- R Vaishali, the lowest-rated player in the eight-woman field, won the Women's Candidates Tournament in Paphos, Cyprus, with 8.5 points
- She will face China's Ju Wenjun, the reigning five-time women's world champion, in the World Championship match later this year
- Vaishali is only the third Indian woman to earn the Grandmaster title, after Koneru Humpy and D. Harika
INDIA's R Vaishali won the Women's Candidates Tournament in Paphos, Cyprus, on Wednesday (15), defeating Ukrainian-Russian grandmaster Kateryna Lagno in a gruelling final-round encounter that lasted nearly five hours to seal her place at the World Championship later this year.
The 24-year-old from Chennai, southern India, finished with 8.5 points, confirming herself as the challenger to China's Ju Wenjun, the reigning five-time women's world champion.
It is a remarkable achievement for a player who entered the eight-woman field as its lowest-rated competitor and spent much of the tournament outside the spotlight, even as others around her attracted greater attention.
Throughout the fortnight in Cyprus, one constant presence alongside Vaishali was her mother — calm, composed, invariably dressed in a saree, and carrying an expression that gave little away.
Those who have followed Vaishali's career closely say this quiet, steadying influence has long been central to how she competes.
In a field that included Norway Chess champion Anna Muzychuk, women's World Rapid champion Aleksandra Goryachkina, world blitz champion Bibisara Assaubayeva, and two of China's finest in Zhu Jiner and former Candidates winner Tan Zhongyi, Vaishali's composure never visibly wavered.
A loss to Zhu Jiner, however, interrupted her momentum, and heading into the penultimate round, three players remained in serious contention for the title. But when it mattered most, Vaishali produced the chess that has quietly defined her rise — measured, unhurried, and ruthless when the opportunity presented itself.
Her path to Paphos was shaped by a middle-class household in Chennai, where her father worked as a bank branch manager and her mother was a homemaker. She collected age-group titles steadily, earned her International Master title in 2021, and announced herself on the global stage at the Chess Olympiad in Mamallapuram in 2022, where she won an individual bronze and helped the team to the same.
In December 2023, she became only the third Indian woman to be awarded the Grandmaster title, following Koneru Humpy and D Harika.
She qualified for the Candidates by winning the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss tournament in 2025, having done likewise in 2023. Twelve months ago in Toronto, she reached the Candidates but finished joint second, narrowly missing out on a world title shot. This time, she did not let the chance slip.
Vaishali is also one half of an extraordinary piece of chess history — the first brother-sister pair in the world to both become Grandmasters. Her younger brother, R Praggnanandhaa, competed in the Open section of the same Candidates tournament but was eliminated from contention early after a string of disappointing results.
Despite the additional weight of her brother's setback, Vaishali steadied herself and pushed on.
She first made headlines as a 12-year-old in 2013, when she defeated Magnus Carlsen in a simultaneous exhibition during his visit to Chennai. The game has grown considerably since then, but her ability to produce her best when least expected remains unchanged.
(with inputs from PTI)
