It was not a good day for India at the 2026 FIDE Candidates as both R Vaishali and Divya Deshmukh lost their games, while R Praggnanandhaa drew in Round 12 on Sunday.
Vaishali's loss, in particular, was a setback as she went from having sole lead to being part of a two-way tie at the top of the Women's Candidates with Zhu Jiner. Both of them have 7 points each and this has made the business end of the tournament a thrilling one.
She lost to China's Zhu with white pieces after a blunder in what was a tricky - and crucial game, especially since it would have a bearing on who the women's champion would be. That Vaishali lost to a player who drew level with her on points can prove to a big blow with only two more rounds to go in the tournament.
Meanwhile.an Anna Muzychuk draw and a Bibisara Assaubayeva win mean both of them are just 0.5 behind Vaishali and Zhu
Divya Deshmukh, who was placed joint second-last, lost to bottom-placed Tan Zhongyi with white. This resulted in both being joint-last at 5 points each and out of contention.
After a rest day tomorrow, the penultimate round will see Vaishali take on Tan while Divya plays Kateryna Lagno. Vaishali will have to keep her nerve from here on and look for outright wins in her next two matches to fight for the title in what has shaped up to be an intense Women's Candidates race.
FIDE Candidates 2026 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
FIDE Candidates 2026 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
In the Open section, Praggnanandhaa drew with bottom-placed Andrey Esipenko with black pieces, in what was another complicated game. Both players reached almost 99% accuracy according to Chess 24, but another draw means the Indian is now second from last with 5 points.
While his result may not matter in the bigger scheme of things - with runaway leader Javokhir Sindarov comfortable at the top and his win all but decided - it does mean that his winless streak in the Candidates is now extended. Next up, he takes on Fabiano Caruana and will look to get a win to snap this run.
Sindarov meanwhile played out an easy draw with world number two Hikaru Nakamura - on a day of all draws - and reached 9 points from 12 games -a score which is one of the most dominant victories in the Candidates' chess tournament.
FIDE Candidates 2026 Open Round 12 results
Andrey Esipenko drew with R Praggnanandhaa
Matthias BLuebaum drew with Fabiano Caruana
Hikaru Nakamura drew with Javokhir Sindarov
Wei Yi drew with Anish Giri
FIDE Candidates 2026 Open Standings after Round 12
Javokhir Sindarov - 9
Anish Giri - 7
Fabiano Caruana - 6
Hikaru Nakamura - 5.5
Wei Yi - 5.5
Matthias Blübaum - 5.5
R Praggnanandhaa - 5
Andrey Esipenko - 4.5