New Delhi: India’s challenge at the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 continued with measured performances in round five on Friday, as R Praggnanandhaa and Divya Deshmukh secured draws, while R Vaishali suffered a defeat.
Praggnanandhaa added another half-point to his tally after his game against Russian Andrey Esipenko concluded without a breakthrough. The Indian grandmaster relied on a solid and risk-free structure from the early phase of the game. Both players focused on piece coordination rather than aggressive pawn advances. As the position remained closed and symmetrical, neither side found a workable plan to create imbalances. The contest eventually reached a drawn position, marking Praggnanandhaa’s second consecutive split point in the tournament, fide.com reported.
In the women’s section, Deshmukh showed composure to recover from her previous-round setback and claim a steady draw against former world champion Tan Zhongyi of China. The game developed along balanced lines from the opening, with both players completing development quickly and castling early. They chose opposite wings for operations, which kept the tension alive through the middlegame.
Tan attempted to increase pressure by activating her rooks along open files and repositioning her knight to probe weaknesses. Divya, however, responded with precise defensive manoeuvres, including timely knight redeployments and effective king centralisation. She neutralised the threats and ensured stability in the position. As the game progressed into the later phase, Divya forced a perpetual check sequence, ensuring that the game ended in a draw.
R Vaishali, meanwhile, faced a tough outing against another Chinese grandmaster Zhu Jiner. Zhu maintained control for most of the game and capitalised on her chances to register a second successive victory. Vaishali could not recover once the balance tilted, resulting in a full point for her opponent.
Away from the Indian matches, Uzbek chess grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov continued to dominate the Open section with another impressive win, this time against American Hikaru Nakamura. Sindarov dictated the pace of the game with energetic central play and gradually improved his piece activity. He later shifted focus to the kingside, where sustained pressure eventually opened up decisive attacking chances, forcing Nakamura to resign. The result marked his third straight victory and pushed him to 4.5 points out of five.
In other games, Fabiano Caruana stayed in close pursuit of the leader by defeating Matthias Bluebaum to reach 3.5 points. Anish Giri shared the point with Wei Yi after a balanced encounter. Kateryna Lagno also delivered a key result by overcoming Bibisara Assaubayeva.
