Indian GM R Vaishali kept herself well in contention to claim the FIDE women’s candidates title after she claimed a draw against Tan Zhongyi in Round 13 on Tuesday.

Vaishali is in joint-lead with 7.5 points, alongside Bibisara, and will now face Lagno Kateryna in the final round on Wednesday.

Vaishali can clinch the title if she out-scores Bibisara on Wednesday and second-placed Zhu Jiner fails to win her tie.

Playing with the black pieces, Vaishali opted for a solid Queen’s Gambit Accepted. By move 15, the position was roughly equal, with Tan attempting to build pressure on the kingside, but Vaishali held firm with a sound defensive set-up.

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Tan later delivered a check with Qe8+, forcing Vaishali’s king to h7. Material remained level, but the position remained volatile with several pieces on the board.

However, with Vaishali’s knight finding strong outposts on d3 and f4, posing a growing threat to the kingside, Tan opted against taking further risks. The players soon repeated moves to agree to a draw by threefold repetition.

Vaishali appeared content with the result against the former World Champion, staying in title contention heading into the final round.

Published on Apr 14, 2026