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 managed only 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.
A full report will be available shortly.
FIDE Candidates Round 14 results
Andrey Esipenko 0–1 Fabiano Caruana
Praggnanandhaa R ½—½ Hikaru Nakamura
Matthias Bluebaum 0–1 Anish Giri
Javokhir Sindarov ½—½ Wei Yi
Final Standings – FIDE Candidates Tournament:
1. Sindarov – 10 points
2. Giri – 8½
3. Caruana – 7½
4. Wei Yi – 7
5. Nakamura – 6½
6-7. Bluebaum, Praggnanandhaa – 6
8. Esipenko – 4½
FIDE Women’s Candidates Round 14 results
Anna Muzychuk 0½–0½ Zhu Jiner
Aleksandra Goryachkina 1–0 Tan Zhongyi
Vaishali Rameshbabu 1–0 Kateryna Lagno
Divya Deshmukh 0½–0½ Bibisara Assaubayeva
Final Standings – FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament:
1. Vaishali – 8½ points
2. Assaubayeva – 8
3-4. Goryachkina, Zhu Jiner – 7½
5. Muzychuk – 7
6. Lagno – 6½
7-8. Deshmukh, Tan Zhongyi – 5½
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
