FIDE Chess Candidates 2026 LIVE, Round 10: Joint-leader Vaishali faces Anna, Praggnanandhaa to face Sindarov, matches from 6:15 PM IST

Eyes on Divya Deshmukh (4.5 pts) as she takes on Aleksandra Goryachkina, who is in 4 points. Divya needs a clinical performance to shake off yesterday’s loss and keep her podium hopes alive.

Praggnanandhaa faces league leader Javokhir Sindarov today. With the Uzbek GM sitting on a massive lead, Pragg’s defensive prep with the Black pieces will be the story of the hour. 

Javokhir Sindarov is the runaway leader (6.5/9). Pragg (3.5/9) is in the middle of the pack and needs a massive second-half surge to close the 3-point gap.

Divya (4.5/9) is just 1 point off the lead. She will be looking to bounce back after a tough loss to Vaishali in Round 9.

Vaishali clinched victory in just 31 moves with the Reti Opening against Divya Deshmukh yesterday. Two bold rook sacrifices, on moves 23 and 31, forced her compatriot’s resignation and lifted her to the top of the standings.

Anna Muzychuk — Vaishali Rameshbabu

Divya Deshmukh — Aleksandra Goryachkina

Bibisara Assaubayeva — Zhu Jiner

Kateryna Lagno — Tan Zhongyi

Andrey Esipenko — Matthias Bluebaum

Javokhir Sindarov — R Praggnanandhaa

Wei Yi — Fabiano Caruana

Anish Giri — Hikaru Nakamura

Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s coverage of Round 10 of the FIDE Candidates 2026.