Vaishali R vs. Joo Jinnah in the quarterfinals of the FIDE Women’s World Blitz Championship. |Photo provided by: X@FIDE_chess
India’s R. Vaishali won the bronze medal in the women’s category at the World Blitz Championship, another great performance for the country’s chess players, following a show that saw stalwart Connell Humpy win the title in the rapid event here. It concluded a strong performance.
Vaishali defeated China’s Zhu Zhen’er 2.5 to 1.5 in the quarterfinals, but lost to fellow Chinese opponent Zhu Wenjun 0.5 to 2.5 in the semifinals.
In a tournament completely dominated by the Chinese, Zhu Wenjun defeated compatriot Lei Tingjie 3.5-2.5 to win the world title.
Viswanathan Anand, five-time world champion and vice president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), praised Vaishali’s efforts and said it was a great end to the year.
“Congratulations to Vaishali on winning the bronze medal. It was a really strong performance to qualify her. Thanks to our Waka Chess instructors (Westbridge Anand Chess Academy), we are very proud. ” Anand wrote on “X”.
“I’m very happy to be able to support her and her chess. It’s a great way to end 2024. I thought there would be a stronger chess player in 2021, but here we have a world champion (Humpy). And there is a bronze medalist (Vaishali)”! ” he wrote.
In the “Open” section, world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and Russia’s Ian Nepomniatchi shared the Blitz title after three sudden-death games with no winner. This was the first time the title had been given to two fighters, after Carlsen asked if they could share the title given the stalemate.
“We got to the point where it was a long day. We played a lot of games, we had three draws and we felt we could keep playing. But it was a good resolution to share the win and a good ending. ”’ Carlsen said.
issued – January 1, 2025 12:21pm IST
