How Praggnanandhaa outfoxed Anish Giri as Indians stay unbeaten in Round 1

NEW DELHI: The opening time of the 2026 FIDE Candidates astatine the Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort successful Paphos, Cyprus, proved that portion chess doctrine often predicts a gully erstwhile some sides play perfectly, the world connected the committee could beryllium acold much volatile.

Of the 8 games crossed the Open and Women’s categories, lone 3 produced decisive results, each successful the Open section, headlined by a tactical masterclass from India’s R Praggnanandhaa.The day’s archetypal humor was drawn by Uzbek 2025 FIDE World Cup victor Javokhir Sindarov, who defeated Russia's Andrey Esipenko. Elsewhere, successful a marathon American derby, Fabiano Caruana overcame Hikaru Nakamura successful the longest crippled of Sunday.

However, the spotlight belonged to Chennai-born Praggnanandhaa, who dismantled Dutch No. 1 Anish Giri with objective precision to awesome a formidable commencement to his campaign.

In the Women’s section, caution was the bid of the time arsenic each 4 games ended successful draws. Russian GM Aleksandra Goryachkina came closest to a breakthrough against compatriot Kateryna Lagno earlier a blunder successful the middlegame forced a divided point.

On the Indian boards, Divya Deshmukh and Rameshbabu Vaishali held their crushed with the achromatic pieces against Anna Muzychuk and Bibisara Assaubayeva, respectively, ensuring the Indian contingent remained unbeaten.FIDE Candidates Round 1 Results - March 29, 2026Fabiano Caruana 1-0 Hikaru NakamuraPraggnanandhaa R 1-0 Anish GiriJavokhir Sindarov 1-0 Andrey EsipenkoMatthias Bluebaum 0.5-0.5 Wei YiFIDE Women's Candidates Round 1 Results - March 29, 2026Divya Deshmukh 0.5-0.5 Anna MuzychukVaishali Rameshbabu 0.5-0.5 Bibisara AssaubayevaAleksandra Goryachkina 0.5-0.5 Kateryna LagnoZhu Jiner 0.5-0.5 Tan ZhongyiGame of The Day: R Praggnanandhaa vs Anish GiriWhile the Nakamura-Caruana clash was the longest of the day, chess purists recovered much to respect successful the high-accuracy conflict betwixt Praggnanandhaa and Giri."With close 80th determination ...Kc7!, Hikaru could person really drawn the game," seasoned GM Pravin Thipsay told TimesofIndia.com. "So, it tin nary longer beryllium called the champion crippled of the day. It is undoubtedly Praggnamandhaa vs Giri. Accuracy level precise high."Praggnanandhaa opened with the King's Pawn, gathering Giri’s Sicilian Defence with the assertive Grand Prix Attack.

The 20-year-old Indian displayed heavy preparation, sacrificing a pawn connected the 10th determination earlier unleashing a decisive manoeuvre connected the 11th."Praggnanandhaa played the Grand Prix attack, and connected the 11th move, Praggnanandhaa played interestingly. On the 10th move, Praggnanandhaa sacrificed a pawn, and connected the 11th move, helium improved his queen," Thipsay explained.

"The champion saltation by Anish Giri, astir apt connected the 11th move, would person led to astir adjacent position, but a flimsy mistake connected the 11th determination by Anish enabled Praggnanandhaa to get a flimsy advantage, which helium carried location with a precise bully method play from determination 12 itself."Giri’s response, 11...Be6, allowed Praggnanandhaa to seizure the white-squared bishop (13. Bxe6), tilting the structural vantage successful favour of the Indian.Although the queens were swapped by determination 25, the endgame became a nightmare for the Dutchman.

The last stroke came connected the 36th determination erstwhile Giri played 36...Nf6. Working the a- and b-file pawns mightiness person offered a sturdier defence, but Giri’s uncharacteristic oversight allowed Praggnanandhaa’s rook and h-file pawn to tighten the noose.Giri resigned by determination 51."Praggnanandhaa's method successful this crippled was excellent," Thipsay added.

Praggnanandhaa finished the crippled with a staggering 97.3% accuracy compared to Giri's 92.5%, proving that astatine this level, the finest of margins dictate the outcome.The Indian sensation volition look to transportation this momentum into Monday's 2nd round, wherever helium faces China's Wei Yi.FIDE Candidates Round 2 Schedule - March 30, 2026Andrey Esipenko vs Hikaru NakamuraAnish Giri vs Fabiano CaruanaWei Yi vs R PraggnanandhaaJavokhir Sindarov vs Matthias BlübaumFIDE Women's Candidates Round 2 Schedule - March 30, 2026Anna Muzychuk vs Tan ZhongyiKateryna Lagno vs Zhu JinerBibisara Assaubayeva vs Aleksandra GoryachkinaDivya Deshmukh vs Vaishali Rameshbabu