Vaishali's path to Women’s Candidates title: How Chennai Grandmaster defied the odds to make history for India

Indian Grandmaster R Vaishali scripted history with a remarkable comeback run to win the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament 2026 and qualify for the World Chess Championship. Her journey to the title was not straightforward, but it was definitely a piece of brilliance as she became the first Indian woman to win the Candidates.

Vaishali sealed the title in Cyprus with a crucial final-round victory over Russia's Kateryna Lagno. With this win, she finished on 8.5 points and earned the right to challenge reigning five-time world champion Ju Wenjun of China later this year.

Vaishali's path to Candidates title

Vaishali qualified for the Candidates by winning the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss 2025 tournament; however, her campaign did not begin dominantly in Cyprus as she had a series of draws in the opening rounds of the Candidates and even suffered a defeat in the fifth round against China's Zhu Jinner.

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After the first half of the tournament, she was placed near the middle of the standings.

However, Vaishali showed great mental strength to stay in the contest. Instead of panicking, she focussed on her games and managed to pick up her first win against Lagno in Round 6.

She then defeated Tan Zhongyi in Round 7 and drew her game against Uzbek GM Bibisara Assaubayeva in Round 8.

Vaishali defeated compatriot Divya Deshmukh in the subsequent round to go on top of the table with 5.5 points. She shared the lead with Zhu Jiner, who also had the same number of points and continued to challenge Vaishali for the top spot until the final day.

In the next round, the Indian GM drew her game against Anna Muzychuk to take the sole lead, as Zhu lost her match in that round.

By Round 11, Vaishali started to look favourite to win the title as she defeated Aleksandra Goryachkina to maintain the lead in the standings. But a huge blow came in Round 12 when she lost to Zhu Jinner and gave away her sole lead.

She drew against Tan Zhongyi in Round 13 and needed a win in her final game to keep the title race alive in a three-way battle involving Zhu and Bibisara.

Vaishali eventually delivered a clinical performance in Round 14 as she defeated Lagno for the second time in the tournament to seal the historic title.