Two decisive results in round four of the Women's Candidates Tournament saw Anna Muzychuk join Bibisara Assaubayeva in the lead. Muzychuk defeated Kateryna Lagno, while Assaubayeva was held to a draw by Tan Zhongyi. Zhu Jiner returned to winning ways, after missed chanches in previous rounds by beating Divya Deshmukh. Finally, Vaishali Rameshbabu managed to save a difficult position against Aleksandra Goryachkina.
Round 4 results
The encounter between Vaishali and Goryachkina featured significant imbalance early on. Vaishali's advance of her a-pawn to a6 appeared premature and allowed Goryachkina to seize the initiative. With 17...d4, the Russian grandmaster obtained a clearly favourable position and seemed on course for a substantial advantage.
However, a subsequent inaccurate decision disrupted her momentum, and Vaishali was able to resolve the complications through precise tactical play.
Vaishali Rameshbabu and Aleksandra Goryachkina have both drawn all four of their games - though many of them included sharp struggles | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
In the game between Assaubayeva and Tan, the Kazakh representative had promising prospects from the opening. Playing a Tarrasch structure, she reached a position that offered realistic winning chances, particularly in the middlegame phase.
However, she did not choose the most testing continuation at a critical moment, allowing Tan to regroup. The former world champion demonstrated accurate calculation to neutralise the pressure, and the game was eventually drawn, preventing Assaubayeva from taking sole possession of first place.
Bibisara Assaubayeva stops the clock, agreeing to a draw | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis
Muzychuk's victory over Lagno was comparatively less chaotic than some of the earlier games in the tournament. Lagno's position had been largely sound, yet a blunder on move 28 led to a deterioration that she was unable to reverse.
Earlier in the game, Muzychuk had opted for an enterprising approach, including a positional piece sacrifice on move 20.
Moreover, the Ukrainian grandmaster later declined opportunities to simplify the position through repetition. Muzychuk's persistence was ultimately rewarded as she converted her advantage to secure the full point and move into a share of the lead.
Like in previous confrontations between the two, there was no handshake between these two contenders nor before the game nor following resignation. Lagno was born in Lviv, a Ukrainian city, when it was still part of the Soviet Union. She transferred to Russia in 2014.
Kateryna Lagno was already lost at this point | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis
Zhu's win against Deshmukh stemmed from a strategically successful opening approach. Early on, the Chinese top seed steered the game away from well-known paths. Deshmukh initially handled the position accurately, but later adopted an unsuitable kingside setup that left her with a difficult position to manage.
Opportunities to complicate matters through an exchange sacrifice were missed, and the position gradually became untenable.
Zhu capitalised on these inaccuracies and converted her advantage without difficulty.
Divya Deshmukh v. Tan Zhongyi | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis
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