Divya Deshmukh is making strides in the FIDE Candidates 2026. After ending up in a series of draws she finally opened her account with a win on Tuesday, April 7. The Indian Grandmaster stunned top seed Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine in the eighth round of the tournament held in Cyprus.
With the win, Divya has made her way to the top of the leaderboard resulting in a five-way tie joining others at 4.5 points each. The Indian found herself picking up a big win against Muzychuk, who suffered from time pressure, and led her to win the match with the black pieces.
Meanwhile, India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu ended her two-match-winning streak drawing against Kazakhstan’s Bibisara Assaubayeva in round 8. The Grand Swiss champion failed to get a breakthrough and missed her chance of taking the lead in the tournament.
Earlier in Round 7, Vaishali had secured a crucial win in the tournament in Cyprus. The 24-year-old Indian Grandmaster defeated Tan Zhongyi to take the No. 2 spot in the tournament rankings to sit behind Muzychuk with half a point less with 4.5. Meanwhile, Deshmukh had finished in the third spot with 3.5 points.
Deshmukh had played one of the longest games in the women’s chess tournament history against Kateryna Lagno. The two battled to move 135 later resulting in a draw.
Elsewhere, India’s men’s Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa faced his second loss of the tournament in the opening section. After resulting in four consecutive draws in the previous rounds, this was a major setback.
Playing with the black pieces, Praggnanandhaa could not stop the attack from the Netherlands Anish Giri in a Queen’s Gambit Declined variation and resigned after 44 moves. With that he is now tied for fourth place with 3.5 points, trailing behind leader Javokhir Sindarov by three points.
FIDE Candidates 2026 Standings After Round 8
Women’s Open
Joint Leaders (4.5 pts): Divya Deshmukh, R Vaishali, Zhu Jiner, Anna Muzychuk, and Kateryna Lagno.
Men’s Open
Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan): 6.5 pts
Fabiano Caruana (USA): 4.5 pts
Anish Giri (Netherlands): 4.5 pts
Hikaru Nakamura (USA): 4.5 pts
