FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026 R6: Anna Muzychuk emerges sole leader, Divya and Vaishali score their first wins

By admin April 5, 2026 0 comments

Anna Muzychuk (UKR) defeated one of her coleaders, Jiner Zhu (CHN) to emerge sole leader 4/6 at FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026. She now has a full point lead over the field. Divya Deshmukh and Jiner are the only two players at 3/6 each. Divya scored her first win of the event against Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ). R Vaishali also picked up her first win in Cyprus against Kateryna Lagno.

Black wins three

It was a good day for the Indian players as both Divya Deshmukh and R Vaishali scored their first wins of the event. Currently, five players – Divya, Jiner Zhu, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Kateryna Lagno and Vaishali are trailing the leader by a full point at 3/6 each.

Anna Muzychuk (UKR) emerged sole leader 4/6 | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis

Interview with Anna Muzychuk | Video: FIDE

Jiner- Anna: 0-1

Anna Muzychuk (UKR, 2522) and Jiner Zhu (CHN, 2578) have played four Classical rated games against each other. Anna won one and the remaning three ended in draws.

Position after 24…f4

White allowed the black knight to have an outpost on d4 uncontested. 24…f4-+ started to shift things in Black’s favor 25.gxf4 Rxf4 26.h5 Ndxc2 a very well-thought out trade 27.Rxc2 Rxf1 28.Nxf1 Nxc2 29.Qxc2 Qh4+ 30.Nh2 Rf8 31. Qd1 Qxh5 Black is winning because Black’s rook is more active compared to white’s poorly coordinated knights, moreover White’s king is quite vulnerable too. Black won the game in the next few moves. With this win, Anna gained sole lead 4/6 and she is now a full point ahead of the field.

Jiner Zhu (CHN) crumbled against Anna Muzychuk (UKR): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Zhongyi Tan (CHN) – Aleksandra Goryachkina: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Kateryna – Vaishali: 0-1

Kateryna Lagno (2508) and R Vaishali (2470) have played five Classical rated games against each other. Kateryna has won two, Vaishali one and the remaining two games ended in draws. In their previous Candidates encounter, both players scored a win against each other.

Position after 29.Qd2?

28.a4?! Re5 29.Qd2? allowed Bxh3! 30.Bh6 Rf7 31.Re3 Bg4 32.Bc2 Bf3 33.gxf3 exf3 34.Qd3 Rff5?? 35.Rxf3+- shifted things in White’s favor 35…Ng5 36.Bxg5 Rxg5+ 37.Rg3 Qh3 38.Qf1?? was the final mistake Rxg3+ 39.fxg3 Qxg3+ and it became just a matter of time for Black to win this.

R Vaishali scored her first win of the event against Kateryna Lagno | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Press Conference with R Vaishali and Jiner Zhu | Video: FIDE

Bibisara – Divya: 0-1

Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ, 2516) and Divya Deshmukh (2497) have played four Classical rated games against each other. Three of them were when they were kids. In total Bibisara won two and the remaining two ended in draws. Despite having a strong passed pawn on c6, at one point, it seemed like White was happy to get a draw via repetition. However, Divya declined it, made a bold decision to trade pieces and go into a queen and rook major piece endgame.

Position after 39.Qd3?

White decided to give up her c6-pawn in order to capitalize on Black’s seemingly weak back rank. It turned out to be a big mistake for White. 39.Qd3? Rxc6 40.f6 Rc8!-+ 41.Rd1 Kh8 42.Kg2 h5 43.Qd2 Qg4 44.Re1 h4 45.Re3 Rg8 46.Qd7 Qf4 and it’s over as Black’s attack is much more devastating. Thus, Divya scored her first win of the event.

Divya Deshmukh scored her first win of the event against Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ)| Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Press Conference with Divya Deshmukh | Video: FIDE

Replay Round 6 live stream

Replay Round 6 live commentary by GM Peter Svidler and GM Jan Gustafsson | Video: FIDE

Replay Round 6 games

Round 6 results

Round 6 witnessed three decisive games | Graphic: FIDE

Standings after Round 6

Anna Muzychuk is the sole leader 4/6 | Graphic: FIDE

Round 7 pairings

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

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.