Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: The second round of the FIDE Candidates 2026 began with a touch of royalty on Monday. Five-time world champion and FIDE Deputy President Viswanathan Anand stepped up to the board of Divya Deshmukh and Vaishali Rameshbabu to make the ceremonial first move.It was a fitting start for a clash between two of India’s brightest talents, in a round that many expected to break the deadlock of the opening day.However, the theme of the day proved to be one of resilience rather than breakthrough. Across both the Open and Women’s categories at the Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort in Paphos, Cyprus, every single game ended in a draw.
While the Open section caught its breath after a volatile Day 1, the Women’s section remained a territory of peace treaties, with all eight games played so far in the tournament ending in a split point.Game of The Day: Divya Deshmukh vs R VaishaliThe highlight of the afternoon was undoubtedly the all-Indian battle between Divya and Vaishali. Playing the White pieces, Divya built a significant advantage in a Queen’s Gambit Declined setup, reaching a position that appeared to be a forced win. “In the women’s section, all the games ended in a draw just like the first round,” veteran Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay told TimesofIndia.com after the day’s play. “But the games were quite interesting; they were not plain or uneventful. For example, Divya versus Vaishali. Divya was pressing on the queenside, but on move 34, instead of playing the normal 34…b5, which would head toward an obvious draw, Vaishali decided to exchange knights with 34...Ne4.”
That decision by Vaishali was a double-edged sword that nearly backfired, but it also set the stage for the most dramatic sequence of the tournament so far.“That move could have been really dangerous because, after that, the position was a forced win for Divya,” Thipsay noted. “But Divya fell for a trap. Vaishali had set a very ingenious trap. On the 37th move, Divya could have played Qg4, exchanged queens, and maintained an extra pawn with a completely winning position. Instead, she chose Qg3 to try and trap Vaishali’s queen.”
It was a fatal miscalculation. Vaishali had calculated a spectacular resource that turned the tables instantly.“When Divya thought she was going to win the queen, Vaishali came up with a brilliant queen sacrifice: 40…Qxh3+. She must have seen this quite a few moves back. Divya had to give back her queen to a knight fork, leading to a drawn rook ending with no real chances,” Thipsay added.
“Vaishali’s 40th move must have been planned as far back as her 34th. It was a deep combination, and Divya must have missed the sacrifice when she played 37.Qg3.”A strategic phase in Open SectionIn the Open category, the fireworks of Sunday were replaced by a feeling-out phase. After his clinical victory over Anish Giri, R Praggnanandhaa switched to the Black pieces against China’s Wei Yi. Playing the French Defence. a staple of his recent repertoire, Pragg held a very slight edge, but Wei Yi’s simplified approach ensured the game never spiralled out of control. “Day two in the open section saw some sort of boring games,” Thipsay remarked. “I think players were just taking an overall review of the style and strength of the other participants. Wei Yi, for example, didn’t play the most challenging variation against Praggnanandhaa’s French Defence. Black got a very slight upper hand early, and even in the end, Pragg had an extra pawn, but it was of no use.”Elsewhere, Hikaru Nakamura found himself in a defensive grind against Andrey Esipenko. Despite being a pawn down, Nakamura leveraged his endgame knowledge to salvage a theoretical draw.“Hikaru Nakamura was struggling, but the game was a theoretical draw,” said Thipsay. “Esipenko has a good understanding of strategy, but he misses out on calculations and tactics. If Hikaru knows the procedure, it’s a quite easy draw.”
As the tournament moves into Round 3, the Open section leaderboard remains crowded at the top. Javokhir Sindarov, Fabiano Caruana, and R Praggnanandhaa all sit on 1.5/2, having followed their opening wins with solid draws.“Three people are already leading with one and a half points,” Thipsay concluded. “I think players are looking at the first half as something to play steadily. The desperate play will likely come in the second half. Praggnanandhaa and Caruana seem to have a good edge. We will have a much better idea after the next five games of this first half.”FIDE Candidates Round 2 Results – March 30, 2026Open SectionAndrey Esipenko 0.5–0.5 Hikaru NakamuraAnish Giri 0.5–0.5 Fabiano CaruanaWei Yi 0.5–0.5 R PraggnanandhaaJavokhir Sindarov 0.5–0.5 Matthias BlübaumWomen’s SectionAnna Muzychuk 0.5–0.5 Tan ZhongyiKateryna Lagno 0.5–0.5 Zhu JinerBibisara Assaubayeva 0.5–0.5 Aleksandra GoryachkinaDivya Deshmukh 0.5–0.5 Vaishali RameshbabuRound 3 Pairings – March 31, 2026Open: Blübaum vs Esipenko; Praggnanandhaa vs Sindarov; Caruana vs Wei Yi; Nakamura vs Giri.Women: Vaishali vs Muzychuk; Goryachkina vs Divya; Zhu Jiner vs Assaubayeva; Tan Zhongyi vs Lagno.
