Candidates 2026: Here’s all you need to know about the event that determines D Gukesh’s world title challenger | Chess News

Meanwhile, in the men’s tournament, R Praggnanandhaa is the sole Indian in the field of 8 and he’ll be competing against names such as Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Matthias Blübaum, Javokhir Sindarov, Wei Yi and Andrey Esipenko.

Here’s all you need to know:

Candidates Format

In both the Open and the Women’s, the eight qualified players will compete in a double round-robin tournament, consisting of 14 rounds.

Candidates Tie-break rules: In the event of a tie for first place after 14 rounds, a playoff will be played to determine the winner who qualifies for the World Championship Match, due to take place in November 2026.

Candidates Time Control

The games will be played with a time control of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 41. Players are not permitted to agree to a draw before the completion of Black’s 40th move.

Candidates Prize Fund

The minimum prize fund for the event stands at a record one million euros. The winner will pocket 70,000 euros while the player ending second will take home 45,000 euros. The third place finisher will earn 25,000 euros. In addition, each player gets 5,000 euros for every half point scored.

Here’s the full pairing for the Candidates 2026

Round 1 on 2026/03/29 at 15:30

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

Round 2 on 2026/03/30 at 15:30

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

Round 3 on 2026/03/31 at 15:30

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

Round 4 on 2026/04/01 at 15:30

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

Round 5 on 2026/04/03 at 15:30

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

Round 6 on 2026/04/04 at 15:30

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

Round 7 on 2026/04/05 at 15:30

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

Round 8 on 2026/04/07 at 15:30

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

Round 9 on 2026/04/08 at 15:30

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

Round 10 on 2026/04/09 at 15:30

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

Round 11 on 2026/04/11 at 15:30

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

Round 12 on 2026/04/12 at 15:30

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

Round 13 on 2026/04/14 at 15:30

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

Round 14 on 2026/04/15 at 15:30

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

FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026 pairings

Round 1 on 2026/03/29 at 15:30

Divya Deshmukh – Anna Muzychuk
Vaishali R – Bibisara Assaubayeva
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Kateryna Lagno
Zhu Jiner – Tan Zhongyi

Round 2 on 2026/03/30 at 15:30

Anna Muzychuk– Tan Zhongyi
Kateryna Lagno – Zhu Jiner
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Divya Deshmukh – Vaishali R

Round 3 on 2026/03/31 at 15:30

Vaishali R – Anna Muzychuk
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Divya Deshmukh
Zhu Jiner – Bibisara Assaubayeva
Tan Zhongyi – Kateryna Lagno

Round 4 on 2026/04/01 at 15:30

Anna Muzychuk – Kateryna Lagno
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Tan Zhongyi
Divya Deshmukh – Zhu Jiner
Vaishali R – Aleksandra Goryachkina

Round 5 on 2026/04/03 at 15:30

Aleksandra Goryachkina – Anna Muzychuk
Zhu Jiner – Vaishali R
Tan Zhongyi – Divya Deshmukh
Kateryna Lagno – Bibisara Assaubayeva

Round 6 on 2026/04/04 at 15:30

Zhu Jiner – Anna Muzychuk
Tan Zhongyi – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Kateryna Lagno – Vaishali R
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Divya Deshmukh

Round 7 on 2026/04/05 at 15:30

Anna Muzychuk – Bibisara Assaubayeva
Divya Deshmukh – Kateryna Lagno
Vaishali R – Tan Zhongyi
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Zhu Jiner

Round 8 on 2026/04/07 at 15:30

Anna Muzychuk – Divya Deshmukh
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Vaishali R
Kateryna Lagno – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Tan Zhongyi – Zhu Jiner

Round 9 on 2026/04/08 at 15:30

Tan Zhongyi – Anna Muzychuk
Zhu Jiner – Kateryna Lagno
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Bibisara Assaubayeva
Vaishali R – Divya Deshmukh

Round 10 on 2026/04/09 at 15:30

Anna Muzychuk – Vaishali R
Divya Deshmukh – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Zhu Jiner
Kateryna Lagno – Tan Zhongyi

Round 11 on 2026/04/11 at 15:30

Kateryna Lagno – Anna Muzychuk
Tan Zhongyi – Bibisara Assaubayeva
Zhu Jiner – Divya Deshmukh
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Vaishali R

Round 12 on 2026/04/12 at 15:30

Anna Muzychuk – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Vaishali R – Zhu Jiner
Divya Deshmukh – Tan Zhongyi
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Kateryna Lagno

Round 13 on 2026/04/14 at 15:30

Bibisara Assaubayeva – Anna Muzychuk
Kateryna Lagno – Divya Deshmukh
Tan Zhongyi – Vaishali R
Zhu Jiner – Aleksandra Goryachkina

Round 14 on 2026/04/15 at 15:30

Anna Muzychuk – Zhu Jiner
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Tan Zhongyi
Vaishali R – Kateryna Lagno
Divya Deshmukh – Bibisara Assaubayeva