Candidates R4: Sindarov stuns Caruana in clash of co-leaders, climbs to world number six

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
4/2/2026 – A clear leader has emerged after four rounds of the Candidates Tournament in Cyprus. Javokhir Sindarov defeated Fabiano Caruana in the clash of co-leaders to move to 3½ out of 4, with a full-point lead over his closest chaser. Anish Giri also won, beating Andrey Esipenko with black to return to a fift-percent score, while the remaining two games were drawn ahead of the tournament's first rest day. | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis
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A full-point lead for Sindarov!

Round four of the Candidates Tournament in Cyprus produced a decisive result in the marquee encounter of the day, as Javokhir Sindarov defeated Fabiano Caruana in the crucial clash of co-leaders. The victory gave Sindarov an impressive 3½ score and a full-point lead going into the event's first rest day, with Caruana now in sole second place.

It has been a dream start for the Uzbek grandmaster, who is the youngest player in the field — four months younger than Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. Although ten rounds remain, he has already put himself in a position to realistically fight for first place and the right to challenge Gukesh Dommaraju.

Sindarov's recent rise has been notable: in January 2025 he was still below the 2700 mark (2692 Elo), whereas he has now climbed to sixth place in the live ratings with 2759.2. While it is worth noting that he has played three of his four games with the white pieces, consecutive wins over Pragg and Caruana - two of the pre-tournament favourites - underline the significance of his achievement.

Javokhir Sindarov

The man of the hour - Javokhir Sindarov | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Despite the loss, Caruana remains alone in second place as the only player other than Sindarov to hold a plus score after four rounds.

Half a point behind Caruana, on 2/4, are three players: Praggnanandhaa, Anish Giri and Matthias Bluebaum. Pragg and Giri each have one win and one loss, while Bluebaum - in his first Candidates appearance - is the only player besides Sindarov to remain undefeated, having drawn all four of his games so far.

The other decisive result of the day came from Anish Giri, who defeated Andrey Esipenko with the black pieces. The remaining two encounters, Wei Yi v. Hikaru Nakamura and Bluebaum v. Praggnanandhaa, both ended in draws.

Bluebaum and Pragg produced a solid 37-move draw without major imbalances. Nakamura, meanwhile, was involved in the longest game of the round once again, though this time he was the one pressing for a win. He obtained an extra pawn in a double-rook endgame against Wei Yi but failed to convert. In his post-game recap, Nakamura identified 48…Rb2 as his final mistake, as it led to a rook exchange.

Nakamura noted that 48…f5 would have allowed him to continue testing his opponent's ability to defend the position a pawn down.

Round 4 results

Hikaru Nakamura

Looking for the win - Hikaru Nakamura | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis

The two decisive games were strongly influenced by opening preparation. In the headline clash, Sindarov got to play a line he had specifically checked for this game - with 10.a4 out of a Queen's Gambit Accepted.

Caruana soon began to fall behind on the clock and, by move 18, was already an hour down. With a clear understanding of the resulting structures and plans, Sindarov steadily increased the pressure, while Caruana was forced to invest time on nearly every move. A couple of inaccuracies left Black in a structurally inferior position and under severe time pressure.

On move 27, Sindarov got to play a strong pawn break, which soon left him a pawn up with a dominant position.

Caruana continued for a few more moves, aiming to reach the time control in a tournament played without increment before move 40, but eventually resigned on move 36. At that point, he had just 48 seconds remaining, compared to Sindarov's 42 minutes.

Video analysis by GM Daniel King

Javokhir Sindarov, Fabiano Caruana

Javokhir Sindarov facing Fabiano Caruana | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis

In Esipenko v. Giri, the Russian grandmaster opted for a sideline of the Najdorf Sicilian, likely relying on deep preparation. However, Giri demonstrated his extensive theoretical knowledge by navigating the line confidently.

Esipenko correctly sacrificed a pawn with 16.b4 in an attempt to generate queenside activity, but an inaccurate capture two moves later allowed Giri to seize the initiative.

The move 18…Ba4, gaining a tempo by attacking the rook, gave Black a clear advantage.

From there, Giri's handling of the initiative was nothing short of admirable, as he converted his advantage into a memorable 34-move victory.

Anish Giri

Deeply focused - Anish Giri | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Standings after round 4

All games

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Topics: Candidates 2026, Fabiano Caruana, Javokhir Sindarov
Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.