GM Vaishali Rameshbabu
Bio
IM Vaishali Rameshbabu is an Indian chess player and one of the top women in the world rankings. In 2023, she won the FIDE Grand Swiss to become a candidate for the Women's World Championship. Soon after, she earned her grandmaster title.
The player's full name is Vaishali Rameshbabu and they confirmed to Chess.com that they preferred to be called by their first name, Vaishali.
Early Career
Vaishali was a two-time youth champion, winning the Girls Under-12 event in 2012 and the Girls Under-14 in 2015. When she was 12 years old, with a FIDE rating of about 2000, she played in a simultaneous exhibition against GM Magnus Carlsen and won her game. Carlsen became world champion soon after.
Vaishali earned her WGM title in 2018, achieving her final norm at the Riga Technical University Open.
IM Norms and WSCC Appearances
Vaishali's IM title followed in 2021. Vaishali earned four norms for the title where only three are necessary, having quickly earned two in July and August of 2021.
She finished eighth out of 22 participants in the 2020 Women's Speed Chess Championship (WSCC). After losing in the first round of the 2021 WSCC, Vaishali returned in 2022 and became a semifinalist after defeating IM Bibisara Assaubayeva and GM Harika Dronavalli in the first two rounds.
Recent Accomplishments
Vaishali is the older sister of GM Praggnanandhaa R. She won the 2023 FIDE Women's Grand Swiss with an 8.5/11 score, thus qualifying for the 2024 Candidates months after her brother did so at the 2023 FIDE World Cup. They are the first sister-brother combination to both reach a Candidates, let alone in the same year.
Earlier in the year, at the Qatar Masters open tournament, Vaishali scored 5/9, earning her final GM norm while winning the women's prize. As of the conclusion of the Grand Swiss, she needed only to gain three rating points on the live list to achieve grandmaster, and she got them at the Llobregat Open in Spain on December 1, 2023.
Despite being only the seventh-highest rated player at the 2024 Candidates, Vaishali played fighting chess and finished in a tie for second place, with six wins and five losses against just three draws. Later that year, she played second board for India at the 45th Chess Olympiad, winning gold.
Vaishali and Praggnanandhaa are the first brother and sister to both earn the GM title.
