New Delhi: As the FIDE candidates in Cyprus 2026 head towards a much-needed rest day, India’s Vaishali Ramesh Babu has emerged as the woman to beat.The 24-year-old, despite being drawn in the 10th round, broke away from the pack to become the sole table-topper in the women’s section, which certainly felt like a breath of fresh air in a tournament that has seen mixed fortunes for the Indian contingent in both the open and women’s sections.
With only four cycles to go, the Mediterranean air thickens with tension. While Vaishali holds the sole lead in the women’s section with 6/10 points, the cushion is paper-thin, and the technical fragility of her compatriots, particularly Praganandha in the open and Divya Deshmukh in the women’s category, means the Indian challenge hangs by a thread.Vaishali’s great escape; Divya falls in the end game.Facing Anna Muzyczak, who has maintained a commendable form in the ongoing campaign, Vaishali showed maturity beyond her years with the black pieces.Veteran Grandmaster Praveen Thipse, analyzing the game for TimesofIndia.com, said, “Vishali played a safe but active game against Mozychak. The position was almost balanced throughout. With the black pieces Vaishali comfortably equalized and drew it in 42 moves, bringing his tally to six points.”The news was less happy for 20-year-old Divya Deshmukh.In a tight match against Russia’s Alexandra Gorichkina, a knight’s retreat proved fatal. According to Thipse, 66, Divya made a decisive mistake by moving her knight from c4 to b2 on her 58th move.“She was hoping for a pawn exchange from the other side, which never happened,” Thipse commented. “Had she played 58. Ne5+ or perhaps Ne3, she would have stood a decent chance of drawing. With this loss, Divya is probably out of the championship race.”Praganananda’s novelty backfires.In the open section, R Praganandha’s campaign suffered another setback at the hands of Uzbekistan’s Javakhir Sundarov.17. Despite introducing a theoretical innovation with h3, Thipse described as the engine move that initially gave Black an edge, the Indian prodigy failed to keep pace.“Pragnanandaa played a theoretical innovation with 17.h3. It’s a new, engine-suggested move that gives Black a slightly better position. Sundaroff chose a quick variation in which White sacrifices a piece for a kingside attack, but Pragnanandaa found the right way to level Thipse early.”“However, he did not live up to the spirit of the idea behind the move. His 19th and 21st moves were incorrect, allowing Sundarov to overcompensate and gain a slightly better position.”After 22…Bd7 the game turned into a one-sided affair.“The main turning point came on move 22. Instead of playing 22.Be6 and being a bit worse off, Pragnandha chose 22.Bd7, a mistake that cost him a queen and a bishop for two rooks,” Thipse explained. “This accounted for an earlier sacrifice of a piece by Sindarov, and the players were drawn into a queen versus double rook ending… Sindarov’s queen captured almost all of Praganananda’s pawns.”With the win, Sandroff, now at 8/10 points, has established a commanding two-point lead over his nearest rival, Anish Giri. And thanks to that, he is now looking increasingly likely to earn the right to challenge de Gokesh for the world championship later this year.FIDE Candidate Round 10 Results – 9 April 2026Open the section.
- Andrey Espenko 0.5–0.5 Matthias Bilbom
- Javakhir Sandarov 1–0 R Parganananda
- Wei Yi 0.5–0.5 Fabiano Caruana
- Anish Giri 0.5–0.5 Hikaru Nakamura
Women’s section
- Anna Muzichak 0.5–0.5 Vaishali Ramesh Babu
- Divya Deshmukh 0–1 Aleksandra Goryachkina
- Bibisara Assaubayeva 1-0 Zhu Jiner
- Catrina ligno 0.5–0.5 tan zhongi
FIDE Candidates Round 11 Pairing – 11th April 2026Open the section.
- Anish Giri vs Andrey Espenko
- Hikaru Nakamura vs. Wei Yi
- Fabiano Caruana vs. Javkhair Sundaroff
- R Pragnananandhaa v. Matthias Blübaum
Women’s section
- Katrina Ligno vs. Anna Muzyczyk
- Tan Zongi v. B. Besara Asao Baifa
- Zoe Jenner Vs Divya Deshmukh
- Alexandra Gurichkina vs. Vaishali Ramesh Babu
