Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: The cold war at the chessboard reached a freezing point in Round 4 of the Women’s Candidates 2026, as Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk and Russia’s Kateryna Lagno bypassed the traditional courtesies of the game. There was no handshake at the start, no acknowledgement at the end, and both players walked away in silence, a stark reflection of the geopolitical tensions that continue to shadow international chess.On the board, the contest was a high-stakes positional battle. Muzychuk secured a decisive victory, navigating through tactical complications to dismantle Lagno’s defense in just 31 moves.
“I chose this line to avoid some concrete variations,” Muzychuk explained after the game, noting her strategy to pull Lagno into less charted territory.The game turned on a pivotal error at move 28. Lagno, who had defended resourcefully under immense pressure, faltered when Muzychuk sacrificed a piece for two pawns and a surging initiative. While Lagno could have opted for a queen exchange to enter a difficult but defensible endgame, she chose to push forward with 28…exd4.Watch: The decision proved fatal. Muzychuk responded with 29.Qxd4, launching a decisive attack that forced a conclusion only three moves later.The win catapults Muzychuk to the top of the leaderboard with 2.5 points, where she sits tied with Bibisara Assaubayeva. The tournament now moves into Round 5, with Muzychuk set to face Aleksandra Goryachkina, while Lagno looks to recover against Assaubayeva. With Thursday being the rest day, the tournament enters the Round 5 stage on Friday.
Round 5 Pairings – FIDE Women’s Candidates :
- Aleksandra Goryachkina – Anna Muzychuk
- Zhu Jiner – Vaishali Rameshbabu
- Tan Zhongyi – Divya Deshmukh
- Kateryna Lagno – Bibisara Assaubayeva
