With each passing sunset on the mesmerising Mediterranean shores of Paphos in Cyprus, India’s R Vaishali continues her strong display of chess, quietly tightening her grip on a tournament where fortunes can turn on a single move. With each passing round, the possibility of an Indian returning home with atleast one World Championship challenger spot from the twin 2026 Candidates tournaments is only increasing. On Saturday evening, Vaishali, who entered the 11th round as the sole leader of the Women’s Candidates, increased her gap over second-placed Zhu Jiner to a full point after handing a soul-crushing, tournament-derailing loss to pre-event favourite Russia’s Aleksandra Goryachkina. With her fourth win of the Candidates and her second with the black pieces, Vaishali is somewhat mirroring her great run from the second half of the previous Women’s Candidates in Toronto, where she won five games in a row to overcome a poor start and eventually tie for second place on points. This time, however, the late surge has come early, and the question lingering in the shadows is whether …