Draws and a Defeat: India’s Cautious Candidates Campaign Backfires in Round 4
India’s Candidates Tournament players have a problem. They are not losing because opponents are outplaying them. They are losing time because they keep giving it away.
In Round 4 at Paphos, Cyprus, Praggnanandhaa drew again — his fourth draw from four games in the open section. Facing the lowest-rated player in the field with the black pieces, he quickly exchanged pieces in a Semi-Slav, reached a dead endgame and repeated moves at move 37. Two and a half points dropped in matchups he could have pressed.
Vaishali fared similarly. Her fourth straight draw came against Aleksandra Goryachkina, who actually created pressure in the middlegame but could not find the precise continuation on moves 14 and 18. Vaishali escaped — but with half a point when a full one was on.
Divya Deshmukh had the worst afternoon. Playing white against a higher-rated Zhu Jiner of China, she misplaced her light-squared bishop on d3 on the 14th move. From there, she was gradually outplayed and lost. She now sits at 1.5 points at the bottom of the women’s leaderboard.
Sindarov leads the open section with a cushion. In the women’s, Anna Muzychuk is in joint lead. India’s players are alive — but the margin for caution has run out.