FIDE Chess Candidates 2026 Live, Round 8: Pragg, Vaishali and Divya look to revive campaign in second-half; matches from 6:15 PM IST
FIDE Candidates 2026: Catch all the Live updates from Round 8 of the Candidates tournament happening in Cyprus on Tuesday.
Updated : Apr 07, 2026 18:11 IST
Welcome to Sportstar’s Live coverage of the eighth round of the FIDE Candidates 2026 tournament happening in Cyprus on Tuesday.
R Praggnanandhaa (Black) vs Anish Giri (White) – Live board
Divya Deshmukh (Black) vs Anna Muzychuk (White) – Live board
R Vaishali (Black) vs Bibisara Assaubayeva (White) – Live board
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April 07, 2026 18:07
Read what Grandmaster and famous coach Shyam Sundar had to say about Sindarov
Candidates 2026 — Sindarov reaping rewards of strategising for years, says chess coach Shyam Sundar
Javokhir Sindarov has been the story of the tournament. He defeated World No. 3 Fabiano Caruana with 42 minutes on his clock against Caruana’s 48 seconds.
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April 07, 2026 18:06
Women’s section race is heating up
Anna Muzychuk leads the women’s section with 4.5 points, Vaishali is second with 4, and Zhu Jiner, Goryachkina, and Kateryna Lago each have 3.5 points.
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April 07, 2026 18:01
Sindarov says Anish would make a good commentator, watch
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April 07, 2026 17:58
Can Vaishali climb to top position today
Despite the time pressure, Vaishali secured a draw against Bibisara Assaubayeva in their first match at this year’s Candidates. Vaishali played the white pieces then and will play with Black today against the Kazakhstani.
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April 07, 2026 17:50
The players traded chess pieces to rackets on rest day yesterday
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April 07, 2026 17:47
Divya Deshmukh vs Anna Muzychuk
Divya is currently joint third with 3.5 points, whereas Anna Muzychuk sits atop the table with 4.5/7.
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April 07, 2026 17:46
Divya Deshmukh to face Anna Muzychuk
Once again, Divya Deshmukh will face a player on top of standings, and tonight it’ll be Anna Muzychuk, the two played out a draw during their first encounter earlier in the Candidates.
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April 07, 2026 17:44
Pragg vs Anish Giri
Anish Giri will play with the white pieces, while Praggnanandhaa will play with Black tonight in Round 8.
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April 07, 2026 17:44
Here’s what happened when Pragg played Anish in Round 1
GM Praggnanandhaa defeated Anish Giri in his tournament opener, and the latter’s error on move 36 and Praggnanandhaa’s move on move 30 (Nf6) forced Anish to resign on move 51.
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April 07, 2026 17:40
Tonight’s Round 8 pairings of the women’s section
Anna Muzychuk — Divya Deshmukh
Bibisara Assaubayeva — Vaishali Rameshbabu
Kateryna Lagno — Aleksandra Goryachkina
Tan Zhongyi — Zhu Jiner -
April 07, 2026 17:40
Round 8 (Tonight) pairings of Open Section
Andrey Esipenko — Javokhir Sindarov
Wei Yi — Matthias Bluebaum
Anish Giri — Praggnanandhaa R
Hikaru Nakamura — Fabiano Caruana -
April 07, 2026 17:39
Sindarov leads the pack at half-way mark
Javokhir Sindarov is currently the runaway leader with a score of 6/7 at the halfway point, holding a significant 1.5-point lead over his closest rival, Fabiano Caruana.
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April 07, 2026 17:37
Important week of Chess
Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s coverage of Round 8 of the FIDE Candidates 2026.
Published on Apr 07, 2026
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