Divya Deshmukh produced one of the standout results of the round, toppling leader Anna Muzychuk to share the lead at the ongoing FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 in Cyprus on Tuesday.

Playing her first Candidates, Divya weathered sustained pressure before turning the game around in the closing stages. The result lifted her to joint-top alongside Muzychuk, R Vaishali, Zhu Jiner and Kateryna Lagno.

For much of the middlegame and early endgame, Muzychuk appeared in control, maintaining pressure and keeping Divya tied down. The position drifted towards equality, with a draw looking the likely outcome as the players entered a queen endgame.

The turning point came in the sequence beginning 76.Qc8+ Kf5 77.Qh8+ Kg6 78.Qg8+ Kh6, when Divya began forcing checks. Instead of repeating moves, she kept the king on the move, gradually exposing it.

On move 80, Muzychuk chose Kh5, stepping further into the open. Divya seized the moment, forcing the king into a narrow corridor before switching from checks to a decisive attack, leaving Muzychuk without a safe continuation.

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In the other games in the women’s section, Vaishali drew against Bibisara Assaubayeva, Lagno defeated Aleksandra Goryachkina, and Zhu Jiner beat Tan Zhongyi.

In the open section, leader Javokhir Sindarov could not complete a double over Andrey Esipenko, as their second-half encounter ended in a draw.

The game began at a brisk pace and remained balanced between moves 11 and 18, with both players simplifying the centre and activating their pieces. The critical moment came on move 17, when Sindarov played Na5 to target the c6 bishop, but the sequence that followed led to further simplification. By move 19, both kings were relatively safe, with no clear pawn breaks or attacking chances, and the game drifted towards a draw.

Meanwhile, R Praggnanandhaa’s bid to close the gap on Sindarov suffered a setback, as Anish Giri avenged his first-round loss with a win.

The game remained relatively balanced into the middlegame, but Praggnanandhaa never looked entirely comfortable, with Giri gradually building pressure. The decisive moment came with 36.e6, which created a dangerous passed pawn and disrupted Black’s coordination.

Praggnanandhaa attempted counterplay with 38…h5, but it backfired, forcing him into a passive position. Giri then seized the initiative with 41.Rf8+ Kh7, and with the black king exposed in the final phase, Praggnanandhaa was compelled to resign.

Hikaru Nakamura registered his first win of the tournament, defeating Fabiano Caruana, while Wei Yi drew against Matthias Bluebaum.

Published on Apr 07, 2026