Goodbye.

Welcome back to the Candidates Tournament, the most important tournament of 2026. This is the 11th round of the 14-round double round-robin. Javahir Sundarov from Uzbekistan is currently dominating the field with a two-point lead over Anish Giri with four rounds remaining. Sundarov's odds of winning are estimated at 96%. In contrast, the women's candidates is a much tighter race, with many players still in contention. Today's games included Fabiano Caruana taking on Sundarov. Fabi, seeking revenge after an earlier loss to Sundarov, opened with Knight F3. The first 15 moves of the game were played from memory, following a Catalan opening. Sundarov, having prepared this opening, took on C4. Fabi responded with the forcing Knight E5, a less common move, aiming to regain the pawn. Black countered with C5, a key equalizing idea in many lines. White exchanged the knight for the Catalan light-squared bishop. The game then saw a rare move, Bishop E3, baiting Black into Knight D5. Both players continued to follow top engine lines, with Sundarov playing the best move to activate his bishop, and Fabi responding with King F2 and D5, forcing the bishop back. The game remained a dynamic endgame, with many pieces traded. Sundarov did not play the optimal Rook C8, allowing Fabi to gain an advantage. Fabi's position improved significantly, and he managed to win back a pawn, creating an outside passed pawn. Sundarov's position was challenging, and he made a pawn sacrifice to stall that side of the board. Fabi brought his king and knight into play, seemingly on the verge of victory. However, Sundarov, nicknamed "King Darov," found the only move, King G5, to hold the position. This move allowed his king to participate in both attacking white's pawns and supporting his own C pawn. Fabi spent 38 minutes on his next move, indicating his realization that victory was no longer certain. Sundarov, despite being down on time for the first time in the tournament, managed to defend expertly, securing a draw. This result was disappointing for Giri, who needed Sundarov to lose. With four rounds left, six of the other players are mathematically out of contention for the tournament win, leaving Giri as the only one who can challenge Sundarov. Anish Giri played against Yipenko. Giri, who had previously been criticized for not taking enough chances, managed to create a typical "Anish Giri masterclass positional game" with queen-side pressure. He massaged the position well, making gentle improving moves and opening up an attack on the kingside. Giri had a significant advantage at one point, but a crucial decision to trade bishops, instead of possibly going for F4, led to the position fizzling out into a draw. Giri remains two points behind Sundarov, with three games to go, including a head-to-head match. For Giri to catch Sundarov, he would need to win all his remaining games, and Sundarov would need to lose at least one and draw two. Hikaru Wayi's game was a quick draw, a mainline Catalan that saw both players repeat moves. This game highlighted the frustration of players who are out of contention. In another game, Prague, who was expected to be a top contender, built up a nice opening advantage against Blue Bomb's Petro. Prague had a powerful knight and was pressuring throughout. He eventually got a winning chance, but with five minutes on the clock, he missed a winning tactical sequence that would have led to checkmate. Blue Bomb then found a beautiful defensive move, Bishop D3, leading to a draw by repetition. This was a disappointing result for Prague, who came into the tournament with the mindset of winning. On the women's side, the tournament remains close, with Vashali leading. Gachkina played against Vashali. Gachkina opened with a sideline C3, leading to a mainline London. The game was an equal struggle, but as time trouble approached, things became chaotic. Gachkina made a losing blunder by offering a trade of bishops, which allowed Vashali to trap Gachkina's rook with Knight D7. Vashali, who started the tournament roughly, has been on a strong run, winning four of her last six games, and now leads the tournament with seven points out of 11 games. Musachuk, a solid player, drew her game against a Queen's Indian, a typically solid position for her. The game became an imbalanced endgame, but ultimately resulted in a draw. Drew Jinar played Divia Desmuk in a Roselimo Sicilian. Black, Divia, got a good position and had an advantage in the endgame. However, she missed a chance to press for a win with Rook G8 and eventually settled for a draw. Finally, Tandongi, a potential spoiler, played Bisara in a Sicilian. Tandongi built up a big advantage and had an extra pawn. The game went into a rook endgame where Tandongi was completely winning. However, she missed a straightforward winning sequence, which would have given her two extra pawns. Instead, she ended up in a famous drawn endgame of rook and pawn versus rook, which Bisara defended very well. The 11th round concluded with six draws and two victories. In the women's tournament, Vashali leads with seven points, followed by two players with six. The next round will see a match between a six-point player and Vashali. For the men, the tournament is largely decided, with Sundarov's dominance. Hikaru will attempt to play for a win against Sundarov in the next round with black, and if he loses, the tournament will be over.