For three weeks this spring, the world's best players shared a stage at the Cap St Georges resort in Pegeia, Cyprus. When the 2026 Candidates Tournaments ended on 16 April, they had crowned two challengers: Javokhir Sindarov on the men's side, and Vaishali Rameshbabu on the women's. Both earned the right to play for a world championship. Both did it their own way.
Sindarov's run was the kind you don't see often. The 20-year-old from Uzbekistan, who had qualified by winning the 2025 World Cup, won five of his first six games and never really looked back. The draw against Anish Giri in round 13 was enough to clinch the title a round early, finishing on a score of 10/14 that set a points record for the Candidates. Along the way he took down Fabiano Caruana in a "very technical game," beat R Praggnanandhaa with a piece sacrifice, and stunned Hikaru Nakamura. Giri took second on 8.5, Caruana third on 7.5.
Sindarov's post-match comments were pure charm. After easing to a draw with Giri, he shrugged that "I had zero problems in the rook ending... I was just chilling." And when asked how he spent his time after becoming a grandmaster, he deadpanned that he spent his days with Counter-Strike while his rivals studied ten hours a day. He now faces Gukesh D for the World Championship — a match commonly dated to the end of this year, and one that will be the youngest world title match in chess history.
The women's event stayed tense to the very last round. Vaishali Rameshbabu, 24, from Chennai, came in as the lowest-rated player in the field — the same field that included her brother, Praggnanandhaa, competing in the men's event. She needed a win against Kateryna Lagno in the final round to secure the title outright, and she delivered, converting a patiently built advantage in the Sicilian Dragon. Her 8.5/14 was enough for clear first, with Bibisara Assaubayeva, who could only draw Divya Deshmukh, alone in second.
Vaishali will now challenge Ju Wenjun for the Women's World Championship, a matchup that feels like a generational shift at the top of the women's game. Two underdogs, two titles — and two long-shot challengers who refused to read the script. Cyprus, it turns out, made for a memorable spring.
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