Giri Beats Esipenko in Wild Najdorf at 2026 Candidates

Giri's Gambit Pays Off

Anish Giri bounced back to 50% at the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament with a convincing victory over Andrey Esipenko in Round 4. The Dutch grandmaster (2753) outplayed his Russian opponent (2698) in a sharp Sicilian Najdorf, capitalizing on preparation errors to secure a crucial win.

The game opened with the familiar 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3, leading into the Najdorf Variation after Black's typical setup. Esipenko chose the less common 7.Bd3, a move not covered in Giri's own Chessable Najdorf course from 2020. Despite this surprise, Giri was well-prepared and blitzed out his opening moves, including the striking 11...Kd7 — placing his king on d7 in the early middlegame.

The Critical Exchange

The game's turning point came around move 17. Giri admitted he was "the first to mix up the preparation" with 17...Nxd3?!, but Esipenko's response 18.Qxd3? was even more problematic. As the Russian later acknowledged, he "couldn't remember some things during the game," particularly the timing of b2-b4. The correct 18.Rxd3 would have given White promising compensation.

"I was hoping no opponent will think I'm sick enough to actually go for this," Giri said about his king placement, referring to the provocative 11...Kd7. "But then Andrey continued playing fast and that was not the plan."

Preparation Battle

This game highlighted the importance of deep preparation at the Candidates level. Esipenko's 16.b4 looked reasonable, but his confusion about the move order proved costly. Giri, despite calling his own setup "sick," had clearly analyzed the position more thoroughly than his opponent expected.

The victory brought Giri back to an even score while Esipenko suffered his second loss of the tournament. With Javokhir Sindarov grabbing the sole lead by defeating Fabiano Caruana in the same round, every point became crucial in the race to challenge for the world championship.

This tactical battle between two elite grandmasters shows why the Najdorf remains one of chess's most complex openings — and why games like this deserve to be preserved as art on your wall.