The Week in Chess

1. Carlsen impresses in beating Grandelius in Sigeman Round 2 - 2

   Magnus Carlsen joined the leaders Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Andy Woodward on 1.5 points after two rounds of the 31st Sigeman & Co tournament in Malmo. Carlsen was the only winner but all four games could easily have finished decisively.

   Carlsen was the only winner when he defeated Nils Grandelius using the Modern Benoni as black. Once Carlsen assumed the initiative, he quickly overpowered his opponent.

   Nodirbek Abdusattorov seemed to be heading for a win against Andy Woodward first just before first time control 39.g6! would have won and 40.Nd4? was almost equal. Abdusattorov was then soon winning again but couldn't land the final blow and 60.Rxf7? was the move that ended the winning chances. Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus drew against Arjun Erigaisi in 78 moves of a Ruy Lopez where both players stood better at one stage or another, Erigaisi was winning in a Queen endgame but only drew. Jorden Van Foreest messed up a winning position against Zhu Jiner who took her chance to equalise well 47.Nc4? was Van Foreest's final mistake after which Zhu held impressively.

   Round 2 Standings: 1st= Abdusattorov, Woodward, Carlsen 1½pts, 4th= Erigaisi, Erdogmus, Van Foreest 1pt, 7th Zhu Jiner ½pts, 8th Grandelius 0pts.

   Round 3 pairings 3rd May 2026 2pm GMT: Jiner Zhu-Erdogmus, Woodward–van Foreest, Carlsen–Abdusattorov, Erigaisi–Grandelius.

2. Abdusattorov and Woodward take an early lead in the Sigeman & Co Chess tournament - 1

   There were two decisive games in the first round of the Sigeman & Co Chess tournament, Andy Woodward beat Nils Grandelius after 26...Rd8? blundered an important pawn and the game. Zhu Jiner was starting to be worse against Nodirbek Abdusattorov when she made an incomprehensible blunder 23.Nd4? which was met by the absolutely obvious Rc8 and her position collapsed.

   Magnus Carlsen faced Arjun Erigaisi's Petroff, an opening that proved successful in the Candidates, a couple of times it seemed like Carlsen was getting somewhere but he had to settle for a draw. Jorden van Foreest also looked like he might have something but after 20.Re1 it was dead equal.

   Round 1 Standings: 1st= Abdusattorov, Woodward 1pt 3rd= Carlsen, Erigaisi, Van Foreest, Erdogmus ½pt 7th= Grandelius, Jiner Zhu 0pts

   Round 2 2pm BST 2nd May 2026: Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus-Arjun Erigaisi, Nils Grandelius-Magnus Carlsen, Nodirbek Abdusattorov-Andy Woodward and Jorden van Foreest-Jiner Zhu.

3. 31st Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament 2026 - Games and Results

   The 31st Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament takes place Fri 1st May to Thu 7th May 2026. Players: Magnus, Carlsen, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Arjun Erigaisi, van Foreest Jorden, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, Nils Grandelius, Andy Woodward and Jiner Zhu.

4. Chess.com Open Playoffs 2026 - Games and Results

   The Chess.com Open Playoffs took Thu 23rd to Sun 26th Apr 2026. This offered two places in the Esports World Cup. Players: Magnus Carlsen, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Denis Lazavik, Sam Sevian, Javokhir Sindarov, Arjun Erigaisi, Vincent Keymer, Qualified through Play-Ins, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Pranesh M, Yu Yangyi, Sina Movahed, Daniil Dubov, Nihal Sarin and Shant Sargsyan. The event is a Double Elimination KO. Magnus Carlsen beat Jan-Krzysztof Duda in the Final, lost the Grand Final and then finally won again in the reset final. Both players qualified for the Esports World Cup.

5. 26th European Individual Championship 2026 - Games and Results

   The 26th European Individual Championship took place 6th (arrival day) to 20th April 2026. In an astonishing result 17 year-old Roman Dehtiarov who started as 126th seed and has had travel limited by the war won with 9/11. There is a reworked game file now.

6. Vaishali wins the Women's Candidates Tournament - 14

   Vaishali Rameshbabu took her opportunities in the final round of the Women's Candidates tournament to beat Kateryna Lagno and combined with Bibisara Assaubayeva's draw with Divya Deshmukh meant she took clear first place. Vaishali's win means she will play the champion since 2018, Ju Wenjun. Vaishali is the elder sister of Praggnanandhaa. Anna Muzychuk drew with Zhu Jiner and Aleksandra Goryachkina beat Tan Zhongyi in the remaining games.

   Javokhir Sindarov had already sewn up the Candidates in Round 13 and he engineered a very quick draw against Wei Yi to finish on +6 undefeated. Matthias Bluebaum came in a fighting mood against Anish Giri but it's not really his style and Giri impressively refuted his ideas. Fabiano Caruana also won his final game against Andrey Esipenko. Praggnanandhaa-Nakamura was a quiet draw.

   Both events have been super, Sindarov seems to have taken huge strides and the rest of the year watching him should be very exciting. Anish Giri was probably the only other player to come out of the event with his reputation enhanced. The women's event was wild, fighting chess, I think many of the field will be regretting lost opportunities.

   Final Standings: 1st Javokhir Sindarov, 10/14. 2nd Anish Giri, 8½. 3rd Fabiano Caruana, 7½. 4th Yi Wei, 7. 5th Hikaru Nakamura, 6½. 6th-7th Matthias Bluebaum and R Praggnanandhaa, 6. 8th Andrey Esipenko, 4½. 8 players.

   Final Standings: 1st Rameshbabu Vaishali, 8½/14. 2nd Bibisara Assaubayeva, 8. 3rd Anna Muzychuk, 7. 4th-5th Jiner Zhu and Aleksandra Goryachkina, 7½. 6th Kateryna Lagno, 6½. 7th-8th Deshmukh Divya and Zhongyi Tan, 5½. 8 players.

7. Javokhir Sindarov wins the FIDE Candidates with a round to spare - 13

   Javokhir Sindarov will play Gukesh for the World Chess Championship title later in the year. He confirmed his first place in the FIDE Candidates tournament in Cyprus with a draw against Anish Giri. Giri set Sindarov some problems but they weren't enough for a serious advantage at any point and a drawn rook and pawn endgame was reached. Giri looks set to finish second but he was obviously disappointed after the game.

   The women's Candidates continues its unpredictable course. Vaishali Rameshbabu survived an inferior position against Tan Zhongyi and this allowed Bibisara Assaubayeva to join her in the lead after beating Anna Muzychuk. The final day will be very tense. A tie will lead to a playoff.

   Round 13 (of 14) Standings: 1st Javokhir Sindarov, 9½/13. 2nd Anish Giri, 7½. 3rd-4th Fabiano Caruana and Yi Wei, 6½. 5th-6th Matthias Bluebaum and Hikaru Nakamura, 6. 7th R Praggnanandhaa, 5½. 8th Andrey Esipenko, 4½. 8 players.

   Round 13 (of 14) Standings: 1st-2nd Bibisara Assaubayeva and Rameshbabu Vaishali, 7½/13. 3rd Jiner Zhu, 7. 4th-6th Anna Muzychuk, Aleksandra Goryachkina and Kateryna Lagno, 6½. 7th Zhongyi Tan, 5½. 8th Deshmukh Divya, 5. 8 players.

   Round 14 Wednesday 15th April 2026

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

   FIDE Women’s Candidates Round 14:

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

8. Sindarov on the brink of winning the Candidates after Round 12, Zhu beats Vaishali to catch her in the Women's event - 12

   Javokhir Sindarov was happy to take a quick draw against Hikaru Nakamura in Round 12 of the Candidates, in fact his entire preparation was directed towards it. Anish Giri was left trying to beat Wei Yi and he did in fact get a winning position in an endgame but it remained tricky. Giri accidentally repeated the position three times and Wei Yi was immediately alert to this. Matthias Bluebaum was slightly better against Fabiano Caruana but no more than that. Praggnanandhaa was pushing against Andrey Esipenko but had to settle with a draw. Following the rest day Giri will have to win against Sindarov in order to keep his chances alive.

   The women's event was blown wide open when Zhu Jiner beat the leader Vaishali Rameshbabu in a tense game, these players share the lead. Half a point behind are Bibisara Assaubayeva who won a game that could have gone either way, and Anna Muzychuk who blew a winning position against Aleksandra Goryachkina at the very end of a long game. The top four are still in it, I really wouldn't like to guess who is going to win as there are so many wild swings in form even during games by all the leaders.

   Round 12 (of 14) Standings: 1st Javokhir Sindarov, 9/12. 2nd Anish Giri, 7. 3rd Fabiano Caruana, 6. 4th-6th Matthias Bluebaum, Hikaru Nakamura and Yi Wei, 5½. 7th R Praggnanandhaa, 5. 8th Andrey Esipenko, 4½. 8 players.

   Round 12 (of 14) Standings: 1st-2nd Jiner Zhu and Rameshbabu Vaishali, 7/12. 3rd-4th Bibisara Assaubayeva and Anna Muzychuk, 6½. 5th-6th Aleksandra Goryachkina and Kateryna Lagno, 5½. 7th-8th Deshmukh Divya and Zhongyi Tan, 5. 8 players.

   Rest day Monday 13th April 2026.

   Round 13 Tuesday 14th April 13:30 BST: Wei Yi vs Andrey Esipenko Anish Giri vs Javokhir Sindarov Hikaru Nakamura vs Matthias Bluebaum Fabiano Caruana vs Praggnanandhaa R

   FIDE Women’s Candidates

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