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Indian chess player Vaishali Rameshbabu secured a bronze medal at the ongoing International Chess Federation (FIDE) World Blitz Championship on early Tuesday night.
The semifinal of the women's section saw Vaishali succumb to China's Ju Wenjun by 0.5-2.5 and she had to settle for a bronze medal. Taking to their official X handle, FIDE announced, "Ju Wenjun wins 2.5-0.5 against Vaishali R and goes to the finals! #RapidBlitz" https://x.com/FIDE_chess/status/1874202974513140013 The Sports Authority of India (SAI) also posted on X, "Talented #Chess player Vaishali Rameshbabu shines on the international stage, bagging a #Bronze at World #Blitz Chess Championship. What a fantastic way to kick off 2025 for #IndianChess! #IndianChess #Sports #IndianSports #Champion #WorldChampionship". https://x.com/Media_SAI/status/1874385823120154872 This continues India's upward trajectory in Chess, with several of the country's stars making the nation proud last year. The future of Indian chess is really in safe hands, with stars like R Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujarathi, D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal shaping up to be a generation that is truly 'golden'. Gukesh made history in December by defeating China's Ding Liren in the decisive 14th game of the FIDE World Championship match held in Singapore. The championship, tied at 6.5-6.5 heading into the final game, culminated in a stellar performance by Gukesh, who secured a 7.5-6.5 victory over Ding Liren. In the process, the 18-year-old became the youngest world champion ever and India's second world champion after Anand, as per Olympics.com. In April, Gukesh made headlines by winning the FIDE Candidates Chess Tournament 2024, becoming the youngest challenger to Ding's world title. During the Chess Olympiad held in Budapest, Hungary in September, the Indian contingent made history when both men's and women's teams secured gold medals for the first time ever. The Indian men's team of Gukesh D, Praggnanandhaa R and Arjun Erigaisi defeated Slovenia during the final round by scoring a record 21 points. On the other hand, the Indian team, led by Harika Dronavalli and Divya Deshmukh, also featuring Vantika and Tania Sachdev handed a loss to Azerbaijan for the title. Gukesh, Arjun, Divya and Vantika also won gold on their boards individually. Also, Humpy won the FIDE Women's World Rapid Championship in New York last month after beating Indonesia's Irene Sukandar with the black pieces in the final round of the tournament. It was Humpy's second world rapid title and the fourth time she has finished in the top three of the event. Previously, the Indian chess player won the title back in 2019. Humpy sealed the title after finishing with a score of 8.5/11 in the final round of the tournament. As per ESPN, the Indian chess player achieved the milestone of becoming the second player to win multiple women's world rapid titles after China's Ju Wenjun. Back in 2023, Humpy came second at the FIDE World Rapid Championship. While, in 2012, she secured second place at the tournament. Back in October, the 21-year-old grandmaster Erigaisi achieved a significant milestone by surpassing the 2800 Elo rating mark in live chess ratings. This accomplishment made Erigaisi the youngest Indian and only the second player from the country, after the legendary Viswanathan Anand, to cross this coveted threshold. (ANI)
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