Indian chess grandmaster, R Vaishali is getting closer to the finish line, after becoming the only leader of the Women’s Candidates and entering the 11th round in the FIDE Candidates 2026. On Saturday, she defeated Russia’s Aleksandra Goryachkina, a tournament favourite.
On the other hand, R Praggnanandhaa, who happens to be Vaishali's brother, is not getting the Candidates title after an unfortunate slip led to a draw against Germany’s Matthias Blübaum in the FIDE tournament in Cyprus.
The young chess grandmaster-sibling duo, R Vaishali and R Praggnanandhaa have made India proud on many occasions, and the country's hopes will be with them for the years to come.
With the FIDE Candidates 2026 underway, R Vaishali refuses to budge and continues to deliver one strong performance after another. Ahead of the 11th round, she has a comfortable gap with Zhu Jiner who currently sits in the second place. R Praggnanandhaa, on the other hand, has no more hopes of clinching the title this time.
If Vaishali manages to win the next three rounds and claim victory, she will make history as the second Indian woman ever to compete in the World Championship, since Koneru Humpy. Koneru, in fact, was the one India had pinned all its hopes on and Vaishali was not even a favourite. She has definitely proved most critics wrong.
On Sunday, the 24-year-old will be facing second-placed Zhu, and needless to say, a lot rides on this match. If Vaishali emerges as the victor, she will, in all probability go on to win the entire thing.
20-year-old Praggnanandhaa is the only Indian in the open event. However, the young Grandmaster had difficult matches back-to-back, losing to Uzbek grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov and then an unfortunate draw with Matthias Blübaum, despite having a winning advantage.
For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels