While the open Candidates was a procession – Javokhir Sindarov clinched the event with a round to spare – the women’s event could not have been more different. With one round remaining, six out of eight players retained a chance of winning the tournament. Leading on 7.5/13 were Rameshbabu Vaishali from India and Bibisara Assaubayeva from Kazakhstan. In the final round, Assaubayeva could only draw, while Vaishali faced an aggressive opening from Kateryna Lagno, who needed to win at all costs. Vaishali grabbed a pawn and steadily defused Lagno’s attack, leaving herself in clear first place on 8.5/13. The Indian grandmaster, sister of Praggnanandhaa who is also competing in the open Candidates, will now face the reigning Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun in a forthcoming title match.
Cool handling of complications was a crucial ingredient of Vaishali’s success in Cyprus. On at least two occasions, she managed to rescue a win from a lost position, including the game below from round 6 (although it must be said that she held the advantage for most of the game). Lagno has an extra bishop, but Vaishali has just advanced 37…Qh4-h3, threatening 37…h5-h4 to dislodge the pinned rook on g3.
Kateryna Lagno-Rameshbabu Vaishali
Fide Women’s Candidates, Cyprus, March 2026
One delightfully clever refutation is 38 Nd2! h4 39 Qf1 Qxf1+ 40 Nxf1 hxg3 41 f4! forking the two rooks and retaining an extra bishop. A more prosaic solution is 38 Qf3 h4 39 Qg2!, since 39…Qxg2+ 40 Rxg2 is an easy win. But in time pressure, Lagno panicked: 38 Qf1? Rxg3+ 39 fxg3 Qxg3+ With queens on the board, the attack is too strong. 40 Qg2 Qe3+ 41 Kh2 Rg5 42 Qh3 Qf4+ 43 Kh1 Rg3 44 Qe6+ Kg7 45 Qe7+ Kh6 46 Be4 Rg5 47 Bg2 Qh4+ White resigns
The game below was equal until Goryachkina got her rook in a tangle on e5. In the event of b7-b6, Bd5-b7 and Nf6-d7, it would be trapped. In fact, the insouciant 30 a4 was best, e.g. 30…b6 31 Nc4 Be6 32 Nxb6 Ke7 33 Nc4 g5 34 g4 Nd7 35 Re4 Nf6 with a draw by repetition. But Goryachkina tried to extract her rook by force, and made things worse.
Aleksandra Goryachkina-Rameshbabu Vaishali
Fide Women’s Candidates, Cyprus, March 2026
30 Bc4? Bc6! An astute response! The Bc4 cuts off the rook’s exit down the c-file. The threat is Nf6-d7. 31 Rxc5 b6! 32 Rxc6 33 Re5 Nd7 is no better. Rxc6 The rest is trivial. 33 Bb5 Rc2 34 Nc4 Nd5 35 b3 Rc3 36 Ba4 Nxe3 37 Nxb6 Rc2 38 Bb5 Rxg2+ 39 Kh1 Rb2 40 Nd7+ Ke7 41 Nc5 Kd6 42 Nb7+ Kd5 43 b4 Ke4 44 Nc5+ Kf3 45 Bd3 f5 White resigns
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