&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "India's Vaishali Rameshbabu scripts history, beats Kateryna Lagno to win 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates")
India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu scripted history on late Wednesday (April 15) evening as she won the 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates by beating Kateryna Lagno of Russia. Held in Cyprus, Vaishali becomes the first Indian woman to win The Candidates and will join hands with her brother Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa in the World Championships. The win for Vaishali sees her qualify for the Chess’s apex tournament, which will be held later in the year and will face China’s Ju Wenjun.
Vaishali scripts history
In an historic day for Indian sports, Vaishali beat Kateryna Lagno to script history. Six players were still in the race for first place heading into the final round, with Vaishali and Kazakhstan’s Bibisara Assaubayeva tied on 7.5 points. Vaishali finished on 8.5 and will now contest for the FIDE World Championships later in the year. Vaishali was the second-lowest of the eight players who entered the Candidates tournament.
Despite defeat against Zhu Jiner, Vaishali held her nerves to win the tournament. Instead of sliding after a single loss, Vaishali went into overdrive after that loss to Zhu. Between rounds 6 and 11, she took four wins and two draws. It was a run that gave her a one-point lead at the top of the Candidates.
The 24-year-old grandmaster ended the 14-game tournament with five wins and two losses, finishing half a point ahead of Assaubayeva, who drew her final game against India’s Divya Deshmukh.
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Vaishali to face Ju Wenjun
Ju has held the World Championships since 2018 after defeating fellow Chinese grandmaster Tan Zhongyi. She has since defended her crown successfully on multiple occasions, beating Kateryna Lagno in 2018, Russia’s Aleksandra Goryachkina in 2020, China’s Lei Tingjie in 2023, and Tan in 2025.
Uzbek grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov clinched victory in the open category with a round to spare, winning six of his 13 matches and losing none to set up a World Championship match against India's Gukesh Dommaraju.
