Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: As the FIDE Candidates 2026 in Cyprus heads into a much-needed rest day, India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu has emerged as the woman to beat.The 24-year-old, despite a draw in the 10th round, has broken away from the pack to become the sole table-topper in the women’s section, which has certainly felt like a breeze of fresh air in a tournament that has seen mixed fortunes for the Indian contingent across both open and women’s sections.
With only four rounds remaining, the Mediterranean air is getting thicker with tension. While Vaishali occupies the sole lead in the women’s section with 6/10 points, the cushion is paper-thin, and the technical fragility of her compatriots, most notably Praggnanandhaa in open and Divya Deshmukh in the women’s category, means that the Indian challenge is hanging by a thread.Vaishali’s great escape; Divya’s collapses in endgameFacing Anna Muzychuk, who has maintained a commendable form in the ongoing campaign, Vaishali displayed maturity beyond her years with the black pieces.Veteran Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, analysing the game for TimesofIndia.com, noted, “Vaishali played a safe but active game against Muzychuk. The position remained almost balanced all the time. Vaishali with Black pieces equalised comfortably and made it a draw in 42 moves, thereby taking her tally to six points.”The news was less celebratory for 20-year-old Divya Deshmukh.In a gruelling encounter against Russia’s Aleksandra Goryachkina, a knight retreat proved fatal. According to 66-year-old Thipsay, Divya made a decisive blunder by moving her knight from c4 to b2 on her 58th move.“She was hoping to exchange the pawn on the other side, which never happened,” Thipsay remarked. “Had she played 58. Ne5+ or perhaps Ne3, she maintained a reasonable drawing chance. With this loss, Divya is probably out of the race for the championship.”Praggnanandhaa’s novelty backfiresIn the Open section, R Praggnanandhaa’s campaign suffered another setback at the hands of Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov.Despite introducing a theoretical novelty with 17. h3, a move Thipsay described as an engine move that initially gave Black an edge, the Indian prodigy failed to sustain the momentum.“Praggnanandhaa did play a theoretical novelty with 17.h3. It’s a new, engine-recommended move that gives Black a slightly better position. Sindarov had chosen a sharp variation in which White sacrifices a piece for a kingside attack, but Praggnanandhaa initially found the correct way to equalise,” Thipsay explained.“However, he didn’t follow up in the spirit of the idea behind the move. His 19th and 21st moves were inaccurate, allowing Sindarov to obtain enough compensation and a slightly better position.”The game turned into a one-sided affair after move 22…Bd7“The main turning point came on move 22. Instead of playing 22.Be6 and remaining slightly worse, Praggnanandhaa chose 22.Bd7, a blunder which lost the queen and a bishop for two rooks,” Thipsay explained. “It accounted for the earlier sacrifice of a piece by Sindarov, and the players got into a queen versus double rook ending… Sindarov’s queen captured almost all of Praggnanandhaa’s pawns.”With this win, Sindarov, now on 8/10 points, has established a massive two-point lead over his nearest rival, Anish Giri. And thanks to this, he is now looking increasingly likely to secure the right to challenge D Gukesh for the World Championship later this year.FIDE Candidates Round 10 Results – April 9, 2026Open Section
- Andrey Esipenko 0.5–0.5 Matthias Blübaum
- Javokhir Sindarov 1–0 R Praggnanandhaa
- Wei Yi 0.5–0.5 Fabiano Caruana
- Anish Giri 0.5–0.5 Hikaru Nakamura
Women’s Section
- Anna Muzychuk 0.5–0.5 Vaishali Rameshbabu
- Divya Deshmukh 0–1 Aleksandra Goryachkina
- Bibisara Assaubayeva 1–0 Zhu Jiner
- Kateryna Lagno 0.5–0.5 Tan Zhongyi
FIDE Candidates Round 11 Pairings – April 11, 2026Open Section
- Anish Giri vs Andrey Esipenko
- Hikaru Nakamura vs Wei Yi
- Fabiano Caruana vs Javokhir Sindarov
- R Praggnanandhaa vs Matthias Blübaum
Women’s Section
- Kateryna Lagno vs Anna Muzychuk
- Tan Zhongyi vs Bibisara Assaubayeva
- Zhu Jiner vs Divya Deshmukh
- Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Vaishali Rameshbabu
