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R Vaishali took a significant step toward winning the FIDE Women's Candidates after defeating Aleksandra Goryachkina with the black pieces in Round 11.
Vaishali capitalised on a decisive blunder that left Goryachkina's rook trapped, forcing the Russian to eventually concede, as per ESPN. R Vaishali, already leading the standings, moved to seven points from 11 games with another crucial win, strengthening her position at the top. Zhu Jiner and Anna Muzychuk are now joint second, a full point behind the Indian, with three rounds remaining. Meanwhile, Divya Deshmukh held Zhu Jiner to a draw with black in her Round 11 game, while Anna Muzychuk shared points with Kateryna Lagno. Meanwhile, in the open section, India's R Praggnanandhaa drew his match against Matthias Bluebaum with the white pieces, which took his points tally to 4.5. Javokhir Sindarov, playing with black, drew his long battle against Fabiano Caruana, taking his tally to 8.5 points from 11 games and moving closer to a Candidates victory. Anish Giri, the nearest challenger, stands on 6.5 points after drawing with Andrey Esipenko, leaving him further behind with only a few rounds remaining. Meanwhile, Hikaru Nakamura, playing with white, also shared the point in his game against Wei Yi. FIDE Candidates 2026 Women's Standings: R Vaishali - 7 Zhu Jiner - 6 Anna Muzychuk - 6 Bibisara Assaubayeva - 5.5 Kateryna Lagno - 5.5 Aleksandra Goryachkina - 5 Divya Deshmukh - 5 Tan Zhongyi - 4 FIDE Candidates 2026 Open Standings: Javokhir Sindarov - 8.5 Anish Giri - 6.5 Fabiano Caruana - 5.5 Hikaru Nakamura - 5 Wei Yi - 5 Matthias Blubaum - 5 R Praggnanandhaa - 4.5 Andrey Esipenko - 4. (ANI)
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