FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026 R1: Four draws

By admin March 30, 2026 Updated: May 13, 2026 0 comments

The first round of FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026 had four draws. Divya Deshmukh and R Vaishali shared the point against Anna Muzychuk (UKR) and Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) respectively. Divya and Vaishali will clash against each other in Round 2.

A calm start

Generally the Women’s event witnesses more decisive games than Open. However, it was the opposite in this round.

Divya – Anna: 0.5-0.5

The only time Divya Deshmukh (2497) and Anna Muzychuk (UKR, 2522) faced each other in a Classical rated game was in Cyprus, a year ago at FIDE Nicosia GP 2025. Divya surprised her opponent, Anna by opting for Scotch Game with the white pieces. The latter mentioned in the post-game interview.

Position after 19…Nd5

Anna felt that her opponent should have taken the knight 20.Nxd5 instead of playing 20.Bxc6 Bh3+ 21.Kg1 Nxc3 22.Bxa8 Nxd1 23.Rxd1 Re2 and Black has got activity for the pawn.

GM Divya Deshmukh – GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Vaishali – Bibisara: 0.5-0.5

R Vaishali (2470) and Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ, 2516) have played seven Classical rated games against each other. Vaishali won one, Bibisara two and the remaining four games ended in draws. At some point in the middlegame, Vaishali’s position could have become slightly uncomfortable, but her opponent invited the trade of pieces and the game soon liquidated into an opposite color bishop endgame where draw became the obvious result.

R Vaishali – Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Press Conference with R Vaishali and Bibisara Assaubayeva | Video: FIDE

Aleksandra Goryachkina – Kateryna Lagno: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Jiner Zhu (CHN) – Zhongyi Tan (CHN): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Arkady Dvorkovich, FIDE President, made the inaugural first move on Jiner Zhu and Zhongyi Tan’s board | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis

Round 1 in progress | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

GM Peter Svidler and GM Jan Gustafsson are the official commentators | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Replay Round 1 live stream

Replay Round 1 live commentary by GM Peter Svidler and GM Jan Gustafsson | Video: FIDE

Replay Round 1 games

Round 1 results

All four games ended in draws | Graphic: FIDE

Round 2 pairings

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

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.