FIDE Candidates: Vaishali in joint lead with Bibisara before final round; Sindarov becomes Gukesh’s challenger

R Vaishali heads into the last day of the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates tournament in the joint-lead of the tournament, with everything to play four in Round 14 on Wednesday. In the penultimate round on Tuesday evening, Vaishali recovered from a worse position out of the opening to eventually play out a draw against China’s Tan Zhongyi.

After 25 moves, Vaishali was under pressure both from the clock and the position on the board, which was a clear advantage for Tan. However, on move 26, Tan made a critical error, as she was passive with her queen, rather than capturing a pawn which was there for the taking. From there on, Vaishali played accurately and held on to the draw, which happened by three-fold repetition on move 34.

Bibisara Assaubayeva, like Vaishali is also on 7.5 points, after a dominant win against Anna Muzychuk, where she developed an advantage straight off the opening and was clinical in converting the advantage to a win. The big result in the women’s Candidates on Tuesday was Zhu Jiner’s loss with the white pieces to Aleksandra Goryachkina, which means that she has seen her lead evaporate into a half-a-point deficit.

Tomorrow, Vaishali faces Kateryna Lagno with the white pieces, Zhu has the black pieces against Muzychuk, while Assaubayeva has the black pieces against Divya Deshmukh.

FIDE Candidates 2026 Women’s Round 13 results

• Tan Zhongyi 0.5-0.5 R Vaishali

• Kateryna Lagno 1-0 Divya Deshmukh

• Zhu Jiner 0-1 Aleksandra Goryachkina

• Bibisara Assaubeyeva 1-0 Anna Muzychuk

FIDE Candidates 2026 Women’s Standings after Round 13

1. R Vaishali – 7.5

2. Bibisara Assaubayeva – 7.5

3. Zhu Jiner – 7

4. Anna Muzychuk – 6.5

5. Kateryna Lagno – 6.5

6. Aleksandra Goryachkina – 6.5

7. Tan Zhongyi – 5.5

8. Divya Deshmukh – 5

Meanwhile, in the Open section, Javokhir Sindarov won the tournament with a round to spare after a draw against Netherlands’ Anish Giri, which means that the Uzbek GM is two points ahead of Giri with just one round to go tomorrow. That means that later this year, Sindarov will take on Gukesh Dommaraju for the Championship, as the young Indian looks to defend the title that he won in Singapore in 2024.

It has been a sensational performance from Sindarov throughout. He hasn’t lost a game at this tournament yet. In the 13 rounds so far, he has scored six wins and seven draws — one of the great performances seen in Candidates history.

India’s R Praggnanandhaa meanwhile, continued to meander along in the tournament, as he drew with Fabiano Caruana in Round 13, to remain in seventh position. This tournament has unraveled for Praggnanandhaa after his opening round win against Giri.

FIDE Candidates 2026 Open Round 13 results

• Fabiano Caruana 0.5-0.5 R Praggnanandhaa

• Anish Giri 0.5-0.5 Javokhir Sindarov

• Hikaru Nakamura 0.5-0.5 Matthias Blübaum

• Wei Yi – Andrey Esipenko

FIDE Candidates 2026 Open Standings after Round 13

1. Javokhir Sindarov – 9.5

2. Anish Giri – 7.5

3. Fabiano Caruana – 6.5

4. Wei Yi – 6.5

5. Hikaru Nakamura – 6

6. Matthias Blübaum – 6

7. R Praggnanandhaa – 5.5

8. Andrey Esipenko – 4.5