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R Vaishali secures the World Championship Spot

by Devansh Singh - 21/04/2026

It's been almost 5 days since the FIDE Candidates 2026 was over, and we have two challengers for the World Championship Title. Vaishali Rameshbabu won her last game against Kateryna Lagno to win the Women's Candidates. Javokhir Sindarov was unstoppable from the start and won the Candidates with a round to spare, remaining unbeaten throughout the event. Vaishali will play the World Championship match against Ju Wenjun, and Javokhir Sindarov will take on D Gukesh for the title. Check out the prize distribution ceremony photos in this article. Photos: Michal Walusza, Niki Riga/ FIDE

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The reward of hard-fought battles

Vaishali and Sindarov played some amazing chess in the FIDE Candidates 2026. Sindarov was in a bad position in the 1st game itself against Esipenko but managed to win that game, and after that, he never looked back. While Vaishali, who lost two games against Zhu Jiner, made a huge comeback and scored an important win in the last round.

FIDE Women's Candidates 2026 Champion: Vaishali Rameshbabu

FIDE Candidates 2026 Champion: Javokhir Sindarov

Check out the moments from the Prize Distribution Ceremony

When the mic is in Anish's hand, it smiles everywhere!

Anish played great chess in the Candidates and was very close to catching Sindarov, but eventually the game between both ended in a draw, and Anish finished in 2nd place

Pragg, Pranesh, and Nagalakshmi with the trophy!

Amazing performance before the start of the ceremony

Traditions

Let's Dance

Check out the complete closing ceremony of FIDE Candidates and Women's Candidates 2026 in full!

Isai Scheinberg with Emil Sutovsky

Autographs

Bibisara and Sindarov decided to make their relationship public in the most important tournament of their chess career. Congratulations to both!

Top 3 Finishers (L to R): Bibisara, Vaishali, and Zhu Jiner

Check out that amazing moment when Vaishali took the stage and was crowned as the Champion of FIDE Women's Candidates 2026 - and then the National anthem was played in Cyprus!

Top 3 Open (L to R): Anish Giri. Javokhir Sindarov and Fabiano Caruana

One silver and one gold, what a couple!

5-time classical World Champion: Viswanathan Anand was there in the closing ceremony

"The eyes, Chico. They never lie."

A friend before a teammate: Mukhiddin Madaminov

Get to know Mukhiddin's story in this detailed 31-minute interview - he speaks about the tournament, preparation for Sindarov, Chess in Uzbekistan, and a whole lot more.

The "Hero’s Entrance" in Cyprus

As always, smiling and making everyone laugh with her funny jokes: Amruta Mokal

Bringing you all the moments from the ground: Abhyudaya Ram

The pride and relief

Photo Shoot

Vaishali with mother, Nagalakshmi

The first last day at Candidates 2026

History maker

What an incredible performance by this young lad

Uzbek Fire

'Vaishali, we want 2 world champions at the same time.'

Videos:

We sit together with Vaishali late in the night after her win at the FIDE Women's Candidates 2026. We speak about her preparation, her mindset, her team, and go over each of her games! It is an interview that gives you the complete picture of how Vaishali won the Candidates' tournament 2026.

After the final round of the FIDE Candidates 2026, there was a fun Q&A session with Javokhir Sindarov, the winner of the tournament. It featured some interesting questions, followed by an autograph and photo session — a nice moment for both the fans and Sindarov to interact.

15 minutes of raw and unseen footage of Vaishali, Pragg, and the team after her historic win at the FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026!

Enjoy some unseen footage from the press conference of R Vaishali after she won the FIDE Women's Candidates 2026, featuring wholesome reactions from his team and family after making history
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