A Chinese GM delivers repeated blows to India as Jiner takes down Vaishali and Divya

India's campaign in the women's section of the FIDE Candidates Chess Tournament in Cyprus suffered another blow with R Vaishali losing in round five on Friday.

China's Zhu Jiner defeated Vaishali with white pieces. Jiner had defeated Divya Deshmukh, the other Indian in the women's section, in round four.

The 23-year-old World No 4 dominated her game with Vaishali, almost from the opening, with aggressive pawn pushes and maintaining control over an open c-file.

Vaishali was pushed into a defensive shape in a queen-rook ending and resigned after 65 moves.

Jiner has joined Anna Muzychuk and Kateryna Lagno in the lead on 3 points each, while the two Indians remain bottom of the eight-player pack on 2 points each. The 14-round event is still open, and in Saturday's round six, Vaishali faces Lagno and Divya takes on Bibisara Assaubayeva.

Meanwhile, in the men's section, Uzbek star Javokhir Sindarov has extended his lead (4.5 points) over second-placed Fabiano Caruana (3.5) following victory over World No 2 Hikaru Nakamura.

The only Indian in the contest, R Praggnanandhaa, has 2.5 points after a draw with Andrey Esipenko. Praggnanandhaa has black pieces against Nakamura in round six.

The winners of the Candidates tournament will play the reigning world champions, Ju Wenjun of China and D Gukesh of India. Gukesh was crowned the men’s classical world champion in December 2024, with victory over China’s Ding Liren.