R Vaishali was the lone Indian left in contention after the first day of the World Blitz Chess Championship held in New York. The player from Chennai finished on top in the women’s section after 11 rounds. The final day will see the top eight fight it out in a knockout format. Vaishali will face Zhu Jiner of China in her quarterfinal.
The Indian contingent failed to make a mark in the open section. Forget the top eight, there were none of them even in the first 20 after 13 rounds. R Praggnanandhaa was 23rd with 8.5 points. That was a full point behind the last of the eight players who made the quarterfinals. Raunak Sadhwani finished 35th with eight points and Arjun Erigaisi 64th with seven. Others finished further behind.
Koneru Humpy, who won the women’s rapid title two days ago, missed a last-eight berth by a whisker. She finished with eight points from 11 rounds along with seven others, but finished ninth on tie-break score. Everybody else who logged eight points made the cut.
Vaishali was the standout performer in the women’s section and scored 9.5 points out of 11. She finished a full point ahead of the second-placed Lei Tingjie of China. In a closely-contested event, where half a point often makes a decisive difference, a one-point lead was remarkable. She won eight games and drew three.
Vaishali has had a memorable 2024 in the classical format. The elder sister of Praggnanandhaa became India’s third woman to secure the Grandmaster title, impressed at the women’s Candidates and was a part of the Indian team which won a historic gold medal at the Chess Olympiad.
However, her performance in speed chess or the shorter formats was not that noteworthy. The 23-year-old had finished 53rd in the rapid section. But when it came to blitz, the player from Chennai had a great day and raised hopes of a grand Indian ending to the year. No player from the country has won the world women’s blitz title yet.
Vaishali faces a tough test against her Chinese opponent. Zhu has a better rating of 2414 compared to the Indian’s 2359. The Chennai girl is, in fact, the second-lowest-rated player in the top eight. Having said that, ratings don’t always matter a lot in the shortest format. Vaishali has beaten higher-rated players like Valentina Gunina and drew with Kateryna Lagno and Lei on her way to the quarters.
Indians have had a sensational 2024. Humpy provided the latest spark by winning the women’s title. If Vaishali can pull it off on the last December night, it will complete a dream year for India.
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