Zhu Jiner has become such a significant roadblock for R Vaishali that, in just six hours, she has shifted the entire outlook of the 2026 Women’s Candidates Tournament event in Cyprus. The ferocious Chinese completed a double over the overnight leader, defeating the Indian with black pieces in a crucial 12th-round tie on Sunday. This victory erased Vaishali’s lead and left the two tied at the top with seven points, with only two rounds remaining.
Having already defeated Vaishali in the fifth round, a ruthless Zhu struck again to end a run that seemed to be taking the latter to the World Championship clash.
Playing the white pieces in a Caro-Kann Defense, Vaishali appeared to be caught in Zhu’s opening preparation. While the immediate pressure wasn’t so obvious and the Indian negotiated her early moves well, she exhausted her clock to do so.
Vaishali’s 10th and 13th moves combined cost her nearly 50 minutes. Given Vaishali’s known struggles in time scrambles, Zhu was off to an ideal start.
R vaishali in action against Zhu Jiner at Candidates. (FIDE/Niki Riga)
By the time she played Rc2 (rook to c2) on her 16th move, Vaishali had only 17 minutes and 59 seconds left, while Zhu still had nearly an hour. At this point, the Chinese player thought for 35 minutes, which neutralised the time advantage.
Even though the clock situation was now balanced, the position remained complex and razor-sharp, a nightmare for players who struggle under time pressure.
With less than 14 minutes remaining for Vaishali to make 23 moves to reach the time control, she faced an uphill task. Zhu maintained the complexity of the position by tying up Vaishali’s pieces and refusing to trade. This worsened the situation for the Indian, as her options narrowed with every move.
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Among several inaccuracies in the endgame, the decisive error was Rc1 (rook to c1) on the 36th move that allowed Zhu to hit Vaishali’s rook while also advancing her pawn and queening it. There was no recovery from that point. A remarkably calm Zhu held her nerve and forced a resignation after launching a checkmate threat.
For Divya Deshmukh, the other Indian in the fray, the tournament has gone from bad to worse. She suffered her fourth loss at the hands of a struggling Tan Zhongyi, who had not won a single game prior to this round.
The round also brought heartbreak for Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk. In a winning endgame, holding a rook against three pawns against the pre-event favourite, Russia’s Aleksandra Goryachkina, Muzychuk was moments away from a third victory. Such a win would have placed her in a joint lead alongside Vaishali and Zhu. However, she faltered in the final stages and had to settle for a draw.
Meanwhile, Bibisara Assaubayeva defeated Kateryna Lagno. This result puts the Kazakh GM level with Muzychuk, with both players sitting just half a point behind the leaders.
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For Uzbek prodigy Javokhir Sindarov, Cyprus has felt like a playground. Having already dominated the field with a world-class performance, he is under no pressure to fight for points. With the Candidates title virtually secured, he drew his game against World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura as if for fun. The two shared a broad smile after concluding their game in barely half an hour.
Anish Giri, the only player with an outside chance at the title, squandered a winning position against Wei Yi. By settling for a draw, he remains two points behind Sindarov. Meanwhile, Indian GM R Praggnanandhaa, who is now out of the title race, played out a draw against Andrey Esipenko.
