now-three-women-in-fray-at-candidates-as-vaishali-qualifies

Indian Grandmaster R Vaishali made it to the women’s Candidates tournament after a hard-fought draw against former world champion Zhongyi Tan of China in the 11th and final round of the FIDE Grand Swiss on Monday.

 

Russian Kateryna Lagno played out a draw fairly quickly with Ulviyya Fataliyeva of Azerbaijan to seal her spot at the top of the tables and became the other qualifier for the Candidates, apart from Vaishali, after securing eight points out of a possible 11. None of the other Indians in the fray could make it to the Candidates, which is reserved for eight players in all and two from FIDE Grand Swiss.

 

Anish Giri was the winner in the open section as he crushed Hans Moke Niemann of United States. Anish finished the tournament on eight points out of a possible 11. Most likely, Matthias Bluebaum is going to finish second and make it to the Candidates.

 

Also read: 15 Indians qualify for FIDE Grand Swiss

 

As things stand right now, Anish Giri and Matthias Bluebaum (from this tournament), Hikaru Nakamura of the United States (on rating), R Praggnanadhaa (on his tournament circuit performance) and Fabiano Caruana of the United States will make it to the Candidates.

 

The last three spots will be filled in from the World Chess Cup to be held in Goa next month. The winner of the Candidates will challenge reigning world champion D Gukesh. While only one place seems assured for the Indians in the men’s section, there are already three in the women’s category who have made it to the Candidates.

 

Divya Deshmukh and Koneru Humpy have already qualified after finishing first and second, respectively, in the last women’s World Cup. With Vaishali now joining them, it's already three Indian women in the fray for the Candidates, which will give them a shot at the world women’s chess title.

 

“There are eight spots and there are more than eight great players. No matter the system you choose, it's going to be hard, because you are to squeeze in eight players out of 20,” said Anish Giri, who was consistent throughout the tournament.