Vaishali knew she had to win to remain in contention and her approach right from the start was in sync with the requirement of the tournament situation.
Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi will take on an in-form Levon Aronian of Armenia, while P Harikrishna will have to tackle giant-killer Jose Eduardo Martinez Alacantara of Mexico in the pre-quarterfinals of the World Cup in Panaji, Goa.
Arjun Erigaisi will start as the favourite against veteran Hungarian Peter Leko, while R Praggnanandhaa faces the inventive Daniil Dubov.
Grandmasters Arjun Erigaisi and P Harikrishna had another good day as they sent veteran Peter Leko of Hungary and Swede Nils Grandelius packing in the fourth-round tiebreaker at the Chess World Cup, in Panaji on Thursday.
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.
Five-time world champions Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen played out a draw in the top duel of the opening day as the second edition of the Global Chess League began with players from around the world squaring off in London on Thursday.
Erigaisi Arjun was held to a draw by Alexey Sarana of Serbia
Indian chess prodigy D Gukesh sealed a remarkable Chess Olympiad campaign with a decisive victory over GM Vladimir Fedoseev on Sunday in Hungary.
In a surprising turn of events, Mumba Masters defeated tournament leaders PBG Alaskan Knights, denying them direct qualification to the finals of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League in London on Wednesday.
D GukeshGrandmaster R Vaishali and Vantika Agrawal put up impressive performances as Indian women defeated Georgia while World Championship challenger D Gukesh led the men to victory over China in the seventh round as both teams continued their unbeaten streak in 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest.
The upGrad Mumba Masters climbed to third place, while the Titans improved their position from the bottom of the scoreboard.
Viswanathan Anand defeated an out-of-sorts Alexander Grischuk while Magnus Carlsen sealed the title at the Altibox Norway chess tournament with a round to spare, in Stavanger. Anand's chances to be in top three had ended after he lost to American Fabiano Caruana in the previous round.
Ganges Grandmasters made an important comeback after two losses, defeating Balan Alaskan Knights 8-7
The Indian team includes country's number two Vidit Gujrathi, P Harikrishna and Koneru Humpy. B Adhiban and D Harika are the the reserves members. The field for the event includes six former world champions, plus 12 others who have been Candidates to the throne at some point.
Viswanthan Anand was beaten by World champion Magnus Carlsen and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in the first two rounds of the Altibox Norway Chess tournament.
With Viswanathan Anand resting, the Indian team managed to hold their own against the favourites before Yu Yangyi subdued B Adhiban with black pieces to secure another victory in the tournament.
India suffered a double blow, losing its third and fourth round matches to Europe and top-seeded China by similar 1.5-2.5 margins, on the second day of the FIDE-Chess.com Online Nations Cup on Wednesday. Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand came up against a strong opponent in Ding Liren and the two agreed to sign peace in 54 moves. P Harikrishna held higher-rated Yu Yangyi to a draw while long-time rivals Koneru Humpy and Hou Yifan drew their game.
Triveni Continental Kings beat Ganges Grandmasters, led by five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, to set up a final against upGrad Mumba Masters.
Apart from a place in the Candidates to be played in April next year in Canada, Vaishali got richer by US$25000 (Over Rs 20 Lakhs) while Vidit took home a whopping prize purse of US$80000 (Over Rs 66 Lakhs).
Carlsen had previously indicated he would not consider the record truly broken until after two more games as he was not prepared to count two wins he had in the Norwegian league.
Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi pipped Rinat Zumabayev of Kazakhstan in the fifth round to share the top spot.
The team of Chingari Gulf Titans stunned Mumba Masters by 12:3, while SG Alpine Warriors were upstaged by Triveni Continental Kings
The inaugural edition of the Global Chess League, which aims to revolutionize chess, got underway in Dubai, with the first two matches taking place on Friday.
Vidit Gujrathi crashed through the defences of Hans Moke Niemann of the United States to join the leaders' pack on 4.5 points.
Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand will lead India's charge at the online Nations Cup beginning on Tuesday, where some of the world's best players will face off amid the coronavirus pandemic which has thrown the sporting calendars out of gear. The six-team event, touted to the richest online team tournament, features all the big names in the game with World champion Magnus Carlsen being the only big gun missing from the line-up.
The day produced four decisive games and it was again the youngsters who provided most of the entertainment.
China won the top prize on the basis of having won the round-robin stage.
Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi won the Asian continental chess championship despite losing to A R Saleh Salem of UAE in the final round that concluded in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday.
Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi went through the defences of Yu Yangyi of China to emerge sole leader after the sixth round in the Asian Continental Chess Championships in Ho Chi Min City, Vetnam, on Friday. With his fourth victory on the trot, the 19-year-old Indian ace left everyone behind and is now training his sight on the gold medal.
Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi chalked out an easy victory over fellow Indian Abhijeet Kunte to maintain a clean slate after the second round of the Asian Individual Chess Championship in Mashhad, Iran.
The Global Chess League has hit a significant milestone on its fifth day. With half of the matches already in the books, the competition now embarks on the crucial second phase of the round-robin tournament.
Grandmaster P Harikrishna and double GM norm holder D Harika rose to the occasion and made it a grand Indian double for India in the Asian Individual Chess Championships in Masshad (Iran) as they clinched the gold in both the open and women's section respectively.
Former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta outwitted Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy of Vietnam to become joint second on 4.5 points after the sixth round of the Asian Continental Chess Championship in Subic Bay, Phillipines.
Anand moved to joint sixth spot with 2.5 points on a day that saw Firouzja Alireza scoring a sensational victory over super-solid Anish Giri of Holland.
Former Under-14 world champion and Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi won the bronze medal in the World Junior Chess Championship after settling for a quick draw with winner Yu Yangyi of China in the 13th and final round that concluded in Kocaeli, Turkey.
Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand continued to struggle with his form as he lost to 16-year old International Master Benjamin Gledura of Hungary in the seventh round of the Masters section of Gibraltar International Chess festival
Anand played the Italian game with white pieces but could get little out of opening against Vituigov.
Grandmaster and former national champion B Adhiban beat Brazilian Grandmaster Alexander Fier in the second round and advance to the third round of the chess World Cup in Tromso, Norway, on Thursday
Fabiano Caruana of United States made sure of his maiden title after beating Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Poland.
Indian Grandmaster S P Sethuraman came back into the reckoning for top honours after defeating Duda Jan-Krzysztof of Poland in the seventh round of the World Junior Chess Championship in Kocaeli.