FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026 R3: Divya survives a scare against Goryachkina

By admin April 1, 2026 Updated: June 17, 2026 0 comments

The third round of FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026 had two decisive games. It could have been three if Aleksandra Goryachkina converted her decisive advantage against Divya Deshmukh. R Vaishali played a well contested draw against Anna Muzychuk. Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) won a sharp battle against Jiner Zhu (CHN). Zhongyi Tan (CHN) lost a back-and-forth game against Kateryna Lagno.

Vaishali draws against Anna, A tough day for the Chinese players

All three Chinese players suffered a loss each in the third round. Wei Yi in the Open, Jiner Zhu and Zhongyi Tan in the Women’s event.

Vaishali – Anna: 0.5-0.5

R Vaishali (2470) and Anna Muzychuk (UKR, 2522) have played nine Classical rated games against each other. Vaishali won one and the remaining eight games ended in draws. The sole win came at the Candidates 2024 in their second encounter out of the two at the same event. This time they had a calm draw arising out of Two Knights’ Defence.

R Vaishali – Anna Muzychuk (UKR): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Goryachkina – Divya: 0.5-0.5

Aleksandra Goryachkina (2534) has always been a tough opponent for Divya Deshmukh (2497). Out of the five Classical rated games they played against each other, Goryachkina won three and the remaining two ended in draws. In their sixth Classical battle, Goryachkina was winning the better part of the rook endgame.

Position after 64…Kh7

65.Ra7+ Kh8 66.Kf7 Kh7 67.Kf6+ Kh6 68.Ra8 Rb6+ 69.Kf7 Rb7+ 70.Kf8 would have been winning for White. Instead, White blundered 65.Kf7?? Rxf3 and White’s winning chances evaporated. 66.Rxg6 f4 67.Rf6 Rxg3 68.Rxf4 Rg4 69.Rf5 Rxh4 and Black went on to draw the game comfortably.

Aleksandra Goryachkina would be disappointed to miss the win | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Jiner Zhu (CHN) lost a sharp battle against Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Press Conference with Bibisara Assaubayeva | Video: FIDE

Zhongyi Tan (CHN) lost a back-and-forth battle against Kateryna Lagno | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Press Conference with Kateryna Lagno | Video: FIDE

WGM Dana Reizniece (LAT), FIDE Deputy Chair, made the ceremonial first move on R Vaishali and Anna Muzychuk’s board | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis

Replay Round 3 live stream

Replay Round 3 live commentary by GM Peter Svidler and GM Jan Gustafsson | Video: FIDE

Replay Round 3 games

Round 3 results

Two games ended decisively and it could have been three in Round 3 | Graphic: FIDE

Standings after Round 3

Bibisara Assaubayeva and Kateryna Lagno are at 2/3 each | Graphic: FIDE

Round 4 pairings

Anna Muzychuk — Kateryna Lagno
Bibisara Assaubayeva — Tan Zhongyi
Divya Deshmukh — Zhu Jiner
Vaishali Rameshbabu — Aleksandra Goryachkina

Schedule

FIDE Candidates Open and Women will take place from 29th March to 15th April. Tie-breaks, if needed, will be played on 16th April. Rest days are on 2nd, 6th, 10th and 13th April 2026.