Vaishali defeats Divya, remains in joint lead

In an engrossing all-Indian battle featuring two of the overnight leaders, R. Vaishali outclassed an erratic Divya Deshmukh at the Women’s Candidates chess tournament at Pegeia, Cyprus, on Wednesday. The Grandmaster from Chennai has thus retained her lead after the ninth round.

The day had begun with five women in the lead, but it is now down to just two. Zhu Jiner is the other player on 5.5 points, following her win against Kateryna Lagno. Anna Muzychuk is just half-a-point behind them, followed by Divya and Lagno on 4.5. Five rounds remain in the eight-player double round-robin league.