3 min readMar 26, 2026 05:26 PM ISTChinese grandmaster Zhu Jiner (right) lost to India's R Vaishali in the quarterfinals of the FIDE Women's World Blitz Championship. Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE_Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand has picked Chinese grandmaster Zhu Jiner as the favourite to win the Women’s Candidates while mentioning Divya Deshmukh and Vaishali Rameshbabu as dark horses for the tournament.Anand made the pick while making a “tier list” for Chess.com India. The prediction came with a disclaimer: at the start of the conversation, Anand had said that he had found it difficult to pinpoint someone in the Women’s Candidates event who he thought was a clear favorite. He also said that he found it hard to select someone who he thought didn’t have a chance.The Tier List had all the eight players categorised into four groups: “Winner”, “Top 3”, “Dark Horse” and “Difficult”. The tier list was made by Anand before Humpy had pulled out of the Candidates tournament citing security concerns. Anand had put Humpy in the ‘Difficult’ category.Winner: Zhu JinerTop 3: Tan Zhongyi, Bibisara Assaubayeva and Aleksandra GoryachkinaDark Horse: Divya Deshmukh, Vaishali Rameshbabu and Kateryna LagnoJiner comes into the Candidates tournament after a wretched showing in the challengers section of the Prague Masters event, where she ended 10th out of 10 players. The event also had India’s Deshmukh contending, and she ended up in third place, with double the number of points Jiner had at the end (although, in their personal match, the Chinese GM had defeated Deshmukh).Anand spoke about Vaishali’s chances, who, at Cyprus, will be playing in her second Candidates tournament in a row.“She’s got some very strong qualities. She showed that already last time (where she had) big swings, very bad result. Ended up with a very good final performance. She hasn’t played much. She didn’t play Tata Steel at Wijk aan Zee. She didn’t play Prague Masters either. I’m assuming she’s been working very hard. I don’t know. I have to put somebody in dark horse,” Anand said before adding: “I already feel I’m walking in a minefield here… I wanted to put all of them in Top 3 or dark Horse.” © IE Online Media Services Pvt LtdAdvertisementLoading Recommendations...Live BlogGold, Silver Rate Today, 26 March 2026 Live Updates: Gold futures fluctuate as crude oil surges past $10055 seconds agoIran vs US-Israel War News Live Updates: Better get serious soon, before it’s too late, Trump tells Iran on truce2 minutes agoNews Today Live Updates, 26 March | Delhi-Howrah train speeds to improve as Railways upgrades two 73-year-old bridges in Uttar Pradesh18 minutes agoBihar Board 10th Result 2026 Live Updates: Will BSEB announce matric toppers list?19 minutes agoDhurandhar 2 Worldwide Box Office Collection Day 7 LIVE Updates: Ranveer Singh film earns Rs 1007 cr globally; eyes a Rs 50+ cr Friday21 minutes ago