FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026 R4: Anna Muzychuk beats Kateryna Lagno, joins Bibisara Assaubayeva in the lead

By admin April 2, 2026 Updated: June 17, 2026 0 comments

Anna Muzychuk (UKR) defeated Kateryna Lagno in the fourth round of FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026. Anna has now joined the lead with Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) at 2.5/4 each. Bibisara drew her game against Zhongyi Tan (CHN). R Vaishali shared the point with Aleksandra Goryachkina. Divya Deshmukh suffered her first loss against Jiner Zhu (CHN).

Vaishali draws against Goryachkina

Today is the first of four rest days. Round 5 will be played tomorrow Friday 3rd April 2026.

Anna – Kateryna: 1-0

Anna Muzychuk (UKR, 2522) and Kateryna Lagno (2508) have played plenty of games against each other. At the Candidates, they played four games before. Anna won one and the remaining three ended in draws. This time, Anna made a nice positional sacrifice to get the initiative.

Position after 19…a5

20.Bxa5! bxa5 21.Nxa5+ Kc8 22.Nc6 does not get White anything immediately. However, it is not easy for Black to defend accurately. 22…Rxa1 23.Rxa1 Nb6 24.Qe3 Bd6 25.c4 Qh6 26.Qh3+ Qe6 27.Qe3 Qh6 28.d4 exd4? 29.Qxd4+- instead 28…Qxe3 29.fxe3 would have kept the game going for Black. 29…Kb7 30.c5 Ra8 31.cxd6 Qxd6 32.Rxa8 and it’s over.

Anna Muzychuk (UKR) defeated Kateryna Lagno to join Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) in the lead 2.5/4 | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Press Conference with Anna Muzychuk | Video: FIDE

Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) – Zhongyi Tan (CHN): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Divya – Jiner: 0-1

Divya Deshmukh (2497) has always struggled against Jiner Zhu (CHN, 2578). Her previous three encounters against the Chinese went in favor of the latter including their recent battle at Prague Challengers a little over a month ago.

Position after 21…Kh7

22.a4? dropped a critical d4-pawn Bxd4 and things completely shifted in Black’s favor. 22.Rxe6! needed to be played a4 23.Rxh6+ gxh6 24.Qd3 and White would have been fine.

Jiner Zhu continues to be a tough opponent for Divya Deshmukh | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Interview with Jiner Zhu | VIdeo: FIDE

R Vaishali – Aleksandra Goryachkina: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

WIM Tshepiso Lopang (BOT), President, African Chess Confederation, made the ceremonial first move on Bibisara Assaubayeva and Zhongyi Tan’s board | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Anna Muzychuk’s fan takes a selfie with her | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Replay Round 4 live stream

Replay Round 4 live commentary by GM Peter Svidler and GM Jan Gustafsson | Video: FIDE

Replay Round 4 games

Round 4 results

For the second consecutive round, two games ended decisively | Graphic: FIDE

Standings after Round 4

Bibisara Assaubayeva and Anna Muzychuk are at 2.5/4 each | Graphic: FIDE

Round 5 pairings

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

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.