Chess| 'Decided not to play': How Vaishali's Chennai nightmare helped her win Grand Swiss

NEW DELHI: Grandmaster R Vaishali became the 3rd Indian - aft Divya Deshmukh and Koneru Humpy - to suffice for the Women’s Candidates tourney 2026 connected Monday, having won the Women’s Grand Swiss successful Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for the 2nd clip successful a row.Few weeks earlier, successful her location metropolis of Chennai, Vaishali had lived done a nightmare.Playing successful the Challengers conception of the Chennai Grand Masters, she mislaid 7 games successful a enactment and finished astatine the bottommost of the standings.“It mightiness dependable funny, but aft Chennai, I decided not to play Grand Swiss,” Vaishali told ChessBase India aft her past circular crippled successful Samarkand. “I felt truthful atrocious aft this Chennai show because, okay, I mislaid similar 7 games successful a enactment consecutive 1 week.

And I mean it was precise hard for maine to recover.”

At that point, it needed much than self-belief. Her brother, GM Praggnanandhaa, besides played his portion successful convincing her to play successful the Grand Swiss this year.“He has ever been supportive, and this tourney also, helium was helping maine successful a fewer games. My mom, too, was successful the tourney hallway each the time, pursuing some of us. It’s not easy, but my parents person ever believed successful me.”

GM Srinath Narayanan, tourney manager of the Chennai Grand Masters, could not assistance but marvel astatine the turnaround.“Vaishali winning it 2nd clip successful a row, that was incredibly bully to see,” helium told TimesofIndia.com. “It was rather disheartening to spot Vaishali had specified a hard clip successful Chennai. But I’m truly gladsome that she turned it around. I’m gladsome that Pragg and her household convinced her. She ever has the imaginable and the quality to bounce back.

And I conjecture the Chennai tourney also, successful a definite way, brought her tie-break down.”That past remark whitethorn dependable cryptic, but it points to the strangest subplot of Vaishali’s occurrence successful Uzbekistan.

In the Grand Swiss, Vaishali finished tied connected points with Kateryna Lagno, and the victor was decided by a method tie-break: the mean standing of opponents (ARO). Vaishali’s ARO was 2434, Lagno’s 2433.Here’s wherever destiny intervened.Vaishali’s disastrous tally successful Chennai had outgo her implicit 20 standing points. That meant erstwhile her opponents successful Samarkand faced her, her standing was somewhat lower, which successful crook reduced their ain AROs.By a quirk of tie-break math, this allowed Vaishali to conscionable borderline Lagno by a azygous point.“The quality successful the tie-break mean standing was conscionable 1 point,” Srinath explained. “And Vaishali losing that standing precocious (during the Chennai tournament) besides helped her.

So it’s a comic story, but I conjecture there’s ever thing affirmative to instrumentality from thing that happens.”Vaishali herself could lone laughter astir it later. “In a way, I deliberation that is the crushed I won this tournament. But 2 weeks back, it was truthful achy for maine to woody with it. Now I consciousness each specified acquisition lone makes you stronger. So I’m besides grateful for this experience.”