nc5 Qc7 16. Rfc1 Nd7 17. Na4 Rfe8 18. Nc3 Qd6 19. Ne2

The Anish Giri match is already heading towards the endgame.

Nakamura game:

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qd2 a6 9. Bd3 O-O 10. O-O f6 11. exf6 Nxf6 12. Kh1 b6 13. Ne5 Qc7 14. Rae1 Bd6 15. Nxc6 Qxc6 16. Be2 Ra7 17. Bf3 Raf7 18. f5

Moves so far: 1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. Nf3 c5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. O-O Be7 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 O-O 9. Qb3 Nc6 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. e4 Nf6 12. h3 Ba6 13. Rd1 Qb6 14. Be3 Bc5 15. Bxc5 Qxc5

Moves so far: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qd2 a6 9. Bd3 O-O 10. O-O f6 11. exf6 Nxf6 12. Kh1 b6 13. Ne5 Qc7 14. Rae1 Bd6 15. Nxc6 Qxc6 16. Be2 Ra7 17. Bf3 Raf7

So White captures on c6 with 15.Nxc6, removing Black’s knight, but Praggnanandhaa quickly recaptures with 15…Qxc6, centralising the queen and keeping strong control of the position. With 16…Ra7 and 17…Raf7, Black lifts the rook and doubles rooks on the f-file, preparing active counterplay and pressure toward White’s kingside.

Wei Yi’s White grabs space with the e5–f4 pawn chain, but Praggnanandhaa counters in typical French style with …f6 and active piece play. After 14…Bd6, Black is fully developed and pressuring e5, leading to a balanced middlegame with good counterplay for Pragg.

All the moves so far: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qd2 a6 9. Bd3 O-O 10. O-O f6 11. exf6 Nxf6 12. Kh1 b6 13. Ne5 Qc7 14. Rae1 Bd6

Check the moves so far from Divya vs Vaishali match.

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qd2 a6 9. Bd3 O-O 10. O-O f6 11. exf6 Nxf6 12. Kh1 b6 13. Ne5

All the moves so far: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nd7 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Rb8 6. a4 b6 7. Nfd2 a5 8. Nxc4 Ba6 9. Nba3 Bb4+ 10. Bd2 Bxa3 11. Nxa3 Ne7 12. O-O O-O 13. b4 axb4 14. Bxb4

Caruana accepted the Queen’s Gambit pawn with 4…dxc4 and tried to hold it with the typical …Rb8 and …b6 setup. The American GM is aiming for queenside counterplay. But Giri, who lost to Praggnanandhaa yesterday, regained activity with Nxc4 and queenside expansion with b4, reaching a balanced middlegame where White has slightly better piece coordination.

White (Wei Yi) has built a strong pawn chain with e5–f4–d4 to gain space. There’s a possibility of kingside attacking chances. Praggnanandhaa has responded with typical French Defense counterplay, preparing to break the center with c5 and the key move 10…f6.

1…e6 2…d5 → French Defense.
3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 → Steinitz Variation of the French.
5.f4 → Aggressive setup where White supports the e5 pawn and prepares kingside play.

So the full line is typically referred to as:

French Defense: Steinitz Variation, f4 line

1. e4 e6
2. d4 d5
3. Nc3 Nf6
4. e5 Nfd7
5. f4 c5
6. Nf3 Nc6
7. Be3 Be7
8. Qd2 a6
9. Bd3 O-O

Opening name:
French Defense – Steinitz Variation (3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7), f4 line

A c4 and e6 opening in the Divya Deshmukh vs R Vaishali match. Here’s the live board position.

Wei Yi starts with e4 followed by e6 move for Praggnanandhaa. It’s French Defense game with Classical, Steinitz, Boleslavsky Variation.

Check the Round 2 pairings:

Andrey Esipenko – Hikaru Nakamura
Anish Giri – Fabiano Caruana
Wei Yi – Praggnanandhaa R
Javokhir Sindarov – Matthias Bluebaum

Praggnanandhaa, Divya and others take part in an interesting Q and A.

All matches ended in a draw.

Divya Deshmukh ½-½ Anna Muzychuk

R Vaishali ½-½ Bibisara Assaubayeva

Aleksandra Goryachkina ½-½ Kateryna Lagno

Zhu Jiner ½-½ Tan Zhongyi

Andrey Esipenko 0-1 Javokhir Sindarov

Wei Yi ½-½ Matthias Bluebaum

Anish Giri 0-1 R Praggnanandhaa

Hikaru Nakamura 0-1 Fabiano Caruana