Vaishali R is still in disbelief. After a wild fortnight at the Women’s Candidates tournament in Cyprus, where the field seemed wide open, the Indian emerged champion. She is only the second player from the country to qualify for the Women’s World Championship match.
HT spoke to the 24-year-old challenger after her historic win. Excerpts:
Congratulations. Massive moment. Did you get any sleep last night?
(Laughs) No, I just could not sleep. I was replying to texts. I thought I’ll sleep well after the tournament, but it’s just too many emotions. It hasn’t sunk in yet. It’s taken years and years of hard work to earn this moment.
You’ll be playing the Women’s World Championship match…
I still can’t believe it. The first time I saw a World Championship match was when (Viswanathan) Anand sir played Magnus (Carlsen)in Chennai, in 2013. Just two players and a glass wall separating them from the world. There’s just so much aura to it. I remember looking in from the spectators’ area and wondering ‘there’s just one board so if they’re bored there are no other games to check’. I was a kid then, so I had all these silly thoughts. To go from that to be playing a match myself is just an incredible feeling.
You’ll be facing five-time world champion Ju Wenjun, who you’ve played a couple of times…
Yes, I have three draws and one loss against her in classical chess. She’s very strong and quite solid. You don’t see her losing many games. It’s going to be tough for sure, but I have a lot of time to prepare, and I hope to work hard.
You had a difficult 2025 and arrived at the Candidates as the lowest seed. What mentality switch did it take for you to win the tournament and do you think that’s what set you apart from the rest of the field?
Last year was tough. I just didn’t know what to do because I was working hard, and chess is the only thing I’m doing in life, but the results weren’t there. Thanks to the people around me, I kept going. I started doing yoga, meditation and working with a psychologist. All these little things helped.
When I compare this Candidates to the last one, it’s a contrast. Back then going into the tournament, I had just completed my GM title and was feeling very confident and excited. This time, I was the last seed, so I had doubts and questions about where I stood.
During the tournament, I think I was resilient. There were many tough games in the beginning, but I kept them going and I was able to find tricks. Luck to some extent played a role, also resourcefulness. I suppose it’s clear now that at my best I can match the top players.
At what point did you feel that luck was on your side? Was it the win against former women’s world champion Tan Zhongyi after she made that horrific blunder?
I was embarrassed after that game because I played poorly. It was just that one slip from her that got me that point. I thought if I’m winning such a game against a strong opponent, maybe luck is on my side so I should play well and make the most of it. After that, I started to focus on the quality of my games.
You had 19-year-old Grandmaster Pranesh M accompanying you in Cyprus, the happy-go-lucky foil to your overthinking nature…
The idea started as a joke. It was (coach) Ramesh sir and Aarthi aunty who suggested that Pranesh should accompany me. I’m the kind who gets stressed during tournaments and he’s someone who’s carefree, so I too thought it’s a good idea. It worked during the tournament. When I was tense, he would go, ‘It’s okay, Akka, we’ll manage’. He would keep pushing me and crack silly jokes. We played a lot of blitz games; he helped me when I was trying out openings and made sure I was mentally in a good space.
What were your emotions during your final-round game against Kateryna Lagno after you were in a comfortable, pawn-up position early on?
I think for such a nervous last game, it was of a very good level. It was tough for me to control my emotions in the last hour of play because I was totally winning and the game just kept going. Since we’ve seen a lot of turnarounds happen during these final moments, I tried to stay focused. When we finally shook hands, I was super happy but didn’t want to show it since my opponent had just lost the game.
What was your pre-game ritual typically?
Checking lines five minutes before leaving for the games (Haha). It’s probably not a good habit and I wanted to avoid it but ended up doing it since the venue was close. I would reach the playing hall barely a couple of minutes before every game. (Javokhir) Sindarov and I were the last ones to arrive almost every day. I suppose it didn’t end badly for both of us after all (laughs).
Tell us about your brother Praggnanandhaa’s role in your journey. He had far from a great Candidates run this time…
It’s been a long journey for both of us. I started playing chess first, and I was stronger than him. But he turned out to be the prodigy. He completed his IM title at 10, and GM title at 12 while I was sort of stuck. I did not handle it well initially. But then, I slowly understood that he’s just an exceptional talent and we both are different. He has been helping me a lot with preparation and is my go-to person, not just for chess, but emotionally too.
Over the last few days, we discussed a lot about the openings I was going to play, and he helped me through it. He’s had a tough tournament this time, but I’m sure he’s going to be back at the Candidates, stronger.
