The Playing Hall Experience | Behind the Scenes - Day 3

by Arne Kaehler
4/15/2026 – The ChessBase crew travels to Cyprus to cover the Candidates Tournament, bringing you daily impressions from one of the biggest events in chess. What is the atmosphere like around the world’s best players? How is the venue, and where do the stars spend their time? What happens behind the scenes in the media centre and beyond? And what is Cyprus like as a host for such a prestigious event? From travel moments and unexpected encounters to exclusive insights into the tournament environment, we take you along for the journey—day by day. Experience the Candidates from the inside.
EXPAND YOUR CHESS HORIZONS
Data, plans, practice – the new Opening Report In ChessBase there are always attempts to show the typical plans of an opening variation. In the age of engines, chess is much more concrete than previously thought. But amateurs in particular love openings with clear plans, see the London System. In ChessBase ’26, three functions deal with the display of plans. The new opening report examines which piece moves or pawn advances are significant for each important variation. In the reference search you can now see on the board where the pieces usually go. If you start the new Monte Carlo analysis, the board also shows the most common figure paths.

Sindarov stuns Cyprus 🇨🇾 | Behind the Scenes

Day 3

Undoubtedly, the most intense day yet for the ChessBase crew.

This time, we take you straight into the player area. No distractions. No music.
Just the raw atmosphere of the Candidates.

You’re not just watching, you’re there.
You can almost smell the polished wood, feel the stillness in the air, and sense the tension building with every step closer to the playing hall.

One by one, the players arrive.
Focused. Silent. In their own world.
They take their seats, adjust the pieces, and prepare for what could decide everything.

In the Women’s Candidates, everything is still wide open. But in the Open section, all eyes turn to a single board:

Anish Giri vs. Javokhir Sindarov.

The situation is clear. If Sindarov draws… he becomes the challenger for the World Champion Gukesh. We stay with you through the opening moments. The first moves. The rhythm. The quiet tension behind every decision.

And then—after hours of pressure—it happens.

A draw.

No celebration. No explosion. Just a moment of realization.
Sindarov has done it.

He is the new challenger.

Congratulations, and a huge thank you for the final interview of the evening, right after one of the biggest moments of your career.

Links:

<< "We’re flooded with information - the key is making sense of it": An interview with Vishy Anand
Vaishali beats Lagno, wins hard-fought Women's Candidates Tournament >>
Topics: Candidates 2026, cyprus
Arne Kaehler, a creative mind who is passionate about board games in general, was born in Hamburg and learned to play chess at a young age. By teaching chess to youth teams and creating chess-related videos on YouTube, Arne was able to expand this passion and has even created an online course for anyone who wants to learn how to play chess. Arne writes for the English and German news sites, but focuses mainly on content for the ChessBase media channels.
Discussion and Feedback Submit your feedback to the editors

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Video

60m The Two Knights

This entry into the 60 minutes series concentrates on the Modern variation of the Italian game where White opens the centre early : 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 d4 exd4 5 e5!. This line can be reached by various move orders, most frequently from the Scotch 3 d4 exd4 4 Bc4. It's a sharp variation and Grandmasters such as Evgeny Sveshnikov have used it frequently,with very good results. It's a perfect line for club players to adopt which is relatively easy to learn and which contains many traps. All the main responses are covered here, including 5...d5, 5...Ng4 and 5...Ne4 and the conclusion is that is is difficult for Black to equalize in a straightforward way. Problems are being posed, which over the board might prove tough to solve.