Vaishali Rameshbabu Achieves GM Title

GM-elect Vaishali Rameshbabu crossed 2500 FIDE to earn the grandmaster title at the IV El Llobregat Open in Spain on Friday. With her three GM norms previously attained, Vaishali has now fulfilled all of the requirements. The 22-year-old shared what this accomplishment means to her:

Becoming a GM has been my goal since I started playing chess, so I was very excited but also felt some pressure… I’m very happy I finally managed to complete the title.

Becoming a GM has been my goal since I started playing chess.

—Vaishali Rameshbabu

"I've finally achieved a goal of mine since I started playing chess" - @chessvaishali on becoming a GM! pic.twitter.com/Ylg4m4IIdT

— Chess.com (@chesscom) December 1, 2023

Vaishali is the third woman in India to become a grandmaster and the 84th grandmaster in India overall. Additionally―since Vaishali is the sister of GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu―this is the first time that a brother and sister have both become grandmasters. 

After Vaishali's performance at the FIDE Grand Swiss―which brought her inches from breaking 2500―Praggnanandhaa reflected on his sister’s recent achievements: “I felt that she has GM strength for a long time already. Happy to see that she’s finally getting where she belongs.”

Happy to see that she's finally getting where she belongs.

—Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu

Road to Grandmaster

This year, Vaishali has gained over 75 FIDE rating points. Entering the El Llobregat Open just three points away from 2500, she met her goal early in the tournament after a 2-0 start. In round one, she defeated FM Mikkel Jacobsen by building up pressure on the kingside and striking at the key moment.

It was Vaishali's round two victory vs. FM Tamer Selbes that brought her rating over the 2500 threshold.

Much of Vaishali's rating gain occurred in November when she won the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss. With an undefeated performance of 2658, she gained 30 points and rose to 2497. The highlights of her event were her back-to-back dazzling miniatures in round three vs. IM Leya Garifullina and round four vs. GM Mariya Muzychuk.

Vaishali has an attacking style and can thrive in complicated positions as seen in many of her victories. Can you find how she super-charged her attack vs. Garifullina? (The puzzle shows what might have happened if she'd found the best follow-up as well.)

White to move.

In her penultimate round game vs. GM Tan Zhongyi, Vaishali's onslaught prevailed as both players attempted to hunt down each other's kings.

Her success at the Women's Grand Swiss earned Vaishali qualification for the 2024 Candidates. This means that she and Praggnanandhaa are the first-ever sister-brother duo to qualify for the Candidates in the same year. 

👩‍👧‍👦 Nagalakshmi 🇮🇳, a proud mother, celebrates a remarkable achievement as both of her children, Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali, secure a historic place in the 2024 #FIDECandidates. This brother-sister duo has etched their names in history as the first siblings to simultaneously… pic.twitter.com/cUdxblomuT

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) November 10, 2023

Vaishali reflected at the end of the event: "This tournament is definitely my biggest win. It was such an experience."

She earned her third GM norm and gained 18 rating points at the Qatar Masters in October with victories against GMs S. P. Sethuraman and Shamsiddin Vokhidov. To defeat Vokhidov, she utilized her tactical skills to reach a winning ending.

Vaishali gained her second norm when she won the Fischer Memorial in Greece in 2022 with a 5-0 winning streak in the middle of the tournament, while she achieved her first GM Norm at the Xtracon Open in 2019 in Denmark. 

With her grandmaster title secured, Vaishali is looking ahead to her next goal: "I qualified for the Candidates, so I'm looking forward, hopefully to win the tournament."