Vaishali Rameshbabu

Vaishali Rameshbabu
Vaishali at the 46th Chess Olympiad
Personal information
Born (2001-06-21) 21 June 2001 (age 25)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Chess career
CountryIndia
TitleGrandmaster (2024)
FIDE rating2452 (October 2026)
Peak rating2506 (August 2024)

Vaishali Rameshbabu (born 21 June 2001) is an Indian chess grandmaster. She is a two-time champion of the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss Tournament, winning consecutively in 2023 and 2025. Having played in two editions of the Women's Candidates Tournament, she won the 2026 edition to earn the right to challenge Ju Wenjun for the title of Women's World Chess Champion in the upcoming championship match held in 2027.

Representing India, she was part of the team that won the silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games in the women's team competition, and was a member of the team that won the gold medal in the women's event of the 45th Chess Olympiad.

Personal life

Vaishali pictured with her mother, Nagalakshmi (left).

Vaishali was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on 21 June 2001. Her father, Rameshbabu, works as a branch manager at TNSC Bank, and her mother, Nagalakshmi, is a homemaker. Her younger brother R Praggnanandhaa is also a chess grandmaster; they are the first brother and sister duo to hold the title.

Career

2012-2019: Beginnings

Vaishali won the Girls' World Youth Chess Championship for Under-12s in 2012 and Under-14s in 2015. In 2013, at age 12, she defeated future World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen in a simul competition that Carlsen held while in her hometown of Chennai for the World Chess Championship 2013.

She won the National Junior Girls Chess Championship (India) consequently in 2015 and 2016.

In 2016, she received the Woman International Master (WIM) title, and in October 2016, she was ranked second in India and World No.12 girl U16-player. At that time, she had an Elo rating of 2300.

She became a Woman Grandmaster (WGM) by completing her final norm in the Riga Technical University Open chess tournament in Riga, Latvia on 12 August 2018.

2020-2022: IM title and Olympiad

Vaishali was the part of the gold medal-winning team at Online Olympiad 2020, where India won its first ever medal.

She received her International Master (IM) title in 2021. In 2022, Vaishali won the 8th Fischer Memorial, scoring 7/9 and winning her second Grandmaster norm.

Vaishali was invited to participate in the FIDE Women's Speed Chess Championship 2022, where she defeated the Women's World Blitz Chess Champion Bibisara Assaubayeva in the round of 16, and compatriot Harika Dronavalli in the quarterfinals.

Vaishali played on Board 3 in the Women's section at the 44th Chess Olympiad at Mamallapuram, Chennai, in July-Aug 2022. The India women's team won the team bronze medal, and Vaishali won individual bronze for board 3.

In December 2022, Vaishali won the Tata Stel Chess India 2022 Blitz Women in Kolkata, scoring 13½/18.

2023-2025: Double Grand Swiss Champion and Olympiad Gold

Vaishali played in the Tata Steel Challengers 2023, scoring 4.5/14 and beating two 2600-rated GMs, Luis Paulo Supi and Jerguš Pecháč. She finished twelfth in the standings overall.

In the Qatar Masters Open 2023, Vaishali received her final GM norm after finishing with 5/9 and a performance rating of 2609. She also won the top women's prize in the tournament, after finishing with better tiebreaks (performance rating) than compatriot Divya Deshmukh.

In November 2023, Vaishali won the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss held in the Isle of Man going undefeated with the score 8.5/11, and qualified for the 2024 Women's Candidates Tournament. She and her younger brother Praggnanandhaa became the first sister-brother duo to qualify for the respective Candidates.

In December, at the IV El Llobregat Open Tournament 2023 in Spain, Vaishali crossed the 2500 Elo rating threshold, thereby fulfilling all of the requirements for the Grandmaster title and becoming the third woman and 84th person in India to do so.

On January 31, 2024, the India Chess Federation submitted a Grandmaster Title Application on behalf of Vaishali to the FIDE Qualification Committee, which administers FIDE titles. She became the first female Grandmaster from Tamilnadu.

Vaishali finished 4th at the Women's Candidates Tournament 2024 with the score 7½/14 (+6-5=3), the same score as that of 2nd place Koneru Humpy and 3rd place Lei Tingjie but with worse tiebreaks, she was tied for 3rd after 5 rounds but lost the next 4 games to reach last place and then made an incredible comeback with 5 consecutive wins to end the tournament on a positive score.

In September 2024, Vaishali played Board 2 for the Indian team that won Gold in the women's section of the 45th Chess Olympiad. This marked India's first ever win at the Women's Chess Olympiad.

In December 2024, Vaishali won bronze medal in the Women's World Blitz Chess Championship she finished 1st in the round robin section and was defeated in the semifinals by eventual winner Ju Wenjun.

In September 2025, Vaishali defended her Grand Swiss title at the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss 2025 held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, scoring 8/11. Thus, she qualified for the Women's Candidates Tournament 2026.

2026: Candidates and World Championship

Vaishali won the FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament 2026, scoring 8.5/14 (+5−2=7). She will play in the Women's World Championship 2027 against Ju Wenjun.

In June 2026, she won the Rapid section of WR Women's Chess Tour 2026 Asia Leg, defeating Irene Sukandar 1.5–0.5 in the quarterfinal, Kateryna Lagno 1.5–0.5 in the semifinal and Alua Nurman 1.5–0.5 in the final. She also participated in World Rapid and Blitz Team Chess Championships 2026 as part of the Chess Gurukul Team, They finished 5th in the Rapid section and Vaishali won Bronze for Board 6. In July, Vaishali finished last of 6 players in the Challengers section of Biel Chess Festival. In August, Vaishali finished last of 10 players at Cairns Cup scoring 2½/9 (+0-4=5).

In September, Vaishali played on Board 2 for Indian Women's team that won bronze in the Women's event of the 46th Chess Olympiad, she performed poorly scoring 2½/6 (+1-2=3) losing two critical games, she was rested after round 8.

Awards

National

References

  1. ↑ "Vaishali, Rameshbabu". ratings.fide.com. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 "FIDE Title Application (GM)" (PDF). Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  3. ↑ Susan Ninan (1 July 2018). "Praggnanandhaa: The boy who could be king". ESPN.
  4. ↑ Susan Ninan (2 December 2023). "The Indian siblings taking the chess world by storm". BBC.
  5. ↑ "Vaishali and Praggnanandhaa make history as the first-ever brother-sister duo to become Grandmasters". The Indian Express. 2 December 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  6. ↑ "Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaaa celebrity xyz page". Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  7. ↑ The girl who defeated Magnus at the age of 12 | Vaishali Rameshbabu, 8 September 2022, retrieved 16 October 2023
  8. ↑ "Carlsen happy with arrangements for World Championship match". The Times of India. 19 August 2013. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  9. ↑ https://s2.chess-results.com/tnr241630.aspx?lan=1&art=4&SNode=S0
  10. ↑ "R. Vaishali becomes Grand Master". 13 August 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  11. ↑ "The entire Gold medal winning Indian team from Online Olympiad 2020 interviewed by ChessBase India – ChessBase India". chessbase.in. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  12. ↑ "The Triumph of the twelve brave Olympians – ChessBase India". chessbase.in. 30 August 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  13. ↑ "Asian champ Vaishali sets her sight at Grand Master title". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 24 May 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  14. ↑ Rao, Rakesh (4 May 2022). "Fischer Memorial: Vaishali makes second GM norm, wins title". Sportstar. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  15. ↑ News9 Staff (4 May 2022). "Indian woman grandmaster R Vaishali secures 2nd GM norm by winning Greek chess event". NEWS9LIVE. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ "Vaishali triumphs at 8th Fischer Memorial 2022, scores her second GM-norm – ChessBase India". chessbase.in. 4 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  17. ↑ Vaishali Rameshbabu Wins Women's Speed Chess Championship Qualifier #2, 30 May 2021, retrieved 27 September 2023
  18. ↑ "FIDE WSCC 2022 Round of 16: Vaishali eliminates World Blitz Women champion Bibisara Assaubayeva – ChessBase India". chessbase.in. 14 June 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  19. ↑ "Vaishali R eliminates Dronavalli to reach semifinals". fide.com. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  20. ↑ West (NM_Vanessa), Vanessa (21 July 2022). "Rising Star Knocks Out Experienced Compatriot". Chess.com. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  21. ↑ "Vaishali clinches Tata Steel Chess India 2022 Women Blitz convincingly, Harika third". ChessBase India. 5 December 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2026.
  22. ↑ "Challengers standings". Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2023. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  23. 1 2 "Nodirbek Yakubboev wins Qatar Masters in blitz tiebreaks". Chess News. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  24. ↑ "Vaishali Wins Women's Grand Swiss, Vidit Also Gets Close To Title Triumph". News18. 6 November 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  25. 1 2 Sportstar, Team (5 November 2023). "Vaishali draws last round to win FIDE Women Grand Prix 2023". Sportstar. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  26. ↑ "R Vaishali becomes grandmaster, joins R Praggnanandhaa to become world's first brother-sister GM duo". India Today. 2 December 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  27. ↑ "FIDE TITLE REGULATIONS". International Chess Federation (FIDE). Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  28. ↑ "Stalin lauds Vaishali on becoming first woman GM from TN". Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  29. ↑ "My comeback took me by surprise: Vaishali". Hindustan Times. 27 April 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2026.
  30. ↑ McGourty, Colin. "India Clinches Historic Double Olympiad Gold". Chess.com.
  31. ↑ "Carlsen, Nepomniachtchi Agree To Share World Blitz Title, Ju Wins Women's". chess.com. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
  32. ↑ "Historic! R Vaishali defends her FIDE Grand Swiss title, becomes third Indian to enter Candidates 2026". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  33. ↑ "Historic! India's R Vaishali wins Women's Candidates, sets up World C'ship match against China's Ju Wenjun". The Times of India. 15 April 2026. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  34. ↑ "Vaishali Rameshbabu wins asia leg Rapid". chessbase.in. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
  35. ↑ "Board Rankings World R&B team Championships". Chessresults.com.
  36. ↑ "Biel Chess Festival Ch Standings". bielchessfestival.ch. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
  37. ↑ Levin, Anthony (19 August 2026). "Cairns Cup Round 9: Tan Wins, Lee Earns GM Norm". Chess.com. Retrieved 22 August 2026.
  38. ↑ "46th Chess Olympiad". Chessresults.com. Retrieved 2 October 2026.
  39. ↑ "Sports Ministry confirms Arjuna award for Mohammed Shami; Khel Ratna to Satwik and Chirag - Check full list of winners". Hindustan Times. 20 December 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  40. ↑ "Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 9 January 2024.