English Chess Forum

FIDE Candidates Tournament taking place in Cyprus from 28 March to 16 April 2026. Website and pairing below.

https://candidates2026.fide.com/

https://candidates2026.fide.com/tpost/v ... drawn-in-c

This is a thread for the Women's Candidates Tournament.

The thread for the Open tournament is here.

Women's pairings:

FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026 pairings

Round 1 on 2026/03/29 at 15:30

Divya Deshmukh – Humpy Koneru
Vaishali R – Bibisara Assaubayeva
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Kateryna Lagno
Zhu Jiner – Tan Zhongyi

Round 2 on 2026/03/30 at 15:30

Humpy Koneru – Tan Zhongyi
Kateryna Lagno – Zhu Jiner
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Divya Deshmukh – Vaishali R

Round 3 on 2026/03/31 at 15:30

Vaishali R – Humpy Koneru
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Divya Deshmukh
Zhu Jiner – Bibisara Assaubayeva
Tan Zhongyi – Kateryna Lagno

Round 4 on 2026/04/01 at 15:30

Humpy Koneru – Kateryna Lagno
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Tan Zhongyi
Divya Deshmukh – Zhu Jiner
Vaishali R – Aleksandra Goryachkina

Round 5 on 2026/04/03 at 15:30

Aleksandra Goryachkina – Humpy Koneru
Zhu Jiner – Vaishali R
Tan Zhongyi – Divya Deshmukh
Kateryna Lagno – Bibisara Assaubayeva

Round 6 on 2026/04/04 at 15:30

Zhu Jiner – Humpy Koneru
Tan Zhongyi – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Kateryna Lagno – Vaishali R
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Divya Deshmukh

Round 7 on 2026/04/05 at 15:30

Humpy Koneru – Bibisara Assaubayeva
Divya Deshmukh – Kateryna Lagno
Vaishali R – Tan Zhongyi
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Zhu Jiner

Round 8 on 2026/04/07 at 15:30

Humpy Koneru – Divya Deshmukh
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Vaishali R
Kateryna Lagno – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Tan Zhongyi – Zhu Jiner

Round 9 on 2026/04/08 at 15:30

Tan Zhongyi – Humpy Koneru
Zhu Jiner – Kateryna Lagno
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Bibisara Assaubayeva
Vaishali R – Divya Deshmukh

Round 10 on 2026/04/09 at 15:30

Humpy Koneru – Vaishali R
Divya Deshmukh – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Zhu Jiner
Kateryna Lagno – Tan Zhongyi

Round 11 on 2026/04/11 at 15:30

Kateryna Lagno – Humpy Koneru
Tan Zhongyi – Bibisara Assaubayeva
Zhu Jiner – Divya Deshmukh
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Vaishali R

Round 12 on 2026/04/12 at 15:30

Humpy Koneru – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Vaishali R – Zhu Jiner
Divya Deshmukh – Tan Zhongyi
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Kateryna Lagno

Round 13 on 2026/04/14 at 15:30

Bibisara Assaubayeva – Humpy Koneru
Kateryna Lagno – Divya Deshmukh
Tan Zhongyi – Vaishali R
Zhu Jiner – Aleksandra Goryachkina

Round 14 on 2026/04/15 at 15:30

Humpy Koneru – Zhu Jiner
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Tan Zhongyi
Vaishali R – Kateryna Lagno
Divya Deshmukh – Bibisara Assaubayeva

Humpy has withdrawn as she does not feel safe. An overreaction in my view

Nigel Freeman wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 22, 2026 5:40 pm

Humpy has withdrawn as she does not feel safe. An overreaction in my view

I wonder if FIDE has considered moving the event given the situation in the Middle East.
Of all the federations involved in the event, India and China would most likely be able to offer an alternative venue at very short notice.

Nigel Freeman wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 22, 2026 5:40 pm

Humpy has withdrawn as she does not feel safe. An overreaction in my view

Is she going to be replaced?

(and yes, I agree)

Matt Mackenzie wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 22, 2026 7:13 pm

Nigel Freeman wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 22, 2026 5:40 pm

Humpy has withdrawn as she does not feel safe. An overreaction in my view

Is she going to be replaced?

(and yes, I agree)

Apparently Anna Muzychuk has been offered a spot.

I'm not sure that India is particularly safe... Come to that, is anywhere?

Well indeed, you could probably make a "case" for 80% if not 90% of the world's sovereign states not being "totally safe".

(and for sizeable nations, that likely rises to not far off 100%)

Nigel Freeman wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 22, 2026 5:40 pm

Humpy has withdrawn as she does not feel safe. An overreaction in my view

Easy to say; you can't play decent chess if your mind is not 100%, so she's made the right decision for herself

I agree with that, but might be a bit more trusting of the organisers in situations like this. Maybe she just didn't fancy it much anyway

Humpy has been there, done that. I'm much more excited to see how some of the younger women do, for example the current Indian #2, Divya Deshmukh.

Divya Deshmukh – Anna Muzychuk draw
Vaishali R – Bibisara Assaubayeva draw
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Kateryna Lagno draw
Zhu Jiner – Tan Zhongyi draw

Mick Norris wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 29, 2026 6:15 pm

Divya Deshmukh – Anna Muzychuk draw
Vaishali R – Bibisara Assaubayeva draw
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Kateryna Lagno draw
Zhu Jiner – Tan Zhongyi draw

Despite the four draws both Goryachkina and Bibisara will be frustrated not to have won.

TWIC

Divya Deshmukh draw Anna Muzychuk

An interesting Scotch drawn in 34 moves.

Vaishali Rameshbabu draw Bibisara Assaubayeva

Vaishali played an odd variation of the Sicilian with too many knight moves and just ended up worse. 27.a4! started some sharp play and this led fairly quickly to equality and a draw.

Aleksandra Goryachkina draw Kateryna Lagno

Goryachkina got a winning position, Lagno's troubles really started with 18...Rfd8? Goryachkina was within sight of victory when 24.Nxe5?? was played (24.Rxe5! and the game just ends) and Lagno was allowed to escape with a draw.

Zhu Jiner draw Tan Zhongyi

Zhu Jiner played a very nasty line in a Giuoco Piano and got a large advantage against Tan. 21.h3 (21.gxh5!) was way too cautious and immediately allowed equality.

4 draws again, although Zhu Jiner looked to be winning with black against Lagno