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IMAGE: Rameshbabu Vaishali won the women’s qualifier scoring 9.5 points out of 11 to advance to the quarter-finals of the World Blitz Championship. Photograph: Lennart Ootes/FIDE
Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Vaishali showcased her skill by winning the women’s qualifier to advance to the quarter-finals of the World Blitz Championship in Wall Street, New York.
Following Koneru Humpy’s stellar performance, which earned her the gold medal and a prize of US$ 60,000, it was Vaishali’s turn to impress her fans. She triumphed in the women’s section, scoring 9.5 points, with three draws on her way to a 9.5/11 performance.
Russian Kateryna Lagno came closest to Vaishali, scoring 8.5 points, while the remaining six qualifiers finished with an identical eight points. Despite meeting the points criteria, Humpy was eliminated due to the worst tie-breaker, finishing ninth.
In the Open section, ten players tied for first place, including World No 1 Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen scored when needed and drew six of his 13 games, finishing among the co-leaders at the end of the qualifiers.
Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi won the qualifier with 9.5 points, benefiting from the best tiebreak, while Fabiano Caruana of the United States finished second, ahead of Carlsen, who placed third.
Surprisingly, none of the Indians made the top eight, despite some early promising performances.
Erigaisi Arjun played brilliantly at the start, securing victories in the first five rounds but faded to finish with a subpar seven points. Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa was the best-placed Indian, with 8.5 points, but a last-round loss to Russian Daniil Dubov cost him a spot in the quarter-finals.
In the quarters, Vaishali will face Chinese Grandmaster Zhu Jiner.
Vaishali’s back-to-back victories against GMs Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia and Valentina Gunina of Russia in rounds 7-8 provided the necessary boost for the Indian player to top the event with ease.
Indian standings:
Open: R Pragnanandhaa (8.5) – 23; Raunak Sadhwani (8) 46; Arjun Erigaisi (7) 64; Aravindh Chithambaram (7) 68; V Pranav (7) 67;
Women: R Vaishali (9.5) 1; K Humpy (8) 9; Divya Deshmukh (7) 18; Vantika Agarwal (7) 19; D Harika (7) 22.
Qualifiers:
Open: (1-8) Ian Nepomniachtchi, Volodar Murzin (Both Fide); Fabiano Caruana, Hans Niemann Moke, Wesley So (all USA); Magnus Carlsen (Nor); Duda Jan-Kryzsztof (Pol); Alireza Firoujza (Fra).
Women: (1-8) R Vaishali (Ind); Lei Tingjie, Wenjun Ju, Zhu Jiner (all Chn); Kateryna Lagno, Valentina Gunina (Both Fide); Carissa Yip (Usa) Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kaz).
