Queen’s Gambit: Vaishali’s victory among contenders to compete for world title | Chess news.

Vaishali Ramesh Babu (Photo: FIDE)

This time the Indian twins will represent the highest chess boards. On Wednesday, R Vaishali, the lowest seed in the women’s singles tournament in Cyprus, earned the right to challenge China’s Jo Wenjin for the world title later this year. The 24-year-old, along with Praganandha, the other half of Chennai’s famous GM siblings, survived some nervous moments to defeat Russia’s Katerina Ligno and win the title. She earned 8.5 points after 14 rounds to qualify for the Women’s World Championship match.An Indian GM will compete in both the men’s and women’s divisions of the world title matches, along with 20-year-old Uzbek whiz Sindarov, roaming the open field in Cyprus, and challenging world men’s champion D Gokesh. Vaishali told the Chess24 webcast, “It means a lot to me… so happy. Can’t put it into words.”Vaishali is the second Indian woman to qualify for the title match. Koniro Hampi, who withdrew from the 2026 bid due to the West Asian conflict, made it to the world title match in 2011. In 2010, Vishy Anand retained his world title by defeating Veslin Topalov and won another match for 2012. A year later, Hampi won the world title for Y012 Vaishali Divya owed Deshmukh’s approval. The road to the title match was made easier when Divya held overnight joint leader Bebisara Isaobaifa (8 points) to a draw. This meant that Vaishali’s win would make her the clear winner without the need for a tie-break.Divya defeated compatriot Hampi in the knockout World Cup final. But despite going 40 minutes behind against Besara and losing four of their last five, they denied the Kazakh half a point. He also avoided the place of the wooden spoon with this result. Legendary female athlete Judith Polgar praised Vaishali’s fighting qualities and her incredible feat of winning the title as the lowest seed. But he offered a note of caution, saying, “Vishali has to do incredible work to improve the various parts of her play. She can’t make as many mistakes as she did here because they won’t be forgiven (in the championship match against Joe Wengen). If she can overcome her mistakes, this could be a balanced match.On Wednesday, Ligno chose Sicilian Dragon against Vaishali, a variation that Garry Kasparov used to defeat Anand in their 1995 World Championship match. Vaishali has only played three competitive games at Sicilian Dragon in his life, winning twice but losing to the white pieces in Wijk on Zee last year. But he changed course and built a long fort instead of a short fort. The dragon that worked as a dagger in the hearts of Indians in 1995 was not good this time.Vaishali had a trial by fire in the Open Challenger section of the Chennai GM event last August, losing eight out of 10 games and finishing last. Skipping the event would have been an easy and understandable option. But he avoided the wrath of Caissa, the goddess of chess, by continuing.Although Vaishali has revealed that she is working with a female psychologist, her other side was not revealed for the Cyprus event. He worked with Sandipan Chanda for the finalists. Vaishali is mentored by childhood coach RB Ramesh and the Westbridge Anand Chess Academy (WACA). He belongs to Velmal Vidyalaya, which is considered as the chess factory of Chennai.Once Ligno realized that it took 32 minutes for the bishop’s move (11…Be6), hopes were running high for Vaishali. And although he didn’t avoid many potential traps in the best possible way, he once played a pawn to keep his queen in check. The resignation came after 48 moves. How Vaishali finished (8.5 points from 14 rounds) Seven draws, two losses, five winsRd 1 Drew with Bibisara; Rd 2 Drew with Divya; Rd 3 Drew with Anna; Rd 4 Drew with Aleksandra; lost to Rd 5 Zhu; Rd 6 bet Lagono; Rd 7 Bat Tan; Rd 8 Drew with Bibisara; Rd 9 Bet Divya; Rd 10 Drew with Anna; Rd 11 Bet Alexandra; Rd 12 lost to Zhu; Rd 13 Drew with Tan; Rd 14 Bet Ligno Vaishali’s path to the World Championship match against Joe Wengen

Vaishali Candidates Results