Our mother had been an incredible support system, says Vaishali

There will be no downtime for most of India’s architects of the double gold medal haul in the Chess Olympiad as they will be heading for the Global Chess League in London soon – and R. Vaishali is one of them. The second edition of the six-team franchise league will be held in London from 3-12 October.

The Olympiad gold has, in a way, brought the reticent 23-year-old Vaishali out of the shadows of his prodigal brother R. Praggnanandhaa. ‘’My next stop is the Global Chess League, which you can say is like the IPL of chess. There are six franchises and it will be a privilege for me to play alongside (Vishy) Anand sir in the same team,’’ said Vaishali.

Only the third grandmaster among women in India after Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali will be a part of the Ganges Grandmasters team – which also has Arjun Erigaisi, a member of the men’s worldbeating team in Budapest. Pragg, meanwhile will be a part of the Alpine SG Pipers which has Magnus Carlsen as the icon player.

Bronze to gold

The other Indian players to be in fray are Vidit Gujrathi, Raunak Sadhwani, Humpy and Dronavalli (Mumba Masters); Anish Giri and Nihal Sarin (PBG Alaskan Knights). Gukesh D, meanwhile, has taken time out from the glamour event ahead of his demanding Fide world title game in November.

Speaking to the SAI media during an interaction, Vaishali said they were yet to get over the euphoria after the twin golden finish last Sunday. ‘’In Chennai two years back, both teams had podium finishes too but had to end with bronze. I am extremely happy that we could change the colour of the medal this time,’’ she said.

No conversation with either Pragg or Vaishali can be complete a reference of their mother R. Nagalakshmi, hailed as a supermom in the chess circuit since last year. Her ubiquitous presence in Budapest also did not go unnoticed by the world chess media and Vaishali quipped: ‘’She had been an incredible support system for us. Sometimes, we play in different tournaments so there are situations when she is travelling with me one day and then joining Pragg the next. Travelling can be very tiring but then, she has been doing it for years…thanks also to our father who manages the logistics.’’

How has the journey been for her, which has had it’s share of ups and downs? ‘’A long one as I have been playing chess for more than 15 years. Sometimes, the results may or may not come but our parents felt there should be no lack of effort from our side. Last year had been a aparticularly rewarding one for me as I became the GM. I am currently world No.3 and would like to improve my rankings,’’ she said.

Meanwhile, the All India Chess Federation (AICF) announced a Rs 3.2 crore incentive for the Indian teams during a felicitation ceremony in Chennai earlier this week.

Each player from the winning teams will receive Rs 25 lakh while the captains of the men and women’s teams, Abhijeet Kunte and Srinath Narayanan, will be rewarded with 15 lakh each. Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua, head of the Indian delegation, will receive 10 lakh, and the assistant coaches will be rewarded 7.5 lakh.

‘’The hunger for gold ended in Hungary, but the desire for success continues. In the open section we dominated and in women's section we owned it,’’ AICF president Nitin Narang said during the felicitation. ‘’Our players are sharp shooters on the chessboard. The seeds planted by Vishwanathan Anand have grown into a forest,’’ he added.