A surprise winner last time, Vaishali, defending her FIDE Grand Swiss crown is another joyous occasion for Indian chess

She has done it again.

R. Vaishali is the champion once again at the FIDE Grand Swiss. In one of the most prestigious events in the chess calendar, the 24-year-old from Chennai showed her class.

She was a surprise winner in the women’s section of the last edition of the tournament on the Isle of Man in 2023. This time around, in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, she retained her title and thus booked a ticket for next year’s Candidates tournament, the qualifying event for the World championship.

She has ensured that at least three of those eight female Candidates would be Indian. That is quite a feat. (Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh are the others).

In the last Grand Swiss, the male champion was also from Indian – Vidit Gujrathi — but this time around, there was disappointment for the country. The two Candidates slots have been won by Anish Giri (champion) and Matthias Bluebaum (runner-up) in the open section.

Nihal Sarin was in a good position to take one of those spots for much of the tournament, but he faltered towards the end.

But Vaishali’s brilliant effort should bring joy to Indian chess, which is on the rise. And it is another great boost to the women’s game, coming as it does less than two months after Divya’s World Cup triumph.

Divya rightly chose to compete in the open section of the Grand Swiss – as she had already qualified for the Candidates – and played above her strength. She and Vaishali should inspire the Indian girls.

Published on Sep 15, 2025