India's R Vaishali became the third Indian to qualify for the 2026 International Chess Federation (FIDE) Women's Candidates tournament (Pic: File Pic)

She defended her FIDE Grand Swiss title in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. She finished with a total of eight points from 11 rounds, equal to Katryna Lagno, but secured a successful title defence on the basis of a tie-break (Pic: X/@FIDE_chess)

Vaishali's qualification to the Women's Candidates tournaments comes after Divya Deshmukh and Koneru Humpy made it to the event (Pic: X/@FIDE_chess)

Earlier in July, Divya had created history as she became the first Indian to win the Women's World Cup 2025, defeating Humpy with a score of 2.5-1.5 in the tie-breaks in Batumi (Pic: File Pic)

In the Candidates tournament, she will earn the right to challenge China's reigning five-time world champion Ju Wenjun for the Women's World Chess Championship (Pic: File Pic)