Candidate: Divya Deshmukh How to Outsmart Leader Anna Muzychuk to the Top

NEW DELHI: After a relative calm on Monday’s rest day, with some players playing cricket on the pitch, the storm is back on the board at the Cap St. George Hotel and Resort in Cyprus, with a hint of vengeance. Tuesday’s Round 8 of the 2026 FIDE Candidates proved that during a 14-round marathon, breaks often lead to chaos rather than calm.While the Indian camp celebrated Divya Deshmukh’s huge win and topping the women’s rankings, the Open segment saw India’s best hope R Praggnanandhaa almost collapse.In the Open portion, Hikaru Nakamura finally found his stride, defeating compatriot Fabiano Caruana with ruthless efficiency. Meanwhile, Anish Giri took clinical revenge for his first-round loss by defeating Praggnanandhaa.

However, the most jaw-dropping drama of the day occurred in the women’s category, where the leaderboard was set ablaze in a showdown between Divya Deshmukh and championship leader Anna Muzychuk.Muzicuk was not supposed to feature in Cyprus but was a last-minute replacement for India veteran Koneru Humpy and had been playing the role of an invincible shield until Tuesday. But a series of inexplicable mistakes against Divya caused her crown to slip.With the wins of Divya, Zhu Jiner and Kateryna Lagno, the women’s division has become a five-way tie at the top, with Divya and Vaishali Rameshbabu sharing the lead with 4.5/8 points.Divya’s huge victoryWhile Divya Deshmukh’s run to the top of the table looked impressive in the points tally, veteran Pravin Thipsay believes the win had more to do with Muzychuk’s sudden lack of oxygen than India’s tactical brilliance.“Anna played pretty well. By the 40th move, Divya seemed to be in serious trouble,” Tipsay told TimesofIndia.com in a post-match analysis. “Under normal circumstances, failure (for Divya) is a normal outcome.” The game suddenly took a turn when the Ukrainian veteran suffered a mental breakdown.“However, when Muzychuk decided to play her strongest point in her position (the pawn on h6), she was completely lost. By playing 43.Qh5, I think Muzychuk retains a huge advantage even if he doesn’t win. But as she retreated Qe2 on move 43, it became a draw after Divya destroyed the powerful enemy piece (43…Qxh6). “Tipsey was particularly surprised by the lack of technical discipline at this level.“When Muzychuk gave her a powerful h6 piece, I thought she had zero chance of winning. But the decisive mistake came on move 59, when she pushed another piece, the a6 piece, to a7, not realizing at this stage that a6 was the only advantage in her position. By giving up the piece (59…Qxa7), Muzychuk got into a lost position. Surprisingly, she gave up first the h6 piece and then a6, the passed piece, which was Black’s only threat.“In the endgame of queens and pawns, Divya has the slight advantage of the extra pawn. She maintained a shrewd structure and forced Muzychuk to throw in the towel on move 83, her first defeat of the tournament.Praggnanandhaa’s hopes come to naughtIf Divya’s performance brought smiles to Indians, then R Praggnanandhaa’s performance was a masterclass in self-destruction.The Chennai grandmaster defeated Anish Giri at the start of the match but got a brutal lesson in the second round. “While Praggnanandhaa almost equalized on move 34, I think the inaccurate footwork starting with 35.Qf7 and then 38.h5 proved to be decisive errors,” Thipsay explained.“The whole process of moving the queen to the king’s side and then advancing the pieces on the king’s side, weakening the king, turned out to be disastrous. Therefore, due to this loss, Pragnananda may not be a challenger for the world title. “Lukewarm Vaishali and the road aheadMeanwhile, R Vaishali’s day lacks energy. Despite having one more piece than Bibisara Assaubayeva, she failed to overturn the advantage. Thipsay noted, “Vaishali seemed to gain some advantage against Bibisara Assaubayeva. The advantage of the extra piece was not enough to win, as the theoretical position was a draw. Vaishali tried her best, but her opponent, who fought well, accomplished nothing. “As the competition enters the ninth round, the focus shifts to the all-India clash in the women’s category. The two sides are Vaishali Rameshbabu versus Divya Deshmukh. Both are co-leaders, but only one has the ability to keep the momentum going.In the Open section, Pragnananda now has to fight for pride as his path to the title has been effectively blocked.FIDE Candidates Round 8 Results – April 7, 2026open partAndrei Esipenko 0.5–0.5 Javokir ZindarovWei Yi 0.5–0.5 Matthias BruebaumAnish Giri 1–0 R PraggnanandhaaHikaru Nakamura 1-0 Fabiano CaruanaWomen’s groupAnna Muzchuk 0–1 Divya DeshmukhBibisara Ashobayeva 0.5–0.5 Vaishali RameshbabuKaterina Ranio 1-0 Alexander GoryachkinaTan Zhongyi 0–1 Zhu JinerFIDE Candidates Pairing Round 9 – 8 April 2026open partHikaru Nakamura vs Andrei EsipenkoFabiano Caruana vs Anish GiriR Praggnanandhaa VS Wei YiMatthias Bruebaum VS Javokil ZindalovWomen’s groupTan Zhongyi VS Anna MuzchukZhu Jiner vs Katerina RagnowAlexander Goryakina VS Bibisara AshobayevaVaishali Ramesh Babu vs Divya Deshmukh