Can Vaishali win FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026?

By admin April 15, 2026 0 comments

R Vaishali drew her game against Zhongyi Tan (CHN) in the penultimate round of FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026. Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) got the better of Anna Muzychuk (UKR). Jiner Zhu (CHN) suffered defeat against Aleksandra Goryachkina. Thus, Vaishali and Bibisara are coleaders at 7.5/13 each, heading into the final round. Jiner is trailing them by a half point at 7/13.

Bibisara beats Anna, moves to the top with Vaishali

R Vaishali will face Kateryna Lagno and Divya Deshmukh will be up against Bibisara Assaubayeva. Whoever wins between Vaishali and Bibisara, they will become FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026 winner and the Challenger to Wenjun Ju’s (CHN) World Championship. If both of them win or draw their respective games, they will have to play tie-breaks. If Jiner wins her game, then she can join Vaishali and Bibisara provided they also draw their games. If Jiner wins, both Vaishali and Bibisara lose their games, that makes Jiner a clear champion. Anna Muzychuk (UKR) has an outside chance for a Playoff. Both her and Jiner will play for a win as they are in a must-win situation if they want to win the tournament.

Bibisara – Anna: 1-0

Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ, 2516) got a pleasant position out of the Scotch Game opening against Anna Muzychuk (UKR, 2522). Anna however managed to fight back and reach a slightly unpleasant opposite color bishop endgame.

Position after 32.Bc3

32…a6?? was a terrible blunder. It is quite possible that Anna could not recover from missing a win against Goryachkina in the previous round. She was probably worried about 33.Bd4 threat. It cannot be prevented, however, computer recommends 32…Ke6 33.Kd4 Bf1 34.g4 hxg4 35.fxg4 Be2 or 33.Bd4 a6 34.b6 Bd5 gives Black a slightly better chance than what actually transpired.

Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) diminished Anna Muzychuk’s (UKR) chances of winning the event | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

“I’m very happy for him (🇺🇿 Javokhir) and very proud” – Bibisara Assaubayeva | Video: FIDE

Kateryna Lagno – Divya Deshmukh: 1-0 | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Zhongyi – Vaishali: 0.5-0.5

R Vaishali (2470) repeated moves to draw against the 16th Women’s World Champion, Zhongyi Tan (CHN, 2535) and stay in the lead.

Zhongyi Tan (CHN) – R Vaishali: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Jiner – Goryachkina: 0-1

A late blunder caused Jiner Zhu (CHN, 2578) to lose against Aleksandra Goryachkina (2534).

Aleksandra Goryachkina shook off previous round’s cobwebs to beat Jiner Zhu (CHN) | Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga

The twelfth Women’s World Chess Champion, Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI) joined Jan Gustafsson (GER) and Peter Svidler for official commentary | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Replay Round 13 live stream

Replay Round 13 live commentary by GM Peter Svidler and GM Jan Gustafsson | Video: FIDE

Replay Round 13 games

Round 13 results

The penultimate round witnessed three decisive results | Graphic: FIDE

Standings after Round 13

Bibisara Assaubayeva and R Vaishali are the coleaders before the final round | Graphic: FIDE

Round 14 pairings

Anna Muzychuk — Jiner Zhu
Aleksandra Goryachkina — Zhongyi Tan
R Vaishali — Kateryna Lagno
Divya Deshmukh — 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.