Chess
FIDE Candidates 2026: Vaishali loses to Zhu, shares lead
Divya Deshmukh and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu played out a draw in Round 12.
High commissioner of India, Manish, opened the game for Vaishali. (Photo credit: FIDE)
With just two rounds remaining, India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu suffered a crucial defeat against China’s Zhu Jiner in Round 12 of the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates in Cyprus on Sunday, slipping into a joint lead at the top of the standings.
Vaishali was outplayed by Zhu, who drew level on seven points.
The Women’s Candidates witnessed three decisive results in Round 12, intensifying battle as the tournament reaches its final stages.
Divya Deshmukh lost to former world champion Tan Zhongyi, who registered her first victory of the tournament. Divya is among the bottom two players with 5 points.
In other matches, Bibisara Assaubayeva defeated Kateryna Lagno to stay within striking distance with 6.5 points.
Anna Muzychuk played an excellent game against Aleksandra Goryachkina, but failed to capitalise on the momentum.
Praggnanandhaa held to a draw
In the open section, all games ended in a draw with Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Andrey Esipenko entering a sharp and dynamic opening that both players had deeply analysed in their home preparation. Unsurprisingly, the game was handled with near-perfect precision and ultimately steered to a draw, with accuracy levels approaching 99%.
Praggnanandhaa is placed seventh with 5 points.
Javokhir Sindarov, who drew against Hikaru Nakamura, is leading with 9 points and Anish Giri, who came close to defeating Wei Yi, is second with 7 points.
In other match, Matthias Bluebaum drew with Fabiano Caruana. Round 13 will be played on April 14.
Round 13
FIDE Candidates
Wei Yi vs Andrey Esipenko
Anish Giri vs Javokhir Sindarov
Hikaru Nakamura vs Matthias Bluebaum
Fabiano Caruana vs Praggnanandhaa R
FIDE Women’s Candidates
Bibisara Assaubayeva vs Anna Muzychuk
Kateryna Lagno vs Divya Deshmukh
Tan Zhongyi vs Vaishali Rameshbabu
Zhu Jiner vs Aleksandra Goryachkina