Vaishali triumphs @ FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026 Cyprus

Indian Grandmaster Vaishali Rameshbabu (8.5/14) emerged the champion after the 14th round of the FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026 at the Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort in Pegeia, Cyprus. In the all important final round, the two time FIDE Grand Swiss winner from Chennai defeated Grandmaster Kateryna Lagno logging in 8.5 points. As the champion of the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates tournament GM Vaishali earns the right to play the next FIDE Women’s World Championship and challenge the current Women’s world champion Ju Wenjun from China. Overnight co-leader GM Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan) took the clear second spot with 8.0 points, after settling for a thrilling draw against the second Indian in the fray GM Divya Deshmukh.

The ceremonial first move of the final round was performed by Ms Marina Stylianides, Director of Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort by Korantina Homes. She played 1.e4 in the game between GMs Vaishali and Lagno, which went on to decide the winner of the FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026.

In the most important game of her career yet, GM Vaishali Rameshbabu won on demand scalping GM Katerya Lagno, crowning herself with glory. One could sense the nerves and goosebump moment as Vaishali took more than normal time to make her first move. The deliberation and poise indicated that Team Vaishali was ready for the occasion. GM Lagno’s choice of Sicilian Dragon came as no surprise, since the opening is known to be sharp and is largely picked up by players who play for a win. The middle game was all aggression as Lagno gave up pawns and opened the queenside files for attack. But the Indian Grandmaster played out to precision holding a slight edge right through. Closer to the first time control, black stretched way too much and paid the price when Vaishali with under a minute on her clock, thrilled her countrymen with forced moves that brought home the point after 48 moves.  Thanks to fellow Indian Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh holding co-leader GM Bibisara Assaubayeva to a draw, Vaishali’s final round victory gave the Indian a clear title, without tie-breaks.

In the post match press conference Champion Vaishali said, “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.”  Full of gratitude and humility Vaishali further added, “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.”

In the Open section, the title had got decided in the penultimate round thanks to some phenomenal performance by GM Javokhir Sindarov who finished the tournament with a record 10/14 score. Playing for the lower rankings GMs Anish Giri andFabiano Caruana went on to defeat GMs Matthias Bluebaum andAndrey Esipenko respectively. Indian Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu brought his disappointing Candidates tournament to an end with a sober draw against World No. 2 GM Hikaru Nakamura.

The FIDE Candidates 2026 awards were presented by five time world champion Viswanathan Anand, Deputy President of FIDE, and Marina Stylianides, Director of Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort and Korantina Homes, Cyprus. Reflecting on the domination of youth in chess, Anand spoke about the unmistakable generational shift taking place in the chess world and how a fearless new wave of players is rising, challenging, and standing shoulder to shoulder with the game’s long-established titans.

The FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026 awards were presented by Valeriia Avksenteva, Deputy Executive Director of Freedom24, and Isai Scheinberg, who’s family has been regularly sponsoring Candidates and is the first recipient of the FIDE Medal of Merit in the 21st century.

In the respective FIDE World Championships to be played later this year Candidates 2026 winner GM Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan) will take on current World Champion GM Gukesh Dommaraju (India) while fellow Indian Grandmaster Vaishali Rameshbabu will cross swords with Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun (China).

Final Ranking (Open): 1. Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan) 10.0, 2. Anish Giri (Netherlands) 8.5, 3. Fabiano Caruana (USA) 7.5, 4. Wei Yi (China) 7.0, 5. Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 6.5, 6-7 Matthias Bluebaum (Germany), Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (India) 6.0, 10. Andrey Esipenko (FIDE) 4.5 pts

Final Ranking (Women): 1. Vaishali Rameshbabu (India) 8.5, 2. Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan) 8.0, 3-4 Zhu Jiner (China), Aleksandra Goryachkina (FIDE) 7.5, 5. Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine) 7.0, 6. Kateryna Lagno (FIDE) 6.5, 7-8 Divya Deshmukh (India), Tan Zhongyi (China) 5.5 pts

Round 14 Results (Open): Andrey Esipenko (4.5) drew with Fabiano Caruana (7.5), Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (6.0) drew with Hikaru Nakamura (6.5), Matthias Bluebaum (6.0) lost to Anish Giri (8.5), Javokhir Sindarov (10.0) drew with Wei Yi (7.0).

Round 14 Results (Women): Anna Muzychuk (7.0) drew with Zhu Jiner (7.5), Aleksandra Goryachkina (7.5) beat Tan Zhongyi (5.5), Vaishali Rameshbabu (8.5) beat Kateryna Lagno (6.5), Divya Deshmukh (5.5) drew with Bibisara Assaubayeva (8.0).

Vaishali Rameshbabu (2470) – Kateryna Lagno (2508) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. O-O-O d5 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Bc4 Be6 12. exd5 cxd5 13. Nxd5 Nxd5 14. Bxd5 Rb8 15. Bb3 Qc8 16. Kb1 Bxb3 17. axb3 a5 18. Bd4 e5 19. Bc3 a4 20. bxa4 Qc4 21. b3 Qxa4 22. Rhe1 Rb5 23. Re4 Qa7 24. Qe3 Qc7 25. Qd3 Qb6 26. Bb2 Ra5 27. Bc3 Ra6 28. Qe3 Qc6 29. Rc4 Qe6 30. Qe4 Rfa8 31. Rc5 h5 32. g4 hxg4 33. fxg4 Kh7 34. Rcd5 Qc6 35. Bb2 Ra2 36. g5 Qb6 37. Qh4+ Kg8 38. Qe4 R8a4 39. Rd8+ Kh7 40. c4 Rxc4 41. Qxc4 Rxb2+ 42. Kxb2 e4+ 43. Kb1 Qf2 44. R8d2 Qf5 45. Qd5 Qf3 46. Rc2 Qf4 47. Re1 e3

48. Qg2 1-0

Andrey Esipenko (2698) – Fabiano Caruana (2795) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Qd3 g6 7. Bg5 Bg7 8. O-O-O O-O 9. Be2 Nc6 10. Nb3 Be6 11. Qe3 Rc8 12. Kb1 Ne5 13. h3 Rxc3 14. bxc3 Qc7 15. f4 Ned7 16. Rd4 b5 17. g4 Nb6 18. f5 Bc4 19. Bxc4 Nxc4 20. Qe1 a5 21. Bc1 Nd7 22. h4 Rc8 23. fxg6 hxg6 24. h5 a4 25. hxg6 fxg6 26. e5 Ncxe5 27. Na1 Qc6 28. Rh3 Nf6 29. g5 Nd5 30. Bd2 Rf8 31. Rdh4 Rf3 32. Kc1 Qd7 33. Qh1 Qf5 34. Rh8+ Bxh8 35. Rxh8+ Kf7 36. Qh7+ Ke6 37. Qg8+ Qf7 38. Qc8+ Nd7 39. Rh2 Rf1+ 40. Kb2

40…Nb6 0-1

Matthias Bluebaum (2698) – Anish Giri (2753) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Qa4+ Nc6 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd2 dxc4 8. Bxc4 Bd6 9. Ng5 a6 10. Qc2 h6 11. h4 Re8 12. a3 b5 13. Ba2 Bb7 14. O-O-O?? (14. Nce4 hxg5 15. Nxd6 cxd6 16. hxg5 Nd7 17. d5 exd5 18. Nxd5 Qxg5 19. Bxc6 Bxc6 20. Qxc6 Nf6 21. Qf3 might hold for white)

14…b4 15. d5 Nd4 16. exd4 bxc3 17. dxe6 cxd2+ 18. Qxd2 fxe6 19. Nxe6 Qc8 20. Qa5 Bd5 21. Bxd5 Nxd5 22. Nxg7 Kxg7 23. Qxd5 Qe6 24. Qxe6 Rxe6 25. g3 Rf8 26. Rd2 Ref6 27. Rf1 Rf3 28. Kd1 Rxg3 0-1

Picture & Graphics courtesy: Michal Walusza / Yoav Nis / Niki Riga / FIDE

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Official Site: https://candidates2026.fide.com/