R. Vaishali won the bronze medal in the women's section of the World Blitz Championship 2024 in New York, defeating China's Zhu Jiner in the quarterfinals by 2.5-1.5. Ju Wenjun later won the world title, defeating Lei Tingjie in the final. This achievement marks a stellar year for Indian women in chess, following Koneru Humpy's victory in the World Rapid Championship. Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand congratulated Vaishali for her performance.
FIDE President, Viswanathan wrote "Congratulations to Vaishali for taking bronze. Her qualification was truly a power-packed performance. Our Waca Chess mentee has done us proud. We are so happy to be supporting her and her chess. What a way to wrap up 2024. In 2021, we thought we would get stronger chess players but here we have it a World Champion and a Bronze medallist."
R. Vaishali is an Indian chess grandmaster who achieved numerous milestones and recognitions. Born in Chennai, she won the Girls World Youth Chess Championship for Under-12s in 2012 and Under-14s in 2015. Vaishali also won the International Master title and the Women's Grand Swiss, becoming the third Indian woman and 84th person in India to achieve the Grandmaster title.
The 2024 FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship in New York was held from December 30 to December 31, 2024. Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi won the title after three consecutive draws in sudden death. Ju Wenjun defeated Lei Tingjie and Vaishali Rameshbabu. The tournament was open to players with ratings of 2550 and above and had a total prize fund of $450,000.
