An Emotional Farewell to the 2026 Candidates Tournaments in Cyprus

The 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament and the Women’s Candidates Tournament came to a memorable close in Cyprus with a ceremony that offered chess a fitting final act. Held at the beachfront St. George's Hotel & Resort, the evening was far more than a formal prize-giving event. It became a shared moment for players, coaches, families, sponsors and organizers after more than three weeks of relentless competition. Traditional Cypriot dance, live music, fireworks and the warm tone of the hosts created a finale worthy of one of the most critical stages on the road to the world championship.

The ceremony began in the evening with the national anthem of Cyprus and the FIDE anthem, followed by a video recap of the tournament’s most memorable moments. This segment revisited not only tactical blows on the board, opening preparation and tense endgame battles, but also the psychological resilience of the players, the pressure inside the playing hall and the dramatic stories that accumulated after each round. In an event as strong as the Candidates, every move, every pawn break and every lost tempo can influence the race for the world title, and the applause heard during the closing night carried the weight of immense effort and exhaustion.

One of the notable moments of the ceremony was the video message from Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides. He underlined the importance of hosting such a prestigious global sporting event on the island and praised the discipline and fighting spirit of the participants. Viswanathan Anand, who then took the stage, framed the evening in a broader historical context, not only as a five-time world champion but also as FIDE Deputy President. The central theme of Anand’s remarks was the ongoing generational shift in elite chess. In recent years, young grandmasters have transformed the rhythm of the game through deeper engine-backed opening preparation, razor-sharp calculation and strong practical decision-making, and the Candidates stage has become perhaps the clearest showcase of that evolution.

In that sense, the closing ceremony in Cyprus was not just the final chapter of a tournament, but a symbolic portrait of where modern chess now stands. The honours paid to Vaishali Rameshbabu, one of the standout figures on the women’s side, provided one of the emotional high points of the evening, while the performances of all participants were met with respect. From the spectators’ perspective, this edition of the Candidates will be remembered not only for its results, but also for its level of preparation, the intensity of the struggle and the way it highlighted the transition between generations. The road to the world championship is always unforgiving; yet the farewell in Cyprus served as a reminder that chess is defined not only by competition, but also by elegance, memory and shared passion.