CChessStats

FIDE Women\s Candidates Tournament 2026

Double Round-RobinStandard

8 players participated in this 14-round tournament, held from 29 Mar 2026 to 18 Apr 2026 in Pafos, Cyprus. 8 titled players from 6 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 2520, and top seed was Jiner Zhu (🇨🇳 CHN, GM, 2578).

Rameshbabu Vaishali (🇮🇳 IND, GM, 2470) won with 8.5/14, ahead of Bibisara Assaubayeva (8.0) and Jiner Zhu (7.5). Vaishali shared the lead from round 9 and broke clear in the final round.

Location
🇨🇾Pafos, Cyprus
Dates
29 Mar 2026 → 18 Apr 2026
Time control
Standard: 90min/40moves+30min/end+30sec increment per move starting from move 1
System
Double RR · 14 rounds
Top seed
🇨🇳GMJiner Zhu2578
Avg top 10
2,520
Participants
8
Titled players · 8
GM×8
Federations · 6 represented
🇨🇳China×2
🇮🇳India×2
🇰🇿Kazakhstan×1
🇺🇦Ukraine×1
FIDE (no federation)×1
🇷🇺Russia×1
Top 3

How it unfolded

Top 8 · 14 rounds

GM Rameshbabu Vaishali led from R10 onwards, the runner-up race stayed tight. Title race converged from 2 co-leaders at R4 to 1 by R10.

Co-leaders
8
8
2
2
3
1
1
5
2
1
1
2
2
1
#1#2#4#8R1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9R10R11R12R13R14Vaishali takes lead
Vaishali#1Assaubayeva#2Zhu#3Goryachkina#4Muzychuk#5Lagno#6Tan#7Deshmukh#8
R10 · LEADER CHANGE09 Apr

GM Rameshbabu Vaishali takes the sole lead (6.0/10).

HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND · 2 games

GM Rameshbabu Vaishali 1.0–1.0 against GM Bibisara Assaubayeva (R1 ½-½, R8 ½-½).

R6–R11 · UNBEATEN

GM Rameshbabu Vaishali went unbeaten across 6 games (R6–R11).

Cross-table

#PlayerElo12345678PtsSBBhΔ EloPerf
1🇮🇳GMVaishali, Rameshbabu2470*
½½
00
½1
½½
11
1½
1½
8.555.7595.0+26.02607
2🇰🇿GMAssaubayeva, Bibisara2516
½½
*
11
½½
1½
10
0½
½½
8.056.2596.0+11.22571
3🇨🇳GMZhu, Jiner2578
11
00
*
0½
0½
1½
½1
½1
7.550.5097.0-8.02541
4GMGoryachkina, Aleksandra2534
0½
½½
½1
*
½½
½0
½1
1½
7.550.2597.0+1.62547
5🇺🇦GMMuzychuk, Anna2522
½½
½0
½1
½½
*
1½
0½
½½
7.049.2598.0-0.22520
6🇷🇺GMLagno, Kateryna2508
00
10
½0
1½
½0
*
1½
½1
6.543.0099.0-2.22493
8🇮🇳GMDivya Deshmukh2497
½0
½1
0½
0½
½1
½0
*
0½
5.540.25101.0-10.02443
7🇨🇳GMTan, Zhongyi2535
½0
½½
0½
½0
½½
0½
½1
*5.538.25101.0-18.42438

Key insights

Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.

Top rating gainers
Top rating losers