Indian chess player Vaishali Rameshbabu became a Grandmaster by crossing 2,500 International Chess Federation (FIDE) ranking points at the IV El Llobregat Open in Spain on December.
Key points
- She is only the third Indian woman player to achieve the title, besides Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli.
- Vaishali and her younger brother, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, have become the first-ever Grandmaster brother-sister duo in history.
About Grandmaster
- Grandmaster is the highest title or ranking that a chess player can achieve. The Grandmaster title is awarded by the International Chess Federation (FIDE).
- The title is the badge of the game’s super-elite, a recognition of the greatest chess talent on the planet.
- Besides Grandmaster, the Qualification Commission of FIDE recognises and awards seven other titles: International Master (IM), FIDE Master (FM), Candidate Master (CM), Woman Grandmaster (WGM), Woman International Master (WIM), Woman FIDE Master (WFM), and Woman Candidate Master (WCM).
- All the titles, including that of Grandmaster, are valid for life, unless a player is stripped of the title for a proven offence such as cheating.
- 27 Grandmaster titles were awarded in the first batch in 1950, including to then-world champion Mikhail Botvinnik of the erstwhile USSR.
- Currently, FIDE awards chess’s highest honour to a player who is able to achieve a FIDE Classical or Standard rating of 2,500, plus three Grandmaster norms.
