Divya Deshmukh vs Zhu Jiner (photo by Michal Walusza) NEW DELHI: The fourth round was always supposed to be a mental hurdle. With the Candidates 2026 edition unlocking a new level of competitiveness, Wednesday was the final sprint before the first scheduled rest day at Cyprus’ Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort. However, the Indian contingent seemed to be already mentally guarding their day off.It was indeed a day of missed opportunities and disappointment for India. While the sibling duo of R Praggnanandhaa and R Vaishali managed to rescue the draws, the spotlight turned harshly on Divya Deshmukh, whose experimental game collapsed under the weight of crucial mistakes.
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Exclusive Nihal Sarin: 2026 Candidates Predictions, Anish Giri’s ‘Drawish’ Label & More #chess For a nation that had started the tournament with reasonable solidity in the opening rounds, Round 4 felt like a whimper, a desperate rush towards the haven of Thursday’s break.A dry draw by PraggnanandhaaR Praggnanandhaa, who was India’s only hope in the Open section, looked uncharacteristically subdued against Germany’s Matthias Blübaum. Playing with the black pieces, the Chennai prodigy seemed content to direct the game to neutral territory as his German opponent would have liked, rather than test his resolve.Veteran CEO Pravin Thipsay was critical of the approach. “Blübaum plays very solidly and chose a simple opening and with the white pieces he just eased into a draw,” Thipsay told TimesofIndia.com while analyzing the game. “Praggnanandhaa tried to open the game with a center break, but he wasted a couple of pawn moves in 4…c6 and 5…c6, so by the time he played 6…c5 there was hardly any chance of winning.”The game ended in a triple replay of 37 moves, a dry affair that lacked the aggressive style of Pragg, even when defending with black pieces, as the chess world expected.Sindarov sets the toneAs the Indians struggled for rhythm, Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov continued to set the pace and dismantled world class Fabian Caruana. The result rocked the chess fraternity and firmly established the Uzbek as the man to beat.
Javokhir Sindarov (Photo by Michal Walusza)
“It was an interesting matchup between the two players leading this tournament at 2.5/3,” Thipsay noted. “Sindarov scored a crushing win over Fabian Caruana to take the lead 3.5/4. It looks like a fantastic score. At this stage, you can say that his quality and game or consistency is much better than others. If things continue in the same way, then you can say that Sindarov will win this tournament.”Vaishali’s escapeIn the women’s section, R Vaishali took on Aleksandra Goryachkina, who turned into a 27-move survival act. Vaishali opted for a King’s Pawn opening that evolved into an Italian game (Modern Bishop’s Opening) and soon found herself in murky waters. “Vaishali survived a bad position. She played a bad opener,” Thipsay remarked bluntly. “At one stage there was a central exchange and if her opponent had played exd4 (instead of 18…Nxd4) it would have been a big positional advantage for her opponent. But after the opponent took the Knight to d4, Vaishali recovered immediately and the game ended in a draw with some exciting moments but nothing really serious.”FIDE Results of the 4th round of candidates – April 1, 2026Open the section
- Andrey Espipenko 0-1 Anish Giri
- Wei Yi 0.5-0.5 Hikaru Nakamura
- Javokhir Sindarov 1-0 Fabiano Caruana
- Matthias Blübaum 0.5-0.5 R Praggnanandhaa
Women’s section
- Anna Muzychuk 1-0 Kateryna Lagno
- Bibisara Assaubayeva 0.5-0.5 Tan Zhongyi
- Divya Deshmukh 0-1 Zhu Jiner
- Vaishali Rameshbabu 0.5-0.5 Aleksandr Goryachkin
Divya Deshmukh’s Positional BreakdownThe saddest result for India came on board Divya Deshmukh. Facing China’s Zhu Jiner with the white pieces, Divya’s Slav defense crumbled not because of the opponent’s brilliance, but because of self-inflicted injury.“The most disappointing match of the day was Divya Deshmukh,” said Thipsay. Divya Deshmukh played English Opening. At the beginning of the middle game, it has already established a two-pawn structure on d4 and d5 with 8. cxd5… exd4 and 9. exd4… Bb6.“She played a position that is probably not easy to understand, but she took the doubled pawns in the center to give a convulsive effect. She didn’t seem to know the following, because once she got a slight advantage…she tried to push the pawns to the kingside for no reason, instead of focusing on the development.”
Divya plays 12.h4
Her first big slip came with a premature pawn push on the king, 12. h4, which weakened her position. Zhu Jiner took advantage of this and made a decisive impact by capturing the d5-pawn with 17… Nxd5.“Divya also checked on the same side she weakened, losing a pawn on move 17,” explained Thipsay. “The loss of time and the lost pawn were somehow irreparable. After that, the game was also very imprecise. She lost another pawn. . . . In the final position, she was in danger of losing a queen, in danger of checkmate, in danger of a pawn fork. A very one-sided game between these two.”When Divya resigned after 36 moves, she was several pawns down in a hopeless position. It was a clear case of the player losing the thread of the game and maybe already thinking about a rest day.The Indian contingent needs more than rest. They need a total recalibration.The safety-focused thinking we witnessed in Round 4 did little but allow the competition to move forward.Praggnanandhaa, Vaishali and Divya will have to return on Friday. They would need the killer instinct that seems to have evaporated in the Mediterranean heat.Round 5 Pairing – April 3, 2026
- Open: Praggnanandhaa Vs. Espenko; Caruana vs. Blubaum; Nakamura vs. Sindarov; Giri vs. Wei Yi.
- Women: Goryachkina vs. Muzychuk; Zhu Jiner vs. Vaishali; Tan zhongyi vs. Divya; Lagno vs. Bibisara.
