Chess, Candidates 2024: R Vaishali breaks losing streak; Praggnanandhaa, Vidit play out a draw

After four consecutive losses, India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu returned to winning ways as she beat Nurgyul Salimova in Round 10 of the 2024 Candidates early on Tuesday.

Vaishali, who recently earned the Grandmaster title, prevailed in a 88-move battle with the black pieces.

Employing the Grunfeld defence, the Indian found herself in an inferior position as well as in massive time trouble before pulling off an unlikely victory against the lower rated Salimova.

“I don’t know [how I managed to win], I was completely lost,” said Vaishali after the match. “Both of us were in real-time trouble and something happened and I was very lucky.”

With a rook, a bishop, a knight, and three pawns already exchanged as early as the 15th move, the game seemed to be heading towards a draw, but some errors from the Indian saw Salimova get into a comfortable position.

The Bulgarian then tried to force a win and denied a three-fold repetition, before Vaishali took advantage of the time trouble to eke out a win.

Despite the win, Vaishali continues to occupy the bottom spot in the women’s event with just 3.5 points after ten rounds.

Meanwhile, the other Indian in action in the women’s section Koneru Humpy played out a 72-move draw with tournament leader Tan Zhongyi with the...

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