In heartening news for not just the chess but the entire Indian sports-loving fraternity, Chennai's Vaishali Rameshbabu has become India’s 84th Grandmaster after crossing the hallowed 2500 Elo rating during the 2023 IV Elllobregat Open in Barcelona, Spain, on Saturday. (Chess News)
Vaishali and her younger brother R. Praggnanandhaa are now officially the first-ever sibling pair from India to be Grandmasters. Vaishali is the third female Grandmaster from India, after Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli.
The 22-year-old beat Turkey's 37-year-old FIDE Master Tamer Tarik Selbes (Elo rating of 2238) in the second round to clear the 2500-mark and begin the tournament with two back-to-back wins.
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Vaishali had notched up three Grandmaster norms in the form of Xtracon Open 2019, Fischer Memorial 2022 and Qatar Open 2023 earlier, and only needed 4.5 rating points to go past 2500.
She is currently the world number 11 in the women’s ranking with a live rating of 2501.5, and is India’s number two.
In what has been a year well worth remembering for her, Vaishali has won the FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss 2023 and also qualified for Candidates 2024.
