Women's Candidates R4: Muzychuk wins, shares the lead with Assaubayeva

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
4/2/2026 – Anna Muzychuk and Bibisara Assaubayeva share the lead after round four of the Women's Candidates Tournament, following two decisive games on Wednesday: Muzychuk defeated Kateryna Lagno, while Zhu Jiner overcame Divya Deshmukh. Assaubayeva missed chances to take sole first place in her draw with Tan Zhongyi, while Vaishali Rameshbabu held Aleksandra Goryachkina after facing early pressure. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
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Muzychuk and Zhu grab full points

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 chances 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

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, Tan Zhongyi

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.

Anna Muzychuk, Kateryna Lagno

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, Zhu Jiner

Divya Deshmukh v. Tan Zhongyi | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis

Standings after round 4

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.

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Topics: 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.
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Candidates R4: Head-to-head stats

4/1/2026 – Head-to-head records between the participants of the Candidates Tournaments provide useful context for each pairing. Drawing on data compiled via Mega Database 2026, the key statistics from past encounters highlight imbalances and trends. While such figures are not decisive, they offer an additional perspective on how rivalries have developed before a tournament that will determine the next challenger for the world title.

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Women's Candidates R3: Lagno and Assaubayeva win rollercoaster games

4/1/2026 – Two decisive games in round three of the Women's Candidates Tournament saw Bibisara Assaubayeva and Kateryna Lagno move into the lead. Assaubayeva capitalised on tactical complications to defeat Zhu Jiner, who had again obtained a promising position, while Lagno overcame Tan Zhongyi after a wild encounter featuring a number of blunders and tactical shots. Aleksandra Goryachkina pressed throughout but could not convert against Divya Deshmukh, while Vaishali Rameshbabu's game against Anna Muzychuk ended in a controlled draw. | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis
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