Vaishali Rameshbabu will challenge Ju Wenjun for the Women’s World Championship after winning the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates outright with a score of 8.5/14. In an exciting final round, Vaishali defeated Kateryna Lagno in a magnificent display of technique, while Bibisara Assaubayeva could only manage a draw in her game against Divya Deshmukh.
Javokhir Sindarov, already crowned winner of the FIDE Candidates before the final round, made a quick draw with Wei Yi, allowing both Anish Giri and Fabiano Caruana to move up in the standings with two fantastic final-round victories over Matthias Bluebaum and Andrey Esipenko, respectively.
Let’s take a closer look at the action that unfolded in this exciting afternoon of chess.
The ceremonial opener was performed by Marina Stylianides, Director of Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort by Korantina Homes. She played 1.e4 in the game between Vaishali and Lagno, which would ultimately decide the winner of the FIDE Women’s Candidates.
Before the final round began, there were essentially two clear favourites to win the event, with four others still holding outside chances. Bibisara Assaubayeva needed a must-win game with the Black pieces against Divya Deshmukh.
In reality, she never came close to achieving that goal; in fact, had Divya managed her time better, she might even have found a winning continuation just before the time control. The eventual draw left the door wide open for R. Vaishali: a victory against Kateryna Lagno would secure her the title.
Vaishali rose to the occasion, delivering one of her best games of the tournament. Thanks to excellent home preparation, she won a pawn early in the opening and steadily converted that advantage. Her accuracy was remarkable, especially in the sharp and complex Sicilian Defence Dragon Variation, scoring an impressive 96% with only a single minor inaccuracy.
Speaking at the postgame press conference, Vaishali expressed her delight: “It’s amazing, a dream come true for me. When I lost to Zhu Jiner, everything suddenly opened up, and I’m happy I was able to stay focused in the last two rounds and give my best.”
Vaishali was deeply appreciative of the support she had received throughout her journey: “I would like to thank my parents and family; without them, I wouldn’t be here. Also, my amazing team, who have helped me every day, and all of my sponsors who have supported me for many years. Last year, I lost a lot of rating; apart from the Grand Swiss, my results were poor. So, I really have to thank my team for making this possible.”
She also spoke about the sacrifices her family made over the years for both her and her younger brother, R. Praggnanandhaa: “For a family, it’s a long journey to have two professionals at home. My family had to make many sacrifices in the beginning, but for about 10 years now we’ve had support from sponsors. It’s been a collective family effort over many years, and each of us plays a part.”
In the remaining games, Anna Muzychuk and Zhu Jiner pushed hard for their slim chances of reaching a tiebreak, but ultimately fell short. Both players delivered near-flawless performances, and a draw was agreed on move 56.
In the last game of the afternoon, Aleksandra Goryachkina secured her second consecutive victory, defeating Tan Zhongyi and finishing tied for third place in the final standings.
In the FIDE Candidates Tournament, the tension eased somewhat after Javokhir Sindarov secured overall victory the previous day. Even so, three of the four games were still fiercely contested. Sindarov himself made a very quick draw against Wei Yi, trading off all the pieces and leaving the playing hall in under ten minutes.
Meanwhile, the other games unfolded at a much sharper pace. Praggnanandhaa R and Hikaru Nakamura also finished quickly, blitzing out 33 moves of home preparation before agreeing to a draw. Nakamura later mentioned that he had analyzed the lineup to move 26 earlier that morning.
The remaining two games provided the real excitement. Anish Giri delivered a magnificent victory over Matthias Bluebaum, finishing the tournament with an impressive 8.5/14 – a score that, under different circumstances, might well have been enough to win the event.
At the press conference, Anish Giri expressed great satisfaction with his performance: “I have played a lot of great games here, and I’m very happy with many of my wins, especially against Fabiano Caruana. Today was also a really good game against Matthias Bluebaum.”
He also shed light on his preparation: “I had analysed the position, but I didn’t expect it to appear today. It’s a very bold and risky line, so I was impressed to see Matthias go for it and play in such an attacking style.”
In the final game of the FIDE Candidates Tournament, Fabiano Caruana produced a brilliant victory against Andrey Esipenko, quite possibly one of the finest games of his career.
In a Dragon-style Sicilian Defence, Caruana unleashed a powerful positional exchange sacrifice, instantly recognized by top engines as the best move.
With the stunning 13…Rxc3!, Fabiano gave up the rook to shatter White’s queenside structure. After 14.bxc3, he methodically increased the pressure against his opponent’s weakened, queenside-castled king. If instead 14.Qxe3, then 14…Nxe4 would have given Black strong compensation for the exchange.
The final position, where Esipenko resigned, perfectly illustrates the difficulty of defending such positions.
White’s queen is under attack, while the looming 41…Nc4 checkmate leaves no viable defense.
Final standings
The fan zone was packed to capacity this afternoon, highlighted by a lively Q&A session with tournament winner Javokhir Sindarov. Former Women’s World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk also delighted spectators by providing live commentary during the round.
Several players took time to interact with fans as well, posing for photos and signing autographs, adding to the vibrant atmosphere of the event.
Official website: https://candidates2026.fide.com/
Event photo gallery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fide/
Written by IM Michael A. Rahal (Cyprus)
Photos: Michal Walusza, Niki Riga
