FIDE Candidates: R Vaishali Loses Round 12 and Sole Lead in Tough Game, Praggnanandhaa Draws

All eyes were on R Vaishali when Praggnanandhaa drew the game. Now, as the Round 12 results of the Women’s Candidates tournament are out. R Vaishali lost round 12 after winning round 11 and securing the contender position for the Women’s Candidates. After losing in round 12, R Vaishali is currently in a two way tie at the top of the Women’s Candidates with Zhu Jiner.

Both R Vaishali and Divya Deshmukh lost their matches in the 2026 FIDE Candidates. Fortuitously, Vaishali lost with the white pieces, even though a draw might have given her the outright lead. The tournament took place in Cyprus.

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With only two rounds remaining in the Women’s Candidates tournament, R Vaishali suffered a significant defeat against Jiner Zhu on Sunday, leaving the competition open. The competition will determine the next opponent for current world champion Ju Wenjun.

With the white pieces in hand, Vaishali had the opportunity to seize the top spot in the standings with a draw following a successful campaign. However, her aggressive tactics to regain a victory failed. Zhu has defeated her twice in the competition. With 7 points each from 12 games, Vaishali and Zhu are currently tied for the lead. In the meantime, Anna Muzychuk missed a significant chance as a result of a costly error that gave Aleksandra Goryachkina a draw in a fiercely contested game.

In the other match of the day, Divya Deshmukh of India was defeated by Zhongyi Tan of China and neither player is now in the running for a spot on the podium.

Candidates Results: Andrey Esipenko (Rus, 4.5) drew with R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 5), Matthias BLuebaum (Ger, 5) drew with Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 6), Hikaru Nakamura (Usa, 5) drew with Javokhir SIndarov (Uzb, 9) and Wei Yi (Chn, 5) playing Anish Giri (Ned, 6.5).

Women’s Round 12 Results:

• R Vaishali lost to Zhu Jiner
• Divya Deshmukh lost to Tan Zhongyi
• Aleksandra Goryachkina drew with Anna Muzychuk
• Bibisara Assaubayeva beat Kateryna Lagno

Women’s Standings after Round 12

• Zhu Jiner – 7
• R Vaishali – 7
• Anna Muzychuk – 6.5
• Bibisara Assaubayeva – 6.5
• Kateryna Lagno – 5.5
• Aleksandra Goryachkina – 5.5
• Divya Deshmukh – 5
• Tan Zhongyi – 5

The day off is Monday, April 13. On Tuesday, April 14, the competition will continue with Round 13 and on Wednesday, April 15, the tournament will come to an end with Round 14. On April 16, there will be a playoff to determine who will be the official contender for Ju Wenjun if the tournament concludes with a tie for first place following 14 rounds.