Vaishali wins again, Divya draws after 135-move battle with Lagno

R Vaishali has climbed into the second position after posting back-to-back wins in the FIDE Candidates Chess Tournament in Cyprus on Easter Sunday.

Vaishali got lucky in her round seven game against Tan Zhongyi, with the Chinese blundering a rook in an even endgame. Vaishali had defeated Kateryna Lagno is the previous round. 

Meanwhile, Divya Deshmukh, the other Indian in the women's section of the tournament, played out a draw after a lengthy game with Lagno. Both players refused to give up in a rook ending, eventually shaking hands on a draw after 135 moves.

Sole leader Anna Muzychuk drew with Bibisara Assaubayeva to stay half-a-point ahead of Vaishali (4). Round eight of the event will be played on Monday, with Divya facing Muzychuk and Vaishali playing Bibisara.

Meanwhile, in the open category, India's sole competitor, R Praggnanandhaa, drew with Fabiano Caruana. But Javokhir Sindarov continued his unbeaten run with a draw against Anish Giri. The Uzbek star leads the eight-player field with 6 points, while second-placed Caruana has 4.5. Giri and Praggnanandhaa are on 3.5 points each.

In round eight, Praggnanandhaa and Sindarov will play black against Giri and Andrey Esipenko respectively. The 14-round tournament will decide the challenger for the reigning world champions, Ju Wenjun and D Gukesh.