India’s R Vaishali earned a spot in the prestigious Women’s FIDE Candidates on Saturday. Vaishali, who is an International Master achieved the feat after defeating former Women’s World Champion Tan Zhongyi at the FIDE Grand Swiss event at Isle of Man.
Vaishali is now one game away from winning the FIDE Grand Swiss event. She is in the lead with a score of eight points. Anna Muzychuk is second on the table with 7.5 points. The 11th round, which is also the final round, will be held on Sunday.
Also Read: At 43, Rohan Bopanna could be World No.1 in men’s doubles – HERE’S HOW
Vaishali one win away from becoming Grandmaster
With her victory in the 10th round at the FIDE Grand Swiss, Vaishali is also close to achieving 2500 ELO Rating points. Achieving the rating point will help her secure the title as the Grandmaster. .
She has already completed a fourth Grandmaster norm. She now just needs around seven rating points to become the third woman from India to attain the feat.
Vaishali and Praggnanandhaa create history
Incidentally, both Pragg and Vaishali are now World No 14 in their respective categories in the live rankings. Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa had earlier qualified for the 2024 Candidates with his silver medal-winning performance at the FIDE World Cup in August.
Now with Vaishali having qualified to the Candidates, they became the first sibling pair ever to make it to both men’s and women’s Candidates tournaments together.
Editors pick
