Candidates Round 14 - Live!

by ChessBase
4/15/2026 – The Candidates Tournaments form the final qualifying stage of the FIDE World Championship cycle. Each tournament features eight of the world's strongest players competing in a double round-robin format over fourteen rounds of classical chess. No fewer than six players (out of eight) enter the final round with mathematical chances of winning the Women's Candidates Tournament. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 14.30 CEST (8.30 ET, 18.00 IST) | Photo: Michal Walusza
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Round 14

The Candidates Tournaments (open and women's) form the final qualifying stage of the FIDE World Championship cycle. Each tournament features eight of the world's strongest players competing in a double round-robin format over fourteen rounds of classical chess.

At the conclusion of the events, the winners secure the right to challenge for the World Chess Championship and Women's World Chess Championship titles. Gukesh Dommaraju and Ju Wenjun are the reigning champions, respectively.

Time controls

  • Open: 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.
  • Women's: 90 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 1.

If there is a tie for first place, a playoff to determine the winner shall be played.

Live games and commentary

Open

Women's

Official webcast

Commentary by Peter Svidler and Jan Gustafsson

ChessBase India webcast

Full schedule

Date Day Event
29 March Sunday Round 1
30 March Monday Round 2
31 March Tuesday Round 3
1 April Wednesday Round 4
2 April Thursday Rest day
3 April Friday Round 5
4 April Saturday Round 6
5 April Sunday Round 7
6 April Monday Rest day
7 April Tuesday Round 8
8 April Wednesday Round 9
9 April Thursday Round 10
10 April Friday Rest day
11 April Saturday Round 11
12 April Sunday Round 12
13 April Monday Rest day
14 April Tuesday Round 13
15 April Wednesday Round 14
16 April Thursday Tiebreakers (if required)

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Video

60m English New ideas in the Najdorf_E

‘New ideas in the Najdorf – a Power Play 18 Update’ aims to complement Daniel King’s popular DVD from last year ‘The Sicilian Najdorf - a repertoire for Black’. Such a dynamic and popular opening as the Najdorf is developing the whole time. On this download, Daniel King updates lines that were included on his DVD but also responds to viewers’ requests, considering lines that he omitted from his original repertoire. The lines examined on this update are: • 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 h3 e5 7 Nde2 • 5….a6 6 Bc4 in combination with the English Attack (Be3, f3 etc) • 5…a6 6 Be3 and the …a5 variation • 5…a6 6 Be2 and 9 Re1 • 5 f3 (instead of 5 Nc3) It isn’t necessary to have seen the original Najdorf DVD to understand the lines examined here – but it would help as they form part of a complete repertoire.