“My Win Would Be A Huge Boost for Chess” || Fabiano vs Hikaru || FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026

Hello everyone and welcome to the last game we'll be showing from round one of 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament. It is the two American grandmasters Fabiana Corwana and Hikaru Nakamura, the two top seeds of the event. Hikaru the only 2800 in the event, basically the only of the two 2800 players on the planet are him and Magnus and Fabiana Corwana, both of them from the United States and maybe some of you don't know this but if there are two players from the same countries they will always be paired in the first round because they don't want if they are let's say both of them need a win in the final round they don't want two Americans meeting up in the final round of the event because that would be you know just open to a discussion so this way they get rid of any such possible insinuations. So yeah let's check it out it's quite the game and also we have a very nice photo of this matchup there we have it the handshake before the actual event. As usual I always ask you guys if you spot anything weird in the photos maybe you know something that only you find interesting because you know you fly helicopters and you know something only a person who flies helicopters would you know see feel free to share that with us as well. But yeah nothing odd here two American flags the two hours on the clock each two extra queens on the board you know nothing weird comes to my eyes but then again there are many of you guys. So let's dive straight into it Fabi with white opens with Knight to f3 we have Pawn to d5 and Pawn to c4 the sort of ready gambit but can go into anything you can go for Pawn to d4 right away or you can go for Pawn to e6 what Hikaru plays and now we're basically in the Agincourt defense of the English opening we have Pawn to g3 and Hikaru does grab more space he plays Pawn to d4 Bishop to g2 and Knight to c6 we have castles kingside and Bishop to c5 and it's a pretty standard position that has been played many times in top level chess however the move that's almost exclusively played here is Pawn to e3 but that is not what Fabi plays. Fabi plays Pawn to d3 sorry not right away Pawn to d3 that's what I meant to say Pawn to d3 is what's usually played Fabi played Pawn to e3 and this is now very strange because how do you how do you continue the problem with Pawn to d3 it looks like you know it looks like white is your uncle and you're just winning the game with d3 the problem is after Qa4 there will be problems here it's not that easy to handle this to give you an example if Nf6 Nd5 already it's close to a resignation for black not a lot you can do here I mean you can play something like Bishop to d7 then you trade here and then Qa5 it just looks really really bad for black and even if you could play it why would you suffer like this so of course he doesn't do that he plays Knight gte7 and there is a game that reached this position interestingly both of the players that reached it are in the candidates tournament but in the women's section Bibisara Saibaeva played it against Alexander Goryachkina in the 2025 FIDE Grand Prix that was played last year but in that game we had a different continuation Pawn to d3 here we have Nd4 by Fabi and it is now as of move 7 that we have a completely new game Nd4 and now comes Pawn to b4 and this is already I mean when I saw this I was very very happy because finding such a position where you can execute Pawn to b4 and it doesn't seem like black has a satisfactory move here other than capturing much like you would in an Evans gambit because if the bishop retreats there's always the possibility of c5 I mean that's just terrible for black so Bishop captures is the only way to go and now comes e-captures on d4 and here we already get to explore some crazy lines like is the Pawn on d4 free for grabs we could capture it and then allow Qa4 check nicely connecting with the bishop so you can play Nc6 to defend it and then something like Bishop captures with check B captures and Queen captures on b4 and if the Rook on a1 is captured there's you can play Bishop to a3 right away because the Queen can go to f6 but you can play Bishop b2 attack the Queen force Queen captures on a2 and then you play Bishop on a3 and now black resigns as checkmate is unstoppable you have to give up the Queen so crazy position but of course Hikaru doesn't go crazy he just castles kingside now we have Queen to b3 attacking the Bishop and the Bishop to a5 and now comes Knight to c3 again Fabi offers the d4 Pawn and he's playing he's not playing that quickly Hikaru is actually faster than him but obviously it is an opening Fabi prepared that e3 move instead of d3 and he knows the ins and outs a little bit better than Hikaru here and if you capture on d4 I mean it can be done then Queen a3 already looks annoying and then if Bishop captures on c3 D captures it can be played you mess up Fabi's Pawn structure you're even up a Pawn but Fabi has the Bishop prepared if this Bishop gets this diagonal or even if you put it on f4 and put all of this pressure on the Queen side still doesn't look like something you should be calculating in a candidates tournament so instead after Knight c3 we have Knight to f5 and now Bishop to a3 and again Hikaru can capture that d4 Pawn he can capture it with the Knight and let's check this one because this is probably the craziest line that Fabi could go for Queen to a4 and now you have to play b6 you defend the Bishop you offer the Rook on a8 and you offer the Rook on f8 and now the only good move for White is to capture the Rook on f8 everything else is just good for Black and if Bishop captures you go Bishop d7 attack the White Queen and once the Queen moves you just play Queen captures on f8 and you offer this Rook as well and should White capture it then you play Queen captures on a8 and look at this Knight f3 check would end the game you have to do something about that so f3 has to be played now bring the Bishop in Bishop to c6 and it's just ugly King g2 you have to defend this with the King and then g5 g4 I mean complete madness h3 h5 g4 seems to be unstoppable it seems like only Black can win this even though you have two Rooks versus two Bishops so it can be done but I mean you really have to you would really have to burn your clock here so Hikaru denies himself the pleasure of going for that in round one of the Candidates and now Fabi strikes with d5 okay we have Knight to d4 attacks the Queen Queen to a4 and Pawn to b6 followed by Rook a to e1 again if you're thinking about can we just exploit this Black very very happily gives up this Rook for the attack because the White squares around the White King have been weakened and I mean this is just terrible Knight f3 happening Bishop h3 probably already lost for White so instead Rook a to e1 we have Bishop to d7 attacking the Queen and Fabi has to go back Queen to d1 followed by Pawn to c5 okay Bishop back to b2 and Rook to b8 preparing to advance that bPawn Pawn to a4 we have Pawn to a6 and now d captures on e6 sorry about that yeah d captures on e6 we have Bishop captures and now Knight to d5 so everything is fine both players have time but it's only move 20 and you have to make 20 more moves to reach time control it seems like this will be a theme in pretty much every game as so far it was in every game except for the Bluebaum versus Weiyi game as that one finished fairly quickly in a draw so Queen to d6 okay and now Fabi plays Bishop captures on d4 c captures and Rook to e4 he goes after the dPawn this way but Bishop captures on d5 opens up an attack on the Rook Rook captures with check Rook captures and only now Bishop captures on d5 Bishop to b4 and now Pawn to h4 by Fabi Pawn to a5 by Hikaru and Pawn to d3 and if you look at this position it's a game with Bishops of opposite color material is even and you could argue that White is a little bit better due to the more active light square Bishop but usually that doesn't mean much but it does mean that maybe only White can play for a win so let's see how Hikaru continues he plays Queen to f6 of course still with a lot more time King g2 and we have Queen to e5 okay gaining control over the e-file that Rook is not really a part of this game and Fabi has to solve that if he wants anything we have Queen to f3 Queen to f6 now offering a Queen trade and Fabi declines Queen g4 we have Bishop to c5 and now Pawn to h5 and now you see what Fabi's plan is he does not intend to bring the Rook into the game via any normal means because there aren't any e1 squares covered by the Black Rook so you have to go Rook h1 Rook h4 and then hopefully Rook f4 and go after that f7 Pawn can Hikaru do something about that well not really he can just wait and see what happens we have Pawn to h6 Rook h1 by Fabi and Queen g5 Hikaru wants to trade Queens Fabi of course denies it Queen d1 Queen back to e7 and now not Rook to h4 right away for some reason Fabi first plays Bishop to c6 attacks the Rook we have Rook to c8 and now he throws in a Rook e1 Queen c7 and now Bishop back to d5 we have King to f8 and Queen to g4 and now Hikaru's position all of a sudden looks dreadful he no longer controls the e-file the Bishop is a monster here the Queen excellently placed and Hikaru's dark square Bishop is basically a Pawn at this point so Rook to d8 and we have Queen to e4 preparing Queen h7 which would end the game pretty much instantly King to g8 and now Queen to f5 we have Queen to d7 and now Queen to f3 avoiding the Queen trade we have Rook to f8 adding more support here and Rook to e5 Fabi still finding ways on how to break through his position is much better but you know these opposite color Bishop games can be tricky sometimes it looks like you have something but you actually have nothing but we have Bishop to d6 Hikaru finally tries to activate that Bishop Rook to f5 now with triple pressure on the f7 Pawn we have Queen to e7 and Queen to g4 threatening the Pawn on d4 so Bishop to e5 now you have that Bishop nicely defending pretty much everything but Rook f3 now what's the plan here well we have Bishop to f6 and now comes a Rook to f4 Queen to d8 still no way for Fabi to break through but now Bishop to e4 and Hikaru just confidently plays Rook to e8 because if Fabi ever tries the Queen f5 which seems like a great move you can just play King f8 and you've solved pretty much all of your problems if you ever try to infiltrate then you can go Rook e5 and that King actually escapes the Rook creates a bridge and now it's perfectly fine for Black so after Rook e8 Fabi plays Rook to f5 he tries to get the Rook all the way to d5 and now Hikaru plays Queen to d7 with Queen to f4 here it seems like you can capture but the Queen here prevents that of course Queen to f4 and now Bishop to g5 attacks the Queen Queen f3 and it's hard for Hikaru to make a move now Rook to d5 can be played Rook to b5 can be played you can make this a target and go after that there's really not all that much Black can do here so Hikaru tries Queen to c7 but now Fabi can end the game on the spot and he does will you guys that is the question as it always is feel free to pause the video and win the game for Fabi while I give you a couple of seconds yes it is the straightforward Rook captures on f7 and even though you don't win the Black Queen you win just enough to win the game you have to capture Queen captures on f7 Bishop to d5 and now Rook to e6 followed by the only winning move and that is Queen to g4 now you're going to win back material King to f8 with Bishop captures on e6 Queen to e8 and now comes Bishop to d7 Queen to a8 with check we have King to g1 and now Bishop to f6 followed by Queen to e6 and yes it's still Bishops of opposite color but no one is really thinking that this is in any way equal we have Queen to d8 now comes Bishop to c6 with ideas of Bishop d5 we have Queen to e7 and Queen to c8 with check Queen to d8 and Queen to b7 Bishop to e5 and now comes Bishop to d5 threatening mate in one Queen to c7 and Queen to a8 with check King to e7 and Queen to g8 infiltrating from behind King to d6 and Bishop to e4 many great moves here but nothing really for Hikaru to do he could try with King c5 but he goes back King to e7 with Bishop to g6 now comes Bishop to f6 Queen f7 check with King to d6 and now Queen to d5 with check King to e7 and Bishop to f5 just improving the position waiting for Hikaru to make that you know critical error with Bishop to e5 and now comes Pawn to f4 Bishop to f6 and King to g2 Queen to e6 was also maybe a possibility but Fabi has a very clear way of how he wants to win Queen to d6 we have Queen b7 check King to f8 and now King to f3 Queen e7 and King to e4 forcing a Queen trade you could maybe still keep the Queens on the board but Hikaru decides that his best chance is in a Queen-less endgame captures captures with Bishop to e7 Pawn to e5 with Bishop to b4 and Bishop to d3 so now it's actually an endgame of Bishops of opposite colors so it's a question of whether Fabi can even win this Bishop to e1 putting pressure on the Pawns from behind g4 King to e7 and King to e4 with Bishop to g3 Pawn to f5 and now King d7 followed by King to d5 Bishop to h4 and remarkable as it is you could be up not one Pawn you could be up two Pawns if you just capture here but Fabi decided that that was not the way to go Fabi played Pawn to f6 and this actually allows Hikaru to draw the game because now look at this g captures Pawn to e6 check what would you play here it's very you know chess is like the worst chess is the worst game so Hikaru played the move that anyone would play he played King to e7 but that's not the way to go the move you have to play is King to c7 believe it or not and then after Pawn because White cannot advance the King further now you go back and now if e8 Queen yes White goes after the Pawn but you can play f5 that's the key move and now after Bishop captures your Bishop can retreat and you defend the B Pawn and this is now a draw King to d5 you can go King to f7 you don't even care about the d4 Pawn King to f6 yes you're down a Pawn but it's a draw but here after Pawn to e6 check Hikaru played King to e7 and yes it seems impossible how is it worse to have your King closer to the Pawn well because now the White King advances and now after King captures on e6 King captures on b6 Bishop to e1 defending the a5 Pawn Fabi just played Pawn to c5 and he was in this position on move 83 that Fabiano Caruana or rather Hikaru Nakamura resigned the game as there is nothing more to be done here so brilliant stuff from Fabi he messed up that endgame a little bit should have captured on d4 with the King but obviously it was not even Hikaru expected that to happen and now you don't have a move this is just winning and there's nothing you can do about it you can just bring the King in King to b8 you can go King to c8 Bishop to f5 check King moves and you can even deliver a checkmate or you win however you want so yeah really incredible stuff from Fabi so we have not one not two but three decisive results in round one like I said only Matthias Blubbaum and Wei Yi drew their game everything else was decisive if you haven't seen the other games check them out I have them all covered on my channel and yeah a lot of stuff happening in the live ratings you can see that now Hikaru almost drops below 2800 he lost a lot of points there Fabiano has almost crossed 2800 and yeah very interesting Prague also won some points Djawokir also entered the top 10 after his victory in round one of the candidates so you know could be a very different image once the candidates finish so yeah that's the game really hope you guys enjoyed it I know you guys were waiting for this one but you know it's earlier in America than it is in Europe so maybe even better that I'm uploading it later so I really hope you enjoyed it I would like to thank Darren Sainz Carlsboro, Carlton Mary, Turkel Stainquist, BBY RayRay and Oscar Nissen for a contribution to my channel thank you a lot really appreciate it as usual you can check two of my previous videos here thank you for watching and I will see you soon continuing to check up on your wonderful suggestions and whatever else happens in the chess world thank you all I will see you soon and have an excellent rest of your day and if you still haven't download Lotus Chess it is the first link in the description below it's the absolute best app to learn chess openings and now even features endgames you guys will love it try it out see you soon