<p>New York: Indian Grandmaster R Vaishali showcased her skill by winning the women’s qualifier to advance to the quarterfinals of the World Blitz Championship here.</p>.<p>Following Koneru Humpy’s stellar performance, which earned her the gold medal and a prize of $60,000, it was Vaishali’s turn to impress her fans. She triumphed in the women’s section, scoring 9.5 points, with three draws on her way to a 9.5/11 performance.</p>.<p>Russian Kateryna Lagno came closest to Vaishali, scoring 8.5 points, while the remaining six qualifiers finished with an identical 8 points. Despite meeting the points criteria, Humpy was eliminated due to the worst tiebreaker, finishing ninth.</p>.<p>In the open section, ten players tied for first place, including world number one Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen scored when needed and drew six of his 13 games, finishing among the co-leaders at the end of the qualifiers.</p>.After Rapid win, Koneru Humpy eyeing a grand double in World Blitz Chess Championship.<p>Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi won the qualifier with 9.5 points, benefiting from the best tiebreak, while Fabiano Caruana of the United States finished second, ahead of Carlsen, who placed third.</p>.<p>Surprisingly, none of the Indians made the top eight, despite some early promising performances.</p>.<p>Erigaisi Arjun played brilliantly at the start, securing victories in the first five rounds but faded to finish with a subpar seven points. R Praggnanandhaa was the best-placed Indian, with 8.5 points, but a last-round loss to Russian Daniil Dubov cost him a spot in the quarterfinals.</p>.<p>In the quarterfinals, Vaishali will face Chinese Grandmaster Zhu Jiner.</p>.<p>Vaishali’s back-to-back victories against GMs Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia and Valentina Gunina of Russia in rounds 7-8 provided the necessary boost for the Indian player to top the event with ease.</p>.<p><em>Indian standings open:</em> R Pragnanandhaa (8.5) – 23; Raunak Sadhwani (8) 46; Arjun Erigaisi (7) 64; Aravindh Chithambaram (7) 68; V Pranav (7) 67; Women: R Vaishali (9.5) 1; K Humpy (8) 9; Divya Deshmukh (7) 18; Vantika Agarwal (7) 19; D Harika (7) 22.</p>.<p><em>The Qualifiers:</em> Open: 1-8; Ian Nepomniachtchi, Volodar Murzin (Both Fide); Fabiano Caruana, Hans Niemann Moke, Wesley So (all USA); Magnus Carlsen (Nor); Duda Jan-Kryzsztof (Pol); Alireza Firoujza (Fra).</p>.<p>Women 1-8: R Vaishali (Ind); Lei Tingjie, Wenjun Ju, Zhu Jiner (all Chn); Kateryna Lagno, Valentina Gunina (Both Fide); Carissa Yip (Usa) Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kaz).</p>
<p>New York: Indian Grandmaster R Vaishali showcased her skill by winning the women’s qualifier to advance to the quarterfinals of the World Blitz Championship here.</p>.<p>Following Koneru Humpy’s stellar performance, which earned her the gold medal and a prize of $60,000, it was Vaishali’s turn to impress her fans. She triumphed in the women’s section, scoring 9.5 points, with three draws on her way to a 9.5/11 performance.</p>.<p>Russian Kateryna Lagno came closest to Vaishali, scoring 8.5 points, while the remaining six qualifiers finished with an identical 8 points. Despite meeting the points criteria, Humpy was eliminated due to the worst tiebreaker, finishing ninth.</p>.<p>In the open section, ten players tied for first place, including world number one Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen scored when needed and drew six of his 13 games, finishing among the co-leaders at the end of the qualifiers.</p>.After Rapid win, Koneru Humpy eyeing a grand double in World Blitz Chess Championship.<p>Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi won the qualifier with 9.5 points, benefiting from the best tiebreak, while Fabiano Caruana of the United States finished second, ahead of Carlsen, who placed third.</p>.<p>Surprisingly, none of the Indians made the top eight, despite some early promising performances.</p>.<p>Erigaisi Arjun played brilliantly at the start, securing victories in the first five rounds but faded to finish with a subpar seven points. R Praggnanandhaa was the best-placed Indian, with 8.5 points, but a last-round loss to Russian Daniil Dubov cost him a spot in the quarterfinals.</p>.<p>In the quarterfinals, Vaishali will face Chinese Grandmaster Zhu Jiner.</p>.<p>Vaishali’s back-to-back victories against GMs Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia and Valentina Gunina of Russia in rounds 7-8 provided the necessary boost for the Indian player to top the event with ease.</p>.<p><em>Indian standings open:</em> R Pragnanandhaa (8.5) – 23; Raunak Sadhwani (8) 46; Arjun Erigaisi (7) 64; Aravindh Chithambaram (7) 68; V Pranav (7) 67; Women: R Vaishali (9.5) 1; K Humpy (8) 9; Divya Deshmukh (7) 18; Vantika Agarwal (7) 19; D Harika (7) 22.</p>.<p><em>The Qualifiers:</em> Open: 1-8; Ian Nepomniachtchi, Volodar Murzin (Both Fide); Fabiano Caruana, Hans Niemann Moke, Wesley So (all USA); Magnus Carlsen (Nor); Duda Jan-Kryzsztof (Pol); Alireza Firoujza (Fra).</p>.<p>Women 1-8: R Vaishali (Ind); Lei Tingjie, Wenjun Ju, Zhu Jiner (all Chn); Kateryna Lagno, Valentina Gunina (Both Fide); Carissa Yip (Usa) Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kaz).</p>