24-year-old Indian star GM Vaishali Rameshbabu will play Chinese GM Ju Wenjun for the women’s world championship title after clinching the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates with a final-round win over GM Kateryna Lagno. GM Bibisara Assaubayeva could have won or lost a wild game against GM Divya Deshmukh, but ultimately a draw by repetition was only enough for second place. GM Zhu Jiner made a draw against GM Anna Muzychuk and was caught in third place by GM Aleksandra Goryachkina, who beat GM Tan Zhongyi.
After already winning the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament with a round to spare, GM Javokhir Sindarov drew GM Wei Yi to finish with the highest score in Candidates history, 10/14. GM Anish Giri won with the black pieces against GM Matthias Bluebaum to come in sole second with 8.5/14. GM Fabiano Caruana, also with Black, defeated GM Andrey Esipenko to finish third, while GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu vs. GM Hikaru Nakamura ended in a draw.
This is a flash report—come back later for full coverage of the final round!
FIDE Women’s Candidates: Vaishali Earns Right To Challenge World Champion
It was all about co-leaders Vaishali and Assaubayeva in the final round, and it was Vaishali who got the crucial win.
Women’s Candidates Round 14 Results
Vaishali’s win meant no need for a playoff, while Assaubayeva took a deserved second place. Goryachkina caught Zhu in third.
Women’s Candidates Final Standings
Our Game of the Day has to be Vaishali’s clash with Lagno, a controlled but incredibly tense win that was decided when the Indian star found the killer moves just before the time control. GM Rafael Leitao will analyze it below.
The final moments as @chessvaishali won the Women’s #FIDECandidates and earned the right to challenge for the Women’s Chess World Championship title! https://t.co/EyPHYCmWte pic.twitter.com/n0v3PLUNHl
— chess24 (@chess24com) April 15, 2026
FIDE Candidates: Giri, Caruana End With Wins
Giri and Caruana won their games in the last round.
Candidates Round 14 Results
Sindarov finished the event 1.5 points ahead of the field, though Giri and Caruana slipped into second and third, respectively.
Candidates Final Standings
NM Anthony Levin contributed to this report.
You can watch the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament on Chess24’s YouTube and Twitch channels. The games can also be followed from our Events Page.
The FIDE Candidates Tournament is the most important FIDE tournament of the year. In the Open and Women’s events, eight players play each other twice for the right to challenge the FIDE World Champions Gukesh Dommaraju and Ju Wenjun to a match for the title.
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