Vaishali Rameshbabu was teetering on the brink of elimination. Twice in two games. Having battled out draws in both of her classical games in the FIDE World Cup Round 3 clash against USA’s Carissa Yip — an International Master, but among the top up and coming stars in the sport — Vaishali salvaged two draws from losing positions in two rapid games of the tiebreak. The Netflix crew that has followed Yip to the Georgian city of Batumi were getting some decent drama on camera. Then, out of nowhere, Vaishali sent Yip home with two wins in two games.
“In both the games with 15+10 time controls, I was completely lost. Especially in the first one where I was two or three pawns down. But I just kept playing,” Vaishali told FIDE’s YouTube channel in an interview after that heady victory over Yip.
The ongoing FIDE Women’s World Cup in Batumi has seen an incredible show of strength from the Indian contingent, four of whom are currently still contending in the pre-quarterfinals. The only other country that has as many competitors as India in the last-16 is China, which has been a bonafide powerhouse when it comes to women’s chess, with six women from the country ascending to the women’s world champion’s throne in the past.
Koneru Humpy is the only Indian in the top 10 of the women’s chess world rankings. (Image credit: Anna Shtourman/FIDE)
Joining Vaishali in the last-16 are the veterans Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli while IM Divya Deshmukh is a flagbearer of the young brigade. Another young IM, Vantika Agrawal, ran into the formidable Kateryna Lagno and held the Russian star to a tied score after five games, before her resistance finally crumbled in the sixth battle. Lagno, a former World Rapid and Blitz champion, was not the only top star made to huff and puff by the 23-year-old Indian, who is ranked no 63 in the world. In the previous round, Vantika sent home a former women’s world champion, Anna Ushenina, after eight battles across varied time controls.
For Vantika, the current FIDE World Cup could help in the same way the last World Cup experience helped Divya. The Nagpur girl admitted that playing at the previous World Cup was very important for her as it had given her a glimpse of what top-level chess looks like. “It’s very stressful, but I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” said Divya with a grin.
Divya will be one half of an exciting India vs China battle at Batumi when she takes on world no 6 Zhu Jiner. For the 19-year-old — who had to negotiate hard with her mind to play for a draw and not go on the offensive to chase a win in a previous game — this will be a mettle detector. It’ll also be a battle of the sport’s next gen.
For the last few years, the world has experienced tremors of an Indian earthquake in the sport of chess with the golden generation of Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi shaking up the world order. This ongoing World Cup at Batumi could just be a showcase for the Indian women to demonstrate their heft on the board as well. They did give a glimpse of it at last year’s Chess Olympiad in Budapest where not only did the Indian women’s team won a gold but there were two individual gold medals as well for Divya and Vantika. But in the aftermath of that heady Budapest night, the men started to grab headlines, with Gukesh becoming world champion, Arjun crossing 2800 rating threshold and then Pragg turning into a serial winner this year.
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Women’s chess is currently dominated by China. Since 2017, the world has had a Chinese woman being the women’s world champion. The FIDE rankings too reflect this with Hou Yifan, world champion Ju Wenjun and Lei Tingjie sitting in the top 3 rankings spots. With Zhu Jiner at No 6 and Tan Zhongyi the world no 8, five of the top 8 women in the world are currently Chinese. In contrast, there’s just one Indian — Humpy — in the top 10. But just outside the top 10, are three Indians — Harika, Vaishali and Divya — readying for an assault on the top 10 club.
The World Cup offers the top three finishers a spot at next year’s Women’s Candidates tournament, which is the final step towards challenging the reigning women’s world champion. Last year’s Candidates had two women from India — Humpy and Vaishali — making the cut. With 16 players left standing at Batumi, there is another race afoot.
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