Vaishali Rameshbabu Becomes India’s Newest Chess Grandmaster

Chess is a game that is said to have its origins in India, and time and time again, India has proved that the country has some of the best players in the world. Recently, an 18-year-old prodigy from India, Rameshbabu Praggnanandha, was able to defeat the world number one Magnus Carlson in the Airthing Masters tournament and now his sister, Vaishali Rameshbabu has achieved the title of chess grandmaster, making her the 3rd woman and 84th overall chess grandmaster from India making them the only brother-sister duo chess grandmaster in the history of the sport. She was able to cross the coveted 2500 Elo rating in the 4th Ellobregat Open in Barcelona, Spain.

Who Is Vaishali Rameshbabu?

Vaishali Rameshbabu was born on 21 June 2001 to a Tamil family in Chennai. Her mother was a homemaker, while her father worked as a branch manager at TNSC Bank. At a young age, her father introduced chess to Vaishali, and she was hooked on it immediately. She went on to win multiple junior championships in chess.

Chess Career Of Vaishali Rameshbabu

Vaishali Rameshbabu was a prodigy to begin with and she proved that by winning 2 world youth chess championships in the years 2012 and 2015. Her biggest achievement came in 2013, however, when she defeated the world champion and arguably the best chess player of all time, Magnus Carlsen in 2013 at an exhibition match.

In 2016, Vaishali Rameshbabu received the woman international master title, and by October of the same year, she was ranked number 2 in India and number 12 in the world. Next up was the woman’s grandmaster title, which came on August 12, 2018, after Vaishali won her final in Latvia at the Riga Technical University open chess tournament.

She became an international chess master in 2021, after which the pursuit of becoming a Grandmaster continued. From here, she went on to many different tournaments where she won against most of her competitors.

Finally, at the age of 22, Vaishali Rameshbabu got her Grandmaster title after winning the IV El Llobregat Open Tournament 2023 and reaching an Elo rating of 2500. She became the third-ever female Indian Grandmaster, and she and her brother are the only brother and sister duo Grandmaster in the sport’s history.

Indian Legend Chess Grandmaster Anand Vishwanathan also congratulated Vaishali Rameshbabu on X. He wrote, “She worked very hard the last few months, and this augurs well as she gets ready for the candidates. Her parents and just maybe the competition at home should be congratulated. @Rameshchess & Aarthie for being her rock.”

Some of the best Chess Players From India

Just like Vaishali Rameshbabu, India has given the game of chess many champions and grandmasters. Some of them are:

Anand Vishavanathan (GM) – With a FIDE rating of 2748, Anand Vishwanathan is the best chess player in the history of Indian chess. He was known as Lightning Kid because of his playing speed. He won world championships in 2000-2002 and from 2007 to 2013.
Gukesh D (GM) – Commonly referred to as the prodigy of India, Gukesh is the third-youngest Grandmaster in chess history, which he received from FIDE. With a FIDE rating of 2720, Gukesh is currently the best chess player in India. He even managed to surpass Anand Vishwanathan and became the only Indian to do so in the last 37 years.

Rameshbabu Praggnanandha (GM) – Another prodigy from India, Praggnanandha is Vaishali Rameshbabu’s younger brother. He became the youngest International Master in the world at the age of 10 and he is also the youngest chess player to defeat Magnus Carlsen.

Final Thoughts

India has given the sport of Chess some of the best players ever, and Vaishali Rameshbabu is the latest addition to that long line of champions. She dedicated her life to becoming the best chess player in the world, and she is doing just that by winning tournaments and matches. We are excited about what her future has to offer.