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Vaishali Rameshbabu becomes 3rd female grandmaster from India
Her brother, the 18-year-old, Praggnanandhaa became grandmaster at the age of 12.
Chess players Vaishali Rameshbabu and Praggnanandhaa with their mother Nagalakshmi / Image - X/@FIDE_chess
Indian chess player Vaishali Rameshbabu has become the third female from the country to earn the grandmaster (GM) title, crossing 2,500 International Chess Federation (FIDE) ranking points at the IV El Llobregat Open in Spain.
Rameshbabu, who achieved the title after Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli, is the sibling of chess prodigy R Praggnanandhaa.
22-year-old Rameshbabu started the tournament with two victories and defeated Turkish FM Tamer Tarik Selbes (2238) in the second round to surpass rating Emphasizing that she has achieved her goal since she started playing chess, she said, "I was very excited but also felt some pressure as well."
Praggnanandhaa rejoiced on his sister’s achievement and was quoted saying to the Chess.com, “I felt that she has GM strength for a long time already. Happy to see that she’s finally getting where she belongs."
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin took to congratulate Rameshbabu on social media. "We're immensely proud of your achievements, and your remarkable journey is an inspiration to aspiring chess enthusiasts and a testament to women's empowerment in our state!,” he wrote.
Huge congrats, @chessvaishali, on becoming the third female Grandmaster from India and the first from Tamil Nadu!
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) December 2, 2023
2023 has been splendid for you. Alongside your brother @rpragchess, you've made history as the first sister-brother duo to qualify for the #Candidates tournament.… pic.twitter.com/f4I89LcJ5O
Hailing from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Rameshbabu is the daughter of a bank manager. Born in June 2001, she is a recipient of the Women International Master (WIM) title in 2016. She was ranked second in India in the same year.
She went on to become a Woman Grandmaster (WGM) by completing her final norm in the Riga Technical University Open chess tournament in Riga, Latvia, in August 2018; and received her International Master (IM) title in 2021.
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