FIDE Women's Grand Prix Grosslobming: R Vaishali faces her first defeat
Vaishali dropped to joint second position after losing her fifth-round match to Zhu Jiner of China.
GM Rameshbabu Vaishali takes sole lead in the women's category after round 3 of FIDE Grand Swiss 2025. (File photo)
The unbeaten run of GM Vaishali Rameshbabu ended in the fifth round of the final leg of the 2024-25 FIDE Women's Grand Prix Circuit in Grosslobming, Austria, on Saturday.
Playing with the black pieces, Vaishali fell short to the in-form Zhu Jiner of China in a Sicilian Defense after a marathon match of 59 moves. This was Zhu's third straight win at the event.
After this loss, Vaishali has dropped to tied second position with 3/4 points alongside Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia and Zhu Jiner, who now stands as the leader of the overall 2024-25 Grand Prix circuit.
Vaishali's loss meant that Anna Muzychuk extended her lead to a full point after the fifth round, increasing her chances of qualifying for the Candidates 2026 via the 2024-25 Grand Prix Circuit.
Vaishali will try to recover from this loss in her next match against home favorite Olga Badelka in the sixth round on Sunday.
Round-5 Results
- GM Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) drawn with GM Nana Dzagnidze (GEO)
- GM Zhu Jiner (CHN) won against GM Vaishali Rameshbabu (IND)
- IM Olga Badelka (AUT) lost to IM Lela Javakhishvili (GEO)
- GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI) won against IM Nurgyul Salimova (BUL)
- Tan Zhongyi (CHN) drawn with Anna Muzychuk (UKR)
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