4/22/2024 – Tan Zhongyi obtained the draw she needed to claim outright victory at the Women’s Candidates Tournament in Toronto. The Chinese GM grabbed the sole lead from the get-go, as she obtained back-to-back wins in the first two rounds. At some point, Lei Tingjie managed to catch her atop the standings, but Tan turned out to be more consistent than her compatriot in the long run. With her triumph, Tan became Ju Wenjun’s challenger in the next match for the Women’s World Chess Championship. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

4/21/2024 – Tan Zhongyi only needs a draw in the final round of the Women’s Candidates Tournament to become Ju Wenjun’s challenger in the next match for the world title. In the penultimate round, Tan drew Aleksandra Goryachkina and saw Lei Tingjie, the only other contender for first place, losing to Vaishali Rameshbabu. This was Vaishali’s fourth consecutive victory! | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

4/19/2024 – Three out of four games ended drawn in round 12 of the Women’s Candidates Tournament, as Vaishali R scored her third win in a row in her encounter with black against Anna Muzychuk. The games that featured Tan Zhongyi and Lei Tingjie could have easily ended with decisive results — Tan escaped with a draw from a losing position against Nurgyul Salimova, while Lei failed to make the most of clear winning chances against Kateryna Lagno. Thus, Tan kept her half-point lead over Lei. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

4/18/2024 – Three games ended decisively in round 11 of the Women’s Candidates Tournament, with Tan Zhongyi beating Kateryna Lagno in a key matchup, Vaishali R taking down Aleksandra Goryachkina, and Humpy Koneru defeating Nurgyul Salimova. These results left Tan atop the standings, with a half-point advantage over Lei Tingjie. Goryachkina’s loss left her a whole two points behind Tan with only three rounds to go in Toronto. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

4/7/2024 – Much like in the open section, the Women’s Candidates had one decisive game in Saturday’s third round. Vaishali R made it 2 out of 2 for the brother-sister duo in Toronto (Pragg defeated Vidit in the open) by beating Nurgyul Salimova with the white pieces. Vaishali thus bounced back from her round-2 loss against Tan Zhongyi. Tan held Humpy Koneru to a draw with the black pieces to remain as the sole leader. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

12/3/2023 – Vaishali Rameshbabu became the third Indian woman player (after Humpy Koneru and Harika Dronavalli) to earn the grandmaster title. Vaishali obtained the title by scoring a win against FM Tamer Tarik Selbes at the 2023 El Llobregat Open. Since her brother Pragganandhaa is also a grandmaster, Vaishali and Pragg became the world’s first-ever brother-sister grandmaster duo! | Photo: ChessBase India

11/6/2023 – A clutch win — his seventh in ten games — gave Vidit Gujrathi tournament victory in the open section of the FIDE Grand Swiss. The Indian grandmaster thus qualified to the 2024 Candidates Tournament. Joining him in Toronto will be Hikaru Nakamura, who finished in clear second place a half point behind. Meanwhile, another Indian player prevailed in the women’s section, as Vaishali Rameshbabu grabbed clear first place after drawing Batkhuyag Munguntuul on Sunday. Anna Muzychuk, who was already qualified to the Candidates, got second place, allowing third-placed Tan Zhongyi to secure the second Candidates’ spot. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

11/5/2023 – Round 10 of the FIDE Grand Swiss saw decisive games on the seven top boards, with Hikaru Nakamura, Andrey Esipenko and Vidit Gujrathi scoring full points to go into the final round in shared first place. Nakamura got the better of Fabiano Caruana in the duel of top seeds, Vidit defeated Bogdan-Daniel Deac with the black pieces, while Esipenko beat Parham Maghsoodloo on board 3. In the women’s tournament, Vaishali Rameshbabu climbed to the sole lead by beating Tan Zhongyi with the white pieces. | Photo: chess.com / Maria Emelianova

11/2/2023 – A win over Javokhir Sindarov with black allowed Vidit Gujrathi to emerge as sole leader in the open section of the FIDE Grand Swiss. The Indian grandmaster is the only player in the open to have scored five wins, as he began the event with a loss against Erwin l’Ami. Eleven players stand a half point back, including top seeds Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura. Meanwhile, in the women’s tournament, Vaishali Rameshbabu and Antoaneta Stefanova collected full points to join Anna Muzychuk in the lead. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

10/30/2023 – Round 5 of the FIDE Grand Swiss saw Hikaru Nakamura and Arjun Erigaisi grabbing wins to join Andrey Esipenko in the lead of the open section. Nakamura obtained his third consecutive win after starting the event with two draws. The large chasing pack, now consisting of 16 players, now includes round-5 winners Sam Shankland, Nodirbek Yakubboev and Radoslaw Wojtaszek. Meanwhile, in the women’s tournament, Bibisara Assaubayeva beat Tan Zhongyi to become the first sole leader of the event. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

10/29/2023 – A sole leader emerged for the first time in the open section of the Grand Swiss, as Andrey Esipenko beat Marc’Andria Maurizzi to become the only player to reach a 3½/4 score. A 17-player chasing pack stands a half point behind, with Hikaru Nakamura, Alireza Firouzja and Hans Niemann among those who joined this group by winning on Saturday. In the women’s section, Anna Muzychuk could not convert her advantage in the co-leaders’ clash with Tan Zhongyi. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

10/27/2023 – Vaishali Rameshbabu's many successes have always been overshadowed by those of her younger brother, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. At the Qatar Open, however, the 22-year-old made her third GM norm and will get GM title when she reaches 2500 Elo. Her current live rating is 2471.7. Thorsten Cmiel takes a look at Vaishali's grandmaster performance at the Qatar Masters, the second strongest Open of the year. | Photos: Qatar Chess

12/4/2022 – Two young rising stars claimed titles in the blitz section of the Tata Steel Chess India event. Arjun Erigaisi and Vaishali Rameshbabu made their country proud as they got clear victories in the 18-round tournaments organized in Kolkata. The Indians outscored top-notch opposition on their way to memorable triumphs at the imposing National Library of India. | Pictured: Nihal, Arjun, Ushenina and Vaishali | Photo: Lennart Ootes