Chess Candidates: Indian R Vaishali leads alone with four rounds to go | Chess News –

NEW DELHI: As FIDE’s 2026 candidates in Cyprus head to a much-needed rest day, India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu has emerged as the woman to beat.The 24-year-old, despite drawing in the 10th round, broke away from the pack to become the sole leader in the women’s section, which certainly seemed 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 divisions.

With only four rounds remaining, the Mediterranean air was growing thicker with tension. While Vaishali holds the sole lead in the women’s division with 6/10 points, the margin is very small, and the technical fragility of her compatriots, most notably Pragnananda in the Open and Divya Deshmukh in the women’s category, means that the Indian challenge is hanging by a thread.Vaishali’s Great Escape; Divya collapses at the end of the gameUp against Anna Muzychuk, who has maintained commendable form in the ongoing campaign, Vaishali has shown maturity beyond her years with the black pieces.

Veteran grandmaster Praveen Thepsai, who analyzed the match for TimesofIndia.com, noted, “Vaishali played a safe but active game against Muzychuk. The position remained balanced almost throughout. Vaishali drew comfortably with the black pieces and achieved a draw in 42 moves, taking her tally to six points.”The news was less festive for 20-year-old Divya Deshmukh.In a tough encounter against Russia’s Alexandra Goryachkina, the rider’s retreat was fatal.

According to 66-year-old Thepsai, Divya made a fatal mistake by moving her knight from c4 to b2 in her 58th movement.

“She was hoping to exchange the pawn to the other side, which never happened,” Thepsay said. “If she had played 58.Ne5+ or perhaps Ne3, she would have maintained a reasonable chance of drawing. With this loss, Divya might be out of the running for the championship.”Pragnananda’s novelty backfiresIn the open division, R Praggnanandhaa’s campaign suffered another setback at the hands of Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov.Despite providing a theoretical novelty with 17.h3, a move described by Thepsai as a drive move that initially gave Black the advantage, the Indian prodigy failed to maintain the momentum.

“Pragnanandhaa played a theoretical novelty with 17.h3. It’s a new engine-recommended move that gives Black a slightly better position. Sindarov chose a sharp variation where White sacrifices a piece for a king-side attack, but Praggnanandhaa initially found the right way to equalize,” Thipsay explained.“However, he did not follow through with the spirit of the idea behind the move. His nineteenth and twenty-first moves were inaccurate, allowing Sindarov to gain adequate compensation and a slightly better position.”The match turned into a one-sided match after move 22…BD7“The key turning point came on move 22. Instead of playing 22.Be6 and staying a little worse off, Praggnanandhaa chose 22.Bd7, a huge mistake that resulted in the queen and bishop losing two rooks,” Thepsai explained.

“It was due to the previous sacrifice of a piece by Cindarov, and the players entered into a double queen vs. rook end… Cindarov’s queen captured almost all of Pragnananda’s pawns.”With this win, Sindarov, who now has 8/10 points, has a two-point lead over his closest competitor, Anish Giri. Thanks to this, it now looks increasingly likely that he will secure the right to challenge De Gokisch for the world championship later this year.Results of the tenth round for the International Federation candidates – April 9, 2026Open the section

Women’s section

FIDE Candidates Round 11 – April 11, 2026Open the section

Women’s section