After Vaishali’s Candidates win, her guru RB Ramesh warns: ‘She can do even better’

Vaishali entered the Candidates as the lowest rated player in the eight-woman field, and despite winning the event in a thrilling photo-finish in the final round, she still leaves Cyprus as the lowest-rated player. As she has highlighted in multiple conversations since winning the Candidates, the past two years have seen her experience some wretched form which eroded her rating. The only thing that went right for the 24-year-old over the past two years was her winning the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament, which earned her a spot in the Candidates.

Over the past decade or so, Ramesh has had a ring-side view to the rise of Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali, the siblings who are chasing chess greatness. But even now, things they do can leave him impressed. Like the way she hoisted herself up to the top of the table after being at the bottom of the standings after five rounds in the 14-round event. At the previous Candidates too, she had done something similar, ending the tournament with an unprecedented five-match winning streak.

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“In the first half of the Candidates tournament this time, she was struggling. And normally when a player is struggling, very few manage to make a good comeback, meaningful comeback. Usually the tournament ends so-so, or bad. But to turn around the tournament, which was not going well — in fact, she was on a score of minus-one in the first six rounds and ended with a plus score — and winning the tournament outright, that was amazing quality. She made a very powerful comeback. That can happen only when you can overcome your own negativities. She was the lowest seed in the tournament, and winning the tournament ahead of so many higher-tier players. Yeah, both those qualities, I was very impressed with,” says Ramesh.

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Ramesh is the man who gave the chess world the immortal phrase ‘Be Like Pragg’. He now explains why it’s near-impossible to be like Vaishali.

“She’s probably the hardest-working chess player among the female players. She just slogs it out a lot, devoting a lot of time for preparing and learning in chess. That kind of commitment, that too for 18 or 19 years (is rare),” says Ramesh, who has shaped their career from a young age at Chennai’s Chess Gurukul. Ramesh loves to share the tale of how the siblings never got bored of chess as kids and would travel over an hour one way to get to his classes when they were both very young. Those qualities, over the years, have only amplified.

Vaishali Rameshbabu meets her mother Nagalakshmi after winning the Women’s Candidates tournament. (Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE)

“Sometimes after a good performance, there are players who want to take a break. But not Pragg and Vaishali. I’ve seen many times when she was very young, let’s say after she won a prestigious tournament like the under-10 or under-12 World Championships… once she reaches India, the very next day she will come for chess class. On the other hand, I’ve seen people taking a one-week-long break after winning a state championship. Because they feel they deserve that, something like this.

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“Usually, many players will take it slow once in a while. They will not prepare so much or they won’t feel the mood. But she’s someone — just like her brother Pragg — who can just slog it out day in and day out. So that kind of perseverance, that kind of commitment, is very unique and special. For such a long period, she has been spending so many hours on this pursuit on a day-to-day basis.”

Ramesh also said that what was impressive about both the siblings was that success has never gone to their head, no matter how much of it comes knocking at their doorstep.

“They are very level-headed. I have seen many players who get success and it really makes them feel like they are some kind of gift to humanity or something. They start acting very strange. But these two are very normal human beings. That’s very nice to see,” says Ramesh.