As the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates tournament heads into its final stage, so do the chess stars. The Round of 14, the final round of the event, will be played on Wednesday, April 15.
India’s Rameshbabu Vaishali is now joint lead with Bibisara Assaubayeva. Earlier in the penultimate round played on Tuesday evening, Vaishali recovered from a near-end defeat and ended up with a draw against China’s Tan Zhongyi.
For Vaishali, the challenge came after 25 moves when she went under pressure from the clock as well as from the position on the board. This gave Tan a clear advantage. But on the 26th move, Tan makes a critical error, she went for her queen, rather than going for the pawn.
Emerging out, the Indian through her accurate gameplay, holds on to the draw. The decision was taken on move 34 by three-fold repetition.
Both Vaishali and Assaubayeva are currently tied at 7.5 points. The Kazakhstani had secured a dominant win against Anna Muzychuk. She got the advantage from the opening game and went on to convert it into a successful win.
Meanwhile, Zhu Jiner’s to Aleksandra Goryachkina while playing with the white pieces was one of the big ones of the day.
In the Round 14 game, India’s Vaishali will face Kateryna Lagno with the white pieces, while Assaubayeva will play with the black pieces against 20-year-old Divya Deshmukh.
FIDE Candidates 2026 Women’s Round 13 Results
Tan Zhongyi vs. R Vaishali (0.5-0.5)
Kateryna Lagno vs. Divya Deshmukh (1-0)
Zhu Jiner vs. Aleksandra Goryachkina (0-1)
Bibisara Assaubeyeva vs. Anna Muzychuk (1-0)
FIDE Candidates 2026 Women’s Standings
R Vaishali – 7.5
Bibisara Assaubayeva – 7.5
Zhu Jiner – 7
Anna Muzychuk – 6.5
Kateryna Lagno – 6.5
Aleksandra Goryachkina – 6.5
Tan Zhongyi – 5.5
Divya Deshmukh – 5
