A round defined by technical chess

In round two of the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament, the tactical fireworks of the opening day gave way to a more cautious and technical brand of chess. By the end of the day, all eight games across the Open and Women’s Candidates had finished in draws. The result left the standings largely unchanged: in the Open section, Fabiano Caruana, R Praggnanandhaa and Javokhir Sindarov remained in the leading group on 1.5/2. Even at this early stage, the first two rounds have already shown how carefully the contenders are balancing risk control with the need to seize their moments.

One of the day’s most memorable moments came in the all-Indian Women’s Candidates clash between Divya Deshmukh and R Vaishali, where Viswanathan Anand made the ceremonial first move. Acting in his role as FIDE Deputy President, the five-time World Champion played 1.c4 on the board—exactly the move Divya soon chose herself. Beyond the ceremony, the games were rich in lessons: in the Women’s event, both Divya Deshmukh and Zhu Jiner had chances to seize sole first place, but each let the moment slip after missing tactical sequences against Vaishali and Kateryna Lagno, respectively. As a result, all eight players in the Women’s Candidates are tied on 1/2 after two rounds, underlining just how fiercely contested the tournament is likely to be.

In the Open tournament, one of the highest-quality technical battles of the day was the game between Anish Giri and Caruana, who had the black pieces. Caruana chose a rare move order in the Catalan Opening, clearly hoping to steer the game away from Giri’s preparation. However, the Dutch grandmaster was ready and managed to claim a small edge from the opening. That advantage, though, never grew into serious winning chances. In his post-game remarks, Caruana acknowledged Giri’s opening strength and said he had defended accurately enough to neutralize the pressure. Indeed, both players produced an exceptionally precise game, scoring around 98% accuracy without a single outright mistake. It was another reminder that at elite level, tiny positional nuances often decide the entire direction of a game.

A similar theme emerged in the encounter between Wei Yi and Praggnanandhaa. A slight inaccuracy in the main line of the French Defence briefly offered White a window of opportunity, but the Indian star was unable to convert it into something tangible. Even so, a draw-heavy round should not be mistaken for an uneventful one. In an event as long, tense and psychologically demanding as the Candidates, avoiding defeat can be nearly as valuable as scoring a full point. After round two, both the Open and Women’s standings remain tightly packed, a sign that one opening novelty, one tactical strike or one endgame slip could dramatically reshape the race in the rounds ahead.