Candidates Chess: How Vaishali crashed into the Chinese wall in Round 12

NEW DELHI: A round-robin format similar the Candidates was ever going to person a just stock of surprises for each player, and India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu was served a acold 1 connected Sunday evening astatine the Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort successful Cyprus.Just twenty-four hours earlier, we were celebrating her tactical masterclass implicit Aleksandra Goryachkina. It was so a triumph wherever her swiftness successful trapping the Russian’s rook talented her a commanding one-point lead.On Sunday, that pb vanished into bladed air. China’s Zhu Jiner, playing with the achromatic pieces, produced a objective show to stun Vaishali. And successful doing so, she secured a 2-0 head-to-head expanse against the Chennai-born Grandmaster successful this tournament.

The nonaccomplishment has blown the Women’s conception wide unfastened and near the apical of the array successful a dormant heat.How Vaishali mislaid her mode against Zhu JinerThe brushwood began with Vaishali opting for the Advance Variation of the Caro-Kann Defence (1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5). By determination 5 (5. cxd3), Vaishali accepted a structurally compromised presumption with doubled pawns, a double-edged determination aimed astatine controlling the centre.However, Jiner’s effect was diligent and surgical.

The hostility escalated successful the middlegame arsenic Vaishali struggled to find a factual program to interruption Black’s coordination. The Chinese Grandmaster began exerting unit connected the queenside, and by determination 24, the cracks successful White’s presumption became craters.

Jiner’s 24... Nb4 was a peculiarly stinging blow, forcing Vaishali into a antiaircraft crouch.In a hopeless bid to complicate matters, Vaishali tried a cardinal interruption with 27.

d5, but Jiner’s 27... Nxd5 lone simplified the way to triumph for Black.The endgame was a harrowing matter for the Indian fans. After the precise 30... Rg4, Jiner began a relentless march of her h-pawn.The crippled reached its terminal constituent erstwhile Jiner promoted a pawn connected g1; pursuing the exchange, the last determination 39... Nc3 near Vaishali with nary prime but to resign arsenic her presumption disintegrated.With this defeat, Vaishali remains connected 7/12, but she is nary longer unsocial astatine the summit.

Zhu Jiner has present joined her astatine the apical with the aforesaid score, mounting the signifier for a grandstand decorativeness successful the last 2 rounds.It was a sombre time for the Indian contingent. Divya Deshmukh, besides playing with White, suffered a akin fate, falling to China’s Tan Zhongyi.Open Section: Sindarov nears the crownWhile the Women’s conception is defined by high-wire intrigue, the Open conception is nearing a foregone conclusion.

Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov played retired a measured gully against Hikaru Nakamura.

When chess returns to Mediterranean shores astatine the Candidates aft a remainder time connected Monday, Sindarov volition lone person to play retired a gully to officially beryllium crowned the challenger to D Gukesh aboriginal this year.India’s R Praggnanandhaa fought hard but could lone negociate a gully against Andrey Esipenko.ALSO READ: Javokhir Sindarov, D Gukesh's apt World C'ship challenger, cracks codification for sponsorship woes successful chessFollowing a remainder day, the players volition instrumentality for Round 13 connected April 14.

For Vaishali, the ngo is herculean. She indispensable regroup and find the form. The pb whitethorn person vanished, but the title is inactive precise overmuch a combat to the finish.FIDE Candidates Round 12 Results – April 12, 2026Open Section (Round 12)Andrey Esipenko 0.5–0.5 R PraggnanandhaaMatthias Blübaum 0.5–0.5 Fabiano CaruanaJavokhir Sindarov 0.5–0.5 Hikaru NakamuraWei Yi 0.5–0.5 Anish GiriWomen’s Section (Round 12)Anna Muzychuk 0.5–0.5 Aleksandra GoryachkinaVaishali Rameshbabu 0–1 Zhu JinerDivya Deshmukh 0–1 Tan ZhongyiBibisara Assaubayeva 1–0 Kateryna LagnoFIDE Candidates Round 13 Pairings – April 14, 2026Open Section (Round 13)Wei Yi vs Andrey EsipenkoAnish Giri vs Javokhir SindarovHikaru Nakamura vs Matthias BlübaumFabiano Caruana vs R PraggnanandhaaWomen’s Section (Round 13)Bibisara Assaubayeva vs Anna MuzychukKateryna Lagno vs Divya DeshmukhTan Zhongyi vs Vaishali RameshbabuZhu Jiner vs Aleksandra Goryachkina