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.
Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin's hopes of making to the Candidates tournament suffered a setback as he lost to Alireza Firouzja of France in the ninth round of the FIDE Grand Swiss, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Saturday.
Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh made a huge stride forward, defeating second seed Jiner Zhu of China in the first game of the pre-quarterfinals of the FIDE World Women's Chess Cup in Batumi, Georgia, on Wednesday.
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.
A clinical performance on the prodigy board by GM Leon Luke Mendonca and a last-gasp victory by Nino Batsiashvili powered Alpine SG Pipers into title contention as they beat Fyers American Gambits 10-4 to register their second consecutive win in the Global Chess League in Mumbai on Wednesday.
With Vantika's hard-earned victory there are still five Indians left in the last 32 stage of this US$691,250 prize money event with an additional bonus of making it to the Women's candidates' tournament slated in 2026 for the top three finishers.
Padmini Rout replicating the result in the women's section to emerge as the top Indian performers in Al Ain, UAE.
Rameshbabu Vaishali won the women's qualifier scoring 9.5 points out of 11 to advance to the quarter-finals of the World Blitz Championship.
World champion D Gukesh and compatriot Arjun Erigaisi delivered in a must-win situation to help PBG Alaskan Knights register their first win in the Global Chess League (GCL) in Mumbai on Thursday.
World champion D Gukesh finally managed to beat the legendary Viswanathan Anand when it mattered the most to help PBG Alaskan Knights finish third.
R Vaishali also made it to the next round, defeating Ouellet Maili-Jade of Canada in another Indian victory of the day while Divya Deshmukh ousted Kesaria Mgeladze of Georgia.
Uzbekistan's young grandmaster Abdusattorov Nodirbek emerged sole leader in the open section of the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid tournament in Kolkata on Wednesday.
World Champion D Gukesh went down to world's youngest-ever Grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra of the US in the fifth round of the FIDE Grand Swiss.
Vantika Agrawal humbled former World champion Anna Ushenina in the second round of FIDE Women's World Chess Cup in Batumi, Georgia, on Wednesday.
In an event completely dominated by the Chinese, Ju Wenjun went on to snare the world title, defeating compatriot Lei Tingjie 3.5-2.5.
Gukesh to clash with Alireza on what promises to be a photo finish
The 17-year-old Gukesh is in joint lead with Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi.
World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen secured a remarkable double victory at the Tata Steel Chess India tournament, winning both the rapid and blitz titles.
Mumba Masters secured a vital 14-5 win over Alpine Sg Pipers on day six of the Global Chess League here on Tuesday, dealing a major blow to the Pipers' chances of closing in on the top two teams.
Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh held on to the joint top spot with Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi after they played out an easy draw in the 10th round of the Candidates chess tournament in Toronto.
Reigning champions Triveni Continental Kings secured a 10-8 win over upGrad Mumba Masters in the opening match on day five of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League in London on Monday.
Pragg, Gujrathi out of contention
D Gukesh played out a creditable draw against top seed Fabiano Caruana but slipped a rung to the joint second position.
Gukesh tried his hands at the Ruy Lopez as white but did not get much against Praggnanandhaa. Both the teenagers have been showing great skills here against the world's best and there was nothing to choose between them when pieces flew off the board in tandem. The game was drawn in 41 moves.
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi scored crushing victories, while D Gukesh held on to the joint top spot with a draw in a brilliant sixth-round outing for the Indian men's team at the Candidates Chess Tournament in Toronto.
Vidit Gujrathi also put an end to his losses by settling for a draw with Caruana.
Another game to end through repetition of moves was between Gukesh and Gujrathi.
Triveni Continental Kings outwit Alpine SG Pipers 9-7 in a nail-biting finish, to make it to the final of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League in London for the second year in a row.
Gukesh faced the in-vogue Italian opening as black against Caruana and the players battled it out in the main variation.
The Indian challenge in the women's section might already have ended as Zhongyi stood firmly ahead on five points while Goryachkina had 4.5 points in her kitty.
Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi crashed through the defences of world number three Hikaru Nakamura of United States, while R Praggnanandhaa went down to compatriot D Gukesh in the second round of Candidates chess tournament in Toronto.
Anish Giri blundered a piece against Magnus Carlsen, losing in just 22 moves.
The upGrad Mumba Masters climbed to third place, while the Titans improved their position from the bottom of the scoreboard.
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa produced a spectacular game to get the better of fellow-Indian Vidit Gujrathi in the third round of the Candidates Chess tournament in Toronto on Saturday.
Teenaged Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh shot into sole lead after defeating Firouzja Alireza of France in the 13th and penultimate round of Candidates' Chess tournament in Toronto on Saturday, his quest for the extraordinary placing him on the cusp of becoming the youngest ever World Championship contender.
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.
This is Koneru Humpy's second World Rapid title after she had triumphed in the 2019 edition in Moscow.
After the first game against the same opponent ended in a draw, Harika was with black pieces in the second and she employed a French defence and Kosteniuk did not have many answers.
Ganges Grandmasters made an important comeback after two losses, defeating Balan Alaskan Knights 8-7
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.
