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Best moments from the FIDE Candidates tournament 2026

by Rasika Ratnaparkhi - 24/04/2026

Any tournament is mostly remembered for its results. But there still lie stories between the games. Photos capture the beautiful moments of the tournament: champions in their element, teams behind them, and fans who bring the arena to life. Photos don't just document the tournament. They preserve its emotions, its atmosphere, and the stories! Check out this full photo story of the Candidates tournament 2026. Photo: Niki Raga

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Candidates 2026 story through photos

The Candidates Tournament 2026 delivered drama from start to finish! Javokhir Sindarov dominated the field from early on, maintaining his lead and clinching victory with a round to spare, finishing ahead of challengers like Anish Giri, Hikaru Nakamura, and Fabiano Caruana. In the women’s section, the battle went down to the very end, with Vaishali scoring crucial wins to secure the title and earn her place in the World Championship match. The headlines will remember these winners. But many beautiful photos capture everything else. Here are some beautiful pictures from Candidates 2026:

We knew the Candidates we read about. But these were something else. | Photo: FIDE Flickr

They can actually flaunt it in front of their friends, saying they played in the Candidates Tournament! | Photo: FIDE Flickr

And then, the real Candidates arrived! | Photo: Michal Walusza

Some fun facts about Divya! | Photo: Michal Walusza

Do you think I can finally make it this time? | Photo: Michal Walusza

Some last-minute preparation before the interview. | Photo: Michal Walusza

Indians were very excited to see how the youngest Women’s World Cup winner would perform. | Photo: Michal Walusza

An incredibly proud mother of two Candidates! | Photo: Michal Walusza

A chance like this doesn’t come often! Anna Muzychuk replaced Koneru Humpy in the Candidates. | Photo: Michal Walusza

Pragg and Vaishali playing the famous Red flag or Green flag game. | Photo: Michal Walusza

After the Indian players, Indian fans were rooting for Anish. | Photo: Michal Walusza

"I am here to take the trophy back to China!" | Photo: Michal Walusza

"Show me what you have written." | Photo: Michal Walusza

Everyone wants it, but only one walks away with it... | Photo: Michal Walusza

... and who would it belong to? Everyone was waiting to find out. | Photo: Michal Walusza

What are they looking at? | Photo: Michal Walusza

He will never wear that t-shirt casually anymore! | Photo: Michal Walusza

From here, the world followed every move. | Photo: Michal Walusza

"Just checking if you are nervous yet." | Photo: Michal Walusza

"Ufff... what was the line...?" | Photo: Michal Walusza

Chubhti Jalti Garmi... | Photo: Michal Walusza

Yeh hai Aam Zindagi... | Photo: Michal Walusza

... yeh hai Mentos Zindagi. | Photo: Michal Walusza

Guess all the moves… and get our Caro-Kann course for just Rs. 36 (Only $ 0.3)! | Photo: Yoav Nis

This is such a cute photo! | Photo: Michal Walusza

Did you see Sagar’s prank yesterday? I almost fell for it! | Photo: Michal Walusza

Team Vaishali! | Photo: Michal Walusza

Different moments of the same tournament. | Photo: Michal Walusza

A fan in her element. | Photo: Yoav Nis

Hikaru and his expressions! | Photos: Yoav Nis

Catching up on the game. | Photo: Michal Walusza

The rest day came with a local flavor, making Halloumi! | Photo: Michal Walusza

Andrey Esipenko trying his hand at making traditional Cypriot cheese. | Photo: Michal Walusza

Candidates... just in another format! | Photo: Yoav Nis

Look at the game from Fabi's perspective. | Photo: Yoav Nis

The guardians of fair play. | Photo: Yoav Nis

"Oh my god .. paps!' | Photo: Yoav Nis

All the way from India! | Photo: Michal Walusza

Right back into her mother’s arms. | Photo: Yoav Nis

That one person you go to after it all! | Photo: Yoav Nis

Repeat after me, "I am Bae... I am here to slay... Seize the day!" | Photo: Michal Walusza

Oh no… I forgot to polish my shoes. | Photo: Yoav Nis

Pretend as if no one noticed. | Photo: Yoav Nis

What a capture! | Photo: Yoav Nis

What a walk! | Photo: Yoav Nis

Bro, where is the Bishop? | Photo: Michal Walusza

Oh, there it is! | Photo: Michal Walusza

Should we play Chinese whispers? | Photo: Michal Walusza

Who is talking???? | Photo: Michal Walusza

"Shhhh please" | Photo: Michal Walusza

Such a cool tattoo! | Photo: Michal Walusza

Everything is working. I have got this. | Photo: Michal Walusza

How do I stop him? | Photo: Niki Riga

The one everyone was waiting for. | Photo: Niki Raga

Uzbek fans were right there to cheer for Sindarov. | Photo: Niki Raga

And then, it paid off! | Photo: Niki Raga

So close, yet so far... | Photo: Michal Walusza

Bibisara, too, was right in the race for the women’s title... | Photo: Michal Walusza

... and Vaishali was right there with her! | Photo: Michal Walusza

The tension wasn’t only on the board. | Photo: Niki Raga

And she did it!!! | Photo: Niki Raga

Their reaction was so cute and natural! | Photo: Michal Walusza

Happy Happy Happy!!! | Photo: Michal Walusza

Not the ending she wanted, but far from the end of her story! | Photo: Michal Walusza

The race. The win. The trophy!!!

She came as the lowest-rated player in the tournament, but left as the Champion! | Photo: Michal Walusza

Vaishali wrote her goal of becoming a Women's World Champion this year! | Photo: Michal Walusza

This was his journey as well! | Photo: Niki Raga

Question to Nagalakshmi - On a scale of 0 to infinity, how proud are you? | Photo: Niki Raga

This is what they will always remember! | Photo: Niki Raga

After everything, just this moment!!! | Photo: Niki Raga

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