GM Divya Deshmukh stunned the tournament leader Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine in the eighth round of the FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026, in Cyprus on Tuesday.
With this win, Divya has opened up the field, creating a five-way tie at the top of the leaderboard, with 4.5 points each, including both Indians Divya and Vaishali.
Divya grinded out a big win against Anna, who blundered her pawn under time pressure and let Divya to a winning position with the black pieces.
Meanwhile, Bibisara Assaubayeva of Kazakhstan broke the two-match winning run of Vaishali, holding on to a draw with the black pieces.
The Grand Swiss champion could not find a breakthrough in an Italian game in round 8 and missed the chance of taking a sole lead in the tournament.
Another defeat for Praggnanandhaa
In the open section, poor form of GM Rameshbabu Praggnandhaa continued as he faced his second loss of the tournament after having four consecutive draws in previous rounds.
With the black pieces, he could not stop the king-side attack from Anish Giri of the Netherlands in a Queen’s Gambit Declined Variation and resigned after 44 moves.
He is now tied for 4th place with 3.5 points, trailing the leader, Javokhir Sindarov, by 3 points, and it is really tough for him to remain a title contender with just 6 games to go.
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