Divya Deshmukh blew a big chance to get her first win in the FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026, as she only managed a draw against R Vaishali in the second round.
It was a game ridden with tension through the opening and the middle game, and both players came under time pressure as well, before the second time control at 40 moves. On move 34, the moment that Divya had been waiting for had come, as Vaishali advanced her knight forward, in a big blunder, that allowed Divya to infiltrate with her rooks.
However, just three moves later, Divya put the game back in the balance with a misjudgement of a move of the queen. It was a tough move to find under time pressure, but Vaishali followed it up with a superb defensive sacrifice, giving up her queen, and that meant there was no further chance for Divya to advance. Eventually, the players played out a few more moves, before agreeing a draw on move 44.
For the second straight round, all the four games in the women’s section ended in draws. So there is still everything to play for, even if Divya might perhaps look back at a missed opportunity, having had the white pieces in both her games to start this tournament.
In Round 3 tomorrow, Divya will have the black pieces against Aleksandra Goryachkina, while Vaishali will play with the white pieces against Anna Muzychuk.
FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026 Round 2 results
-
Divya Deshmukh 0.5-0.5 R Vaishali
-
Zhu Jiner 0.5-0.5 Kateryna Lagno
-
Anna Muzychuk 0.5-0.5 Tan Zhongyi
-
Bibisara Assaubayeva 0.5-0.5 Aleksandra Goryachkina
Solid draw for Pragg
In the Open section, R Praggnanandhaa followed up his opening day win against Anish Giri with a solid draw against China’s Wei Yi, with the black pieces. Just like in the game against Giri, Praggnanandhaa displayed superb opening preparation, and that enabled him to build a huge advantage on the clock as well.
He went with the French defence, but didn’t go for a novel variation as he did with his opening choice in the game against Giri. Praggnanandhaa was never really in trouble throughout and was pushing to find an advantage up until move 29. At that point, it was clear that the game was at equality, and after quick trades of all the major pieces on the board, the players agreed to a draw on move 46.
With Fabiano Caruana drawing against Giri today, and Javokhir Sindarov drawing against Matthias Blübaum, Praggnanandhaa remains in the joint lead in the open section. In the next round on Tuesday evening, he will face Sindarov, with the Indian having the white pieces.
FIDE Candidates 2026 Open Round 2 results
-
Wei Yi 0.5-0.5 R Praggnanandhaa
-
Anish Giri 0.5-0.5 Fabiano Caruana
-
Javokhir Sindarov 0.5-0.5 Matthias Blübaum
-
Andrey Esipenko 0.5-0.5 Hikaru Nakamura
