Despite agreeing to a quick 24-move draw with Andrey Esipenko, Javokhir Sindarov extended his lead at the top of the standings in round eight of the Candidates Tournament in Cyprus. His long-time closest chaser, Fabiano Caruana, suffered his second defeat of the event, losing with the black pieces to Hikaru Nakamura. In the other decisive game of the round, Anish Giri scored a notable 46-move victory over Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, which allowed him to join Caruana in second place. Both now trail the leader by a full two points.
The remaining encounter of the day, Wei Yi v. Matthias Bluebaum, ended in a 52-move draw that had little direct influence on the fight for first place.
A curious circumstance surrounded the draw between Sindarov and Esipenko. Before the start of the round, it emerged that Sindarov had inadvertently left part of his preparation accessible on his Lichess account. The Uzbek grandmaster later downplayed the significance of this mishap, stating that the leaked material was not particularly important, even though observers noted that a key move which Nakamura had failed to find in round five - after thinking for more than an hour - was included in those files.
Esipenko did not benefit from the leak, as he agreed to a draw by repetition - a decision which the engines approve of - in a position with queens still on the board.
Javokhir Sindarov is having a dream run in Cyprus | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis
With six rounds still to be played in Cyprus, Sindarov's chances of winning the tournament have increased further. From this point on, maintaining control and avoiding defeats may prove sufficient to secure first place and earn the right to challenge Gukesh Dommaraju for the world title.
Looking ahead, his two most critical encounters are scheduled for rounds 11 and 13, when he will face Caruana and Giri respectively - in both cases with the black pieces. Before those matchups, Caruana will take white against Giri in Wednesday's ninth round.
Round 8 results
The all-American clash between Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana saw Nakamura bounce back from his round-one loss to his compatriot and level their head-to-head score in this event.
The result also echoed their encounter in the 2024 Candidates Tournament in Toronto, where Nakamura likewise defeated Caruana with the white pieces in round eight. On that occasion, Caruana entered the round just half a point behind co-leaders Ian Nepomniachtchi and Gukesh Dommaraju. Caruana later recovered strongly, scoring three wins and no further defeats, ultimately falling just short of forcing a playoff with eventual winner Gukesh.
In Cyprus, the compatriots entered an English Opening, with Nakamura obtaining a slight positional edge in the middlegame. After the queens were exchanged, the players reached a double-rook endgame that appeared difficult to convert for White.
Nakamura is well known for applying sustained pressure in these positions, and Caruana's inaccuracy on move 28, when he chose 28…h5? instead of 28…Rab2, allowed White to take over by doubling rooks on the seventh rank.
From that point on, Nakamura demonstrated strong technique to convert his advantage and secure his first win of the tournament.
Hikaru Nakamura reclaimed the second spot in the live world ranking after beating Fabiano Caruana | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis
Giri's victory over Pragg was another technically accomplished performance. By move 25, the Dutchman had established a clear positional advantage, largely due to his knight on d4. Positioned on a dark-squared outpost, it could not be challenged by Black's remaining minor piece, the light-squared bishop.
As the game progressed, the central theme became White's ability to advance his passed pawn on the e-file. When Pragg failed to find the more resilient continuation 35…Bb5 and instead played 35…Qf7?, Giri was able to push his pawn forward until getting a completely winning setup.
Giri converted his advantage methodically, securing the 46-move victory that gives him hopes to still fight for tournament victory.
Anish Giri | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
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