'NOT CHASING GM TITLE FREED ME'

After a dream run in 2023, with the Olympiad gold to top it all, GM Vaishali opens up to Swaroop Swaminathan about change in mindset, rise of women's chess and more...

INDIAN chess has taken the elevator in terms of achievements over the last 12 months. Multiple people winning important titles, teens dominating competitors twice their age, youngsters becoming Grandmasters, as many as five people taking part in the Candidates and D Gukesh emerging as the contender for Ding Liren's throne. If there is one player who has come to symbolise this sort of unprecedented upward trajectory, it's R Vaishali. Just over 12 months ago, on the flight to Hangzhou to take part at the Asian Games, she was feeling slightly down. Her ultimate dream was yet to materialise becoming a GM.

Worse, she had realised that the pressure was eating her alive.

That's when she turned to one of her trainers-Sandipan Chanda for advice. The 41year-old broke down her chess to something fundamental.

Start playing like how you used to play when you were a kid.

The 22-year-old tried it in a few tournaments and reaped immediate rewards. Since then, wins have come in the Grand Swiss Tour, the third and final GM norm followed, a very creditable showing in the women's Candidates... she had, at some level, managed to do a lifetime's worth of work across six months. But this is now her world. Last week, she played a big role in helping the women's team to their first ever team gold at the chess Olympiad in Budapest. Hence, it's no surprise to note that she calls this 'a dream year'. In an interaction with this daily, Vaishali, who will appear for the Ganges Grandmasters in the second edition of the Global Chess League next month, was intimate about her mindset change and the evolution of women's chess in India. Excerpts: On your last two weeks, gold at the Olympiad...