Vaishali Rameshbabu (born 21 June 2001) is an Indian chess grandmaster.[1][2] Vaishali and Praggnanandhaa are the first brother-sister duo to earn GM titles. They are also the first brother-sister duo to qualify for the Candidates Tournament.[3]
Personal life
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.
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.
Vaishali was invited to participate in the FIDE Women's Speed Chess Championship 2022,[14] where she defeated the Women's World Blitz Chess Champion Bibisara Assaubayeva in the round of 16,[15] and compatriot Harika Dronavalli in the quarterfinals.[16][17]
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 the Qatar Masters Open 2023, Vaishali received her final GM norm after finishing with 5/9 and a performance rating of 2609.[19] She also won the top women's prize in the tournament, after finishing with better tiebreaks (performance rating) than compatriot Divya Deshmukh.[19]
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.[2][22]
On January 21, 2024, the India Chess Federation submitted a Grandmaster Title Application[2] on behalf of Vaishali to the FIDE Qualification Committee, which administers FIDE titles.[23]
