Women's Candidates R13: Assaubayeva and Vaishali share the lead

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
4/15/2026 – Bibisara Assaubayeva joined Vaishali Rameshbabu in the lead of the Women's Candidates Tournament after defeating Anna Muzychuk in round thirteen. Vaishali remained atop the standings after escaping with a draw against Tan Zhongyi, while Zhu Jiner first missed a chance to move into sole first place and then even lost to Aleksandra Goryachkina. Kateryna Lagno stayed in contention by beating Divya Deshmukh, leaving six players still with chances ahead of the final round. | Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga
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Six players with mathematical chances to take home the title

Six players remain in contention for first place going into the final round of the Women's Candidates Tournament. Bibisara Assaubayeva and Vaishali Rameshbabu share the lead on 7½/13 after Assaubayeva defeated Anna Muzychuk with the white pieces, while Vaishali survived a difficult position against Tan Zhongyi to secure a draw.

Zhu Jiner, who entered the round tied for first place with Vaishali, missed an opportunity to move into sole first place and even went on to lose against Aleksandra Goryachkina, while Kateryna Lagno stayed in contention by defeating Divya Deshmukh.

Assaubayeva was the main beneficiary of the round. Having been a half point behind the leaders before the round, she now enters the final day level at the top after scoring her third win in the last four games. Her tournament had appeared to be slipping away after back-to-back defeats in rounds five and six, but she has responded strongly in the closing stages.

Round 13 results

Assaubayeva's game against Muzychuk began in ideal fashion for the Kazakh GM.She used very little time in the opening and by move 13 had already reached a position that was both pleasant and free of significant risk.

An exchange of knights on d5 left Muzychuk under pressure, and before long Black had little choice but to part with a pawn.

Although Assaubayeva remained in control for most of the game, the path to victory was not completely straightforward. There were moments when Muzychuk might have been able to hold the balance, but an inaccuracy with 32...a6?, proved decisive.

Assaubayeva was then able to create a passed b-pawn, leaving Muzychuk unable to defend weaknesses on both wings at once. Muzychuk still has a slim chance of winning the tournament, but now trails the leaders by a full point.

Video analysis by Svitlana Demchenko

Bibisara Assaubayeva, Anna Muzychuk

Bibisara Assaubayeva defeated Anna Muzychuk | Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga

Vaishali, who had started the round as co-leader, retained her share of first place thanks to a resilient defensive performance against Tan Zhongyi. The Indian grandmaster found herself under pressure for long stretches and needed to defend accurately to secure the draw. The half-point was enough to keep her at the top.

Zhu Jiner came close to emerging as sole leader, but instead suffered a painful defeat against Aleksandra Goryachkina. The game had initially developed in her favour, and at one stage Zhu held an extra pawn in a promising position.

Earlier in the game, Goryachkina would have been content to force a draw by repetition on move 27, but Zhu chose to continue playing in search of the full point. For a while, that decision appeared justified, as she maintained the initiative. However, the presence of Goryachkina's outside passed pawn ensured that the game always remained dangerous.

The turning point came suddenly when Zhu made the serious mistake 51.Re5?, after which Goryachkina found the precise defensive resource 51...Kh8

From that moment, the evaluation changed completely, and Goryachkina converted the advantage to score an important victory.

Aleksandra Goryachkina

Aleksandra Goryachkina | Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga

Zhu Jiner

Zhu Jiner | Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga

Kateryna Lagno's win over Deshmukh means she also remains in the race going into the final round. Her tournament has followed a curious pattern, as every decisive result has been followed by a return to an even score. Three times she moved to plus one and immediately lost the next game, while after dropping to minus one in round twelve, she immediately bounced back with a win.

Against Deshmukh, Lagno dominated from the outset and steadily overwhelmed her opponent's position.

Deshmukh has endured a difficult finish to the tournament. Since defeating Muzychuk in round eight after escaping from a lost position, she has lost four of her next five games.

The final round is set up for a tense finish. Vaishali, who will have white against Lagno, and Assaubayeva, who will have black against Deshmukh, both control their own fate: a win would guarantee at least a playoff for first place. Zhu can still catch the leaders with a victory if either of them only draws. There also remains the possibility of an even larger tie at the top if several of the chasing players win.

Divya Deshmukh

It has been a tough second half of the event for Divya Deshmukh | Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga

Round 14 pairings

  • Anna Muzychuk v. Zhu Jiner
  • Aleksandra Goryachkina v. Tan Zhongyi
  • Vaishali Rameshbabu v. Kateryna Lagno
  • Divya Deshmukh v. Bibisara Assaubayeva

Standings after round 13

All games

In this video course, experts (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) examine the games of Judit Polgar. Let them show you which openings Polgar chose to play, where her strength in middlegames were, or how she outplayed her opponents in the endgame.

Topics: Bibisara Assaubayeva, Candidates 2026
Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.