2 min readApr 16, 2026 11:23 PM IST
2496: Vaishali Rameshbabu’s current ELO rating, that puts her in 13th place in rankings, still the 8th best among the 8 competitors.
2600: Vaishali’s dream at the outset was to cross the 2600 figure. Women’s World No 1 Yifan Hou, currently inactive, tops the list at 2596. Three other Chinese, Lei Tingjie, World Champion Ju Wenjun (2559), and Zhu Jinner (2546) are Top 4.
13th: Divya Deshmukh is exactly on 2500 at 12th place, while Russian Aleksandra Goryachkina who Vaishali defeated is the top non-Chinese in ranking at 2535. Chinese Zhu Jinner (8), and Tan Zhongyi (18.4) dropped the most points through Candidates.
26: That was Vaishali’s massive gain after winning Candidates.
5: Eye poppingly, Vaishali won just one match less than juggernaut Javokhir Sindarov who added 30 points through his 6 wins. Her 8.5 points had 5 wins, 7 draws and 2 losses. Zhu Jiner had 5 wins too, but 4 losses. Divya’s no holds barred bold play saw her win 2, draw 7, lose 5. Bibisara Assaubayeva had 4 wins, 8 draws and 2 losses.
2: Both her losses came to Zhu Jiner, a formidable foe from the Chinese stable.
50 seconds: Vaishali found her winning idea with less than a minute to go in time control
39. Rd8+! Kh7
40. c4
50 games: Javokhir Sindarov’s unbeaten streak in Classical chess since September
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Judit Polgar: “Vaishali had shown her persistence, fighting spirit, grit and resilience most of all. She won as the lowest rates player, becoming the champion. Well done.”
(Numbers courtesy chess24.com & chess.com)
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