R Vaishali backs Judit Polgar's views on need for women's chess titles to be abolished: 'Removing these could inspire...'

Indian Grandmaster R Vaishali has echoed chess legend Judit Polgar’s views that women’s titles in chess should be abolished. The Grandmaster (GM), International Master (IM), FIDE Master (FM), Candidate Master (CM) are the four titles which are common between men and women in chess. Barring the four chess titles that are common to both men and women, there are four titles that women can attain. These are Woman Grandmaster (WGM), Woman International Master (WIM), Woman FIDE Master (WFM), Woman Candidate Master (WCM). Vaishali had become the third Indian woman to claim the Grandmaster title in December 2023.

“I agree with her (Judit). Early in my career, I felt that titles like WIM and WGM can create a false sense of achievement. In the open category, these titles don’t hold much value and can demotivate players from aiming for the GM title. Removing these titles could inspire more women to compete directly for GM titles,” Vaishali told the Times of India.

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In September last year, Judit had suggested an idea to do away with chess titles for women and instead wanted titles based on player ratings. “Why don’t you have a title for 2000, for 2200, for 2300, for 2400, for 2500, for 2600, for 2700? Isn’t it much better to have the rating titles and not that it’s women or men?,” the Hungarian had asked.

‘It went badly, wasn’t feeling well’: Vaishali on World Rapid Championship

While Vaishali would go onto win bronze at the FIDE World Blitz Championship in New York recently, she wasn’t at her best at the FIDE World Rapid Championship, where she finished outside the top eight. Vaishali admitted to suffering from cold during the event.

“The rapid event didn’t go well, to be honest. It went very badly, and I wasn’t feeling well during that time. Somehow I got time to recover before the blitz event. For the blitz, I felt motivated and had this mindset that even if it didn’t go well, I would be fine with it. So much has happened this year—2024 has been quite eventful— And I thought ‘Let’s end this year as fast as possible’. Somehow, this result came and I’m happy about it,” she said.

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“I caught a cold, and it was difficult to acclimatise to the weather. It was my first time in the USA and the cod was intense. Also, it took me a few days to get over the jet lag,” added the 23-year-old.

Vaishali hails R Praggnanandhaa’s support 

Vaishali stated that having her brother R Praggnanandhaa helped her immensely. “Yeah, of course. It always helps to have someone with you. This time, my mother didn’t come with us. So, it was just Prag and me. He also faced a disappointing finish in the rapid. He was close to winning a medal but lost in the penultimate round. Despite that, having him around was a support system for both of us,” she said.

Koneru Humpy, another Indian GM, won the Women’s World Rapid Championships and Vaishali said that her triumph is a motivating factor. “It’s a fantastic result and a huge motivating factor for me. Despite having so many responsibilities, she’s still winning medals. Watching her play live was truly inspiring,” recalled Vaishali.