Vaishali Ascends in FIDE Women's Candidates as Sindarov Dominates Men's Event

India's R. Vaishali has emerged as the leader in the 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament following a calculated draw against Anna Muzychuk in Round 10 in Cyprus. Vaishali's half-point advantage became pivotal as Zhu Jiner stumbled with an unexpected loss to Bibisara Assaubayeva, reshaping the tournament landscape, ESPN reported.

In the upcoming Round 11 on Saturday, Vaishali will challenge Goryachkina with the black pieces. Concurrently, Divya Deshmukh will also play with black against Zhu Jiner. In the Men's Candidates, Javokhir Sindarov reinforced his dominance by defeating R Praggnanandhaa again, capitalizing on a blunder in the middlegame.

With only four rounds left, Praggnanandhaa lags the leader by four points, dashing his title hopes. He is set to face Matthias Blubaum with white pieces on Saturday in a match unlikely to alter the leaderboard. Sindarov appears poised to contest Dommaraju Gukesh's world championship, particularly as Anish Giri lost ground, sharing a draw with a revitalized Hikaru Nakamura.