World Blitz Championship: R Vaishali wins women's qualifier, advances to quarterfinals

NEW DELHI: Indian Grandmaster R Vaishali delivered an exceptional performance to win the women’s qualifier and secure a spot in the quarterfinals of the World Blitz Championship. Following Koneru Humpy’s remarkable gold-medal triumph, Vaishali stepped into the spotlight, dominating the women’s section with a score of 9.5/11, including three draws.
Vaishali’s commanding performance saw her finish ahead of Russia’s Kateryna Lagno, who scored 8.5 points. The remaining six qualifiers finished with 8 points each. Despite meeting the points threshold, Humpy was eliminated due to an unfavorable tiebreak, finishing ninth.
Vaishali’s path to the top included key victories against strong opponents such as Georgian GM Nana Dzagnidze and Russian GM Valentina Gunina in consecutive rounds, showcasing her tactical prowess and determination.
In the quarterfinals, Vaishali will face Chinese Grandmaster Zhu Jiner in what promises to be a closely contested encounter.
Meanwhile, the open section witnessed intense competition, with ten players tying for first place. World number one Magnus Carlsen was among the co-leaders after scoring nine points with six draws in 13 games. Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi topped the qualifier with 9.5 points, edging out others with the best tiebreak. American GM Fabiano Caruana finished second.
For the Indian contingent in the open section, it was a mixed bag of results. Despite a promising start, none of the players made it to the top eight. Erigaisi Arjun began with five straight wins but faltered later, finishing with seven points. R Praggnanandhaa emerged as the best-placed Indian with 8.5 points, but a loss in the final round to Russian GM Daniil Dubov dashed his quarterfinal hopes.
Vaishali’s stellar performance, marked by resilience and strategy, keeps Indian hopes alive in the tournament as she prepares for the next stage of the championship.
The Indian player expressed astonishment at her own performance.
"I'm very happy with today's performance.Tomorrow will be a big day. Honestly, it (performance) was completely unexpected. I was not expecting the result like how it went today. Tomorrow, I have to be ready and prepare well and then see," she said.
Regarding her intense match against Gunina, she discussed managing severe time constraints whilst executing 23 moves with minimal thinking time.
"You have nothing to think, you keep playing your moves. That was a very bad time management in that game (by me). She (opponent) was ahead on the clock and on the board, she was a full pawn up but I kept playing," said Vaishali, who essentially had seven seconds for each of her 23 moves.
"Towards the end, I offered a draw with the rook-knight 3 versus 3. I think she wanted to play but her clock fell and that's how I won the game," Vaishali explained.
She acknowledged that numerous participants were more skilled at Blitz than herself, attributing her one-point lead to good fortune.
"I don't think I'm a great blitz player, honestly. There are many more strong players here. I think, today, I was lucky in many games and it just worked out."
She mentioned not considering the knockout phase yet, noting her recent illness had kept her indoors.
"I haven't thought about it at all. The last few days I've been sick, not gone out much," she stated, expressing her preference for classical chess over Rapid.
"I prefer classical any day... rapid is fun to play but lots of emotions. Like, so many games you are playing in a day and it's hard to deal with sometimes. I think that's the major difference (between classical and Rapid)."
Indian standings:
The Qualifiers: