In the vibrant city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where history whispers through ancient domes, R. Vaishali Rameshbabu carved her own legacy on September 15, 2025.
The Indian Grandmaster clinched the FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss title for the second year running, a feat no one man or woman has achieved in this tournament’s young but fierce history. Scoring an impressive 8 out of 11 points, Vaishali outshone rivals like Russia’s Kateryna Lagno and Kazakhstan’s Bibisara Assaubayeva through tiebreaks, earning a $40,000 prize and a golden ticket to the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament. For Vaishali, this wasn’t just a win it was a love letter to resilience, family, and the game she’s poured her heart into.
The FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss is a chess marathon, an 11-round Swiss-system showdown where every move is a tightrope walk. Since its debut in 2021, it’s been a proving ground for the world’s best, with China’s Lei Tingjie claiming the first title and Vaishali dominating in 2023 on the Isle of Man. In 2025, Vaishali returned as the defending champion, carrying the weight of expectation and a field of 172 elite players.
She started like a storm, sweeping her first three games, including a sharp win against Poland’s Jolanta Zawadzka that had fans buzzing. But chess has a way of humbling even the strongest. A gut-punch loss to Assaubayeva in round eight knocked her off the leaderboard’s peak, with Lagno charging ahead after outplaying Ukraine’s Mariya Muzychuk. Yet Vaishali’s spirit didn’t waver. She roared back with a clutch victory over Muzychuk in round 10, setting up a high-stakes finale.
Facing China’s former world champion Tan Zhongyi with the black pieces, Vaishali held her nerve in a nail-biting middlegame, securing a draw that sealed the title as Lagno also drew her game. Her record six wins, four draws, one loss was a mirror of her 2023 triumph, proof of a heart that thrives under pressure.
The backstory makes her victory even sweeter. Weeks before, Vaishali hit a rough patch, dropping seven games at the Chennai Grand Masters. Doubts crept in, and she considered skipping Samarkand. But her younger brother, Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa, became her anchor. “He told me to keep going, to play for myself,” she shared in a heartfelt post-tournament chat. That nudge from family turned doubt into determination, and Samarkand became her stage.
A Family’s Dream, India’s Pride
Vaishali’s story is woven with her family’s threads. Growing up in Chennai, the daughter of a security guard and a homemaker, she shared a single chessboard with Praggnanandhaa and their elder sister, also named R. Vaishali, now an International Master. From those humble beginnings, the siblings have become India’s chess royalty. Praggnanandhaa, leading the FIDE Circuit 2025, will join his sister in the 2026 Candidates, a rare and beautiful milestone for the duo.
India’s chess scene is on fire, and Vaishali is at its heart. This year, Divya Deshmukh, just 19, and veteran Koneru Humpy made waves with an all-Indian final at the Women’s World Cup in Batumi, Georgia, both earning Candidates spots. With Vaishali’s qualification, India now sends three women to the Candidates, a feat matched by the men’s side, led by world champion Gukesh Dommaraju and Arjun Erigaisi, who rallied in Samarkand’s open section with a final-round win. As one fan on X put it, “India’s queens are rewriting the chessboard!”
The celebration was electric. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich handed Vaishali her trophy, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “A proud moment for India! Vaishali’s brilliance shines bright.” On X, #VaishaliWins lit up feeds, with fans calling her “Chennai’s chess queen.”
Now, Vaishali sets her sights on the 2026 Women’s Candidates Tournament, set for April in a yet-to-be-named city. This eight-player battle will decide who challenges China’s Ju Wenjun for the world title. Vaishali joins Deshmukh, Humpy, Lagno, Zhu Jiner (via Grand Prix), Aleksandra Goryachkina, Tan Zhongyi, and the final qualifier from the FIDE Women’s Events series. After a mid-table finish in the 2024 Candidates, Vaishali’s back-to-back Grand Swiss wins make her a serious contender. She’ll likely train hard in Chennai, sparring with Praggnanandhaa to sharpen her game. Off the board, she’s passionate about giving back, mentoring kids at her family’s chess academy in a country where over 80,000 players now fuel a chess revolution.
A Candidates victory could lead to a 2027 world title match, a dream where she’d face Ju in a generational clash. But for Vaishali, it’s more than titles it’s about inspiring others.
As she stood in Samarkand, trophy in hand, Vaishali’s words rang true: “This is for every girl who’s ever felt the board is too big for her dreams.” In 2025, she’s shown the world: no board is too big, no dream too far.
