Tactics in Elite Chess: Four Puzzles from the Candidates Rounds 9-12

The FIDE Candidates tournament, held every two years, decides the challenger for the ultimate crown of chess: the Classical World Championship title. Featuring eight elite players in a 14-round double round-robin, it is one of the most demanding events in the chess calendar, often providing a plethora of beautiful tactics and unexpected blunders. In this blog, I present four positions from games played during Rounds 9 through 12 where one side needs to play only moves to draw or win. Good luck and have fun!

Position 1: Fabiano Caruana - Anish Giri (Round 9)

As the Candidates drew to a close, Caruana and Giri both needed a miracle in order to overcome Sindarov. Fabiano opened with the Italian, which has been extremely rare thus far in this cycle, to which Giri responded principally. The game followed typical Giuoco Pianissimo theory until move 12, where Fabiano played the atypical 12.Bd3. Anish knew the resulting lines well, and steered the position towards a symmetrical middlegame. Fabiano made a strategical inaccuracy with 16.d5, restricting his own knights, eventually resulting in doubled pawns after a trade of bishops. The position remained easier for black to play for the rest of the game and ultimately, Fabiano cracked under time pressure. Can you find the move that allows black to deliver a forced checkmate?

Position 2: Praggnanandhaa R - Wei Yi (Round 9)

This game started with the Semi-Tarrasch defense, an opening frequently played by Wei Yi to hold with the black pieces. The game deviated from theory early on with the move 5.Bg5, occurring only 1% of the time according to the Lichess masters database. This came as a surprise to Wei as Pragg was able to gain a nearly 50 minute time advantage by the tenth move, despite the position being equal according to Stockfish. Eventually, being down on time led Wei Yi to make several serious mistakes, and eventually, Pragg got a golden opportunity to trap Wei’s bishop. Pragg missed this move after an 11 minute think; can you find it?

Position 3: Praggnanandhaa R - Matthias Bluebaum (Round 11)

Through the 2026 Candidates, it is evident that most players believe the best defense against 1.e4 is the Petrov. In this game, we saw Pragg play an extremely infrequent sideline starting as early as move 4 with Nd3, followed by 5.Nc3, which has occurred only twice according to the Lichess masters database. Interestingly, Bluebaum was prepared, and only stopped to think after Pragg unleashed the 8.Qf3. Eventually, Bluebaum’s unfamiliarity led him to a strategic mistake, resulting in his pawns being doubled on the queen-side. Pragg soon planted a knight on e5 and centralized his rooks, but after failing to spot the difficult 18.Qf5, the position was back to balanced. As time trickled down, Bluebaum blundered late into the middlegame with 33...Re8. Can you find the move that wins the game for white?

Position 4: Wei Yi - Anish Giri (Round 12)

By Round 12, the only other player who has a mathematical chance to win the Candidates apart from Sindarov is Anish Giri. Since he is trailing by two points, he must win all of his remaining games. The game started off with Vienna, which has evidently been Wei Yi’s main preparation in e4. Giri; however, was also extremely well prepared and out of the opening, it was him who was asking questions for Wei. Black’s strong knight on d5, along with white’s restricted majority on the queen-side offered serious winning chances for Giri. Upon sacrificing the exchange, Wei Yi soon found himself in an uncomfortable situation, down on time, and being slightly worse on the board. Can you find the move that capitalizes on white’s blunder with 31.c6?