Candidates R1: Caruana, Pragg and Sindarov score in exciting first round

The 2026 Candidates Tournament kicked off in style, with three decisive results from four games, all in favour of the player with the white piece. Fabiano Caruana defeated Hikaru Nakamura in the all-American clash between top seeds, while Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Javokhir Sindarov scored wins of different nature over Anish Giri and Andrey Esipenko, respectively. The only draw came in Matthias Bluebaum v. Wei Yi. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza