Rameshbabu Vaishali proved her heroics after making history on Wednesday, April 15, at the FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026. She became the first Indian woman chess player to win a title at the tournament. The Indian female Grandmaster alongside her brother R. Praggnanandhaa had competed in the continental event.
The siblings duo have their individual brilliance and are the first to become Grandmasters and qualify for the FIDE Candidates 2026 tournament. The 24-year-old Vaishali who had been under her brother’s shadow for a while is now making her own strides. Last year she won the Grand Swiss title and her brilliance secured her a spot in the Candidates.
After the historic win at Cyprus, she will take on reigning champion Ju Wenjun of China for the Women’s World Chess Championship title which is scheduled later this year.
Following her triumphant win, Vaishali’s long-time coach, R.B. Ramesh, in an interview with the Sportstar expressed his happiness and acknowledged the major achievement. He also highlighted her build-up since last year’s disappointment in Chennai.
“Qualifying for the World Championship match is an amazing thing and I hope she’ll be able to win the title. She had some confidence issues earlier, especially after the Chennai GM tournament (last year), but she has been working hard on her game and is feeling much more confident now,” he said.
Further talking about the siblings duo, Ramesh mentioned of both being individually brilliant performers and having no impact on each other in terms of the sport.
“Pragg and Vaishali have made peace with each other being very strong on their own terms. I don’t think Pragg’s performances have any negative impact on Vaishali anymore,” he added.
He also believes that Vaishali is strong headed in terms of attack and calculation skills and is hopeful to see more improvements in future.
Vaishali’s clash with the Chinese player in the World Championship 2026 is coming with good hopes with the aim to become the first-ever Indian woman to win the title.
