Published via Ecency

Greetings to all chess fans! Continuing my coverage of the 2026 Fide Candidates tournament. Round two was all drawn but round three was more exciting with two games ending decisively and two players in the lead. Former world championship challenger and world number three Fabiano Caruana is tied at the lead with young Uzbek star Javokhir Sindarov. They won against their respective opponents in different fashions. In the women's section, two games also ended decisively after all games in the previous rounds were drawn.

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Caruana - Wei

Wei Yi sacrificed two Queen side pawns in the opening.

Clearly a prepared line, he compensated his material deficit with activity and Caruana's King cannot castle while his pieces remained trapped in their original squares.

The position was equal until Wei Yi blundered and found his Bishop trapped on h3. Already down two pawns and about to lose a piece, he resigned in only nineteen moves. Caruana's pieces haven't yet left their squares.

Game link: https://lichess.org/broadcast/fide-candidates-2026--combined-open--women/round-3/NiZxUw5X/njOEYSZ5

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Pragg - Sindarov

The battle between two young and enterprising players. Sindarov sacrificed his Knight in exchange for two pawns. Pragg's King was trapped in the open.

With time winding down, Pragg made a mistake with c5 which Sindarov took advantage of. He grabbed the initiative and converted the position to a win.

Game link: https://lichess.org/broadcast/fide-candidates-2026--combined-open--women/round-3/NiZxUw5X/j2cNeVJg

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Tan - Lagno

The women's section also had exciting games. Here Katerina Lagno had a blistering attack.

After several moves, she missed some opportunities and walked into a combination, losing a piece. Rxc7 Rxc7 Qb8+ followed by Qxc7 wins a piece. Tan has the advantage.

A few moves later, it was White's turn to make a mistake. It was not easy to see at least for me. The sacrifice Nf4 forks White's Queen and Rook.

The point is after White captures the Knight, she has to give up her Queen to avoid mate. The forced sequence leads to a mate threat with Rh3 so White has to move Rh2 afterwhich Black captures White's Queen with the pawn on g4.