CHENNAI: Men have dominated Indian chess scene for years, but the historic gold won by the Indian women's team at the Olympiad in Budapest a few days ago can be a game-changer. Chennai girl R Vaishali, who has been stepping out of her brother R Praggnanandhaa's shadows, was part of the team that also had D Harika, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal and Tania Sachdev. She feels that this is just the beginning for the girls as they aim for more in the future.
"We are currently seeing this boom with so many youngsters coming in. But we have always lacked in the women's section. I feel this medal makes it clear that we are also getting there, slowly but surely. And there are some other girls who are waiting to get into the team. I think we Indian girls are slowly getting there to the top. Divya is now in the top-10 in the world, which is very good, and Vantika also has been doing well. I just hope many more girls will look up to this gold medal and take up the sport professionally," Vaishali told TOI.
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Vaishali always had the support of her brother Pragg during tournaments, but now she has created a special relationship with other women players. "Of course, I'm closer to Pragg than anyone else. But I'm happy I've also found other relationships. In the game against Poland, both Harika and I lost, and it cost us the match. I was clearly in a better position; I didn't expect at all that I would lose. "Even for Harika, the tournament was not going so well. I was disappointed about the game and Harika was aware of it. She herself was having a tough time but still she was trying to help me, which I don't think many people would have done. She has always been there for me, always guides me. Also, the other players helped me to recover as fast as possible," said Vaishali.
With little time to rest, Vaishali is already gearing up for her next challenge - the Global Chess League (GCL) in London. The 23-yearold had a decent campaign at the Olympiad, but her two consecutive losses put the team in a spot of bother. At the GCL, Vaishali, who will be in Viswanathan Anand's team, hopes to contribute to Ganges Grandmasters' win "without causing any damage".
"I was very upset when I lost those two games in a row that cost us the match points. But when the team believes in you after such bad games, you feel like you should do well and at least not cause any damage. So, in the last two games, I just made sure I was not causing any damage. Up next, both tournaments that I'll be taking part in - GCL and European Club Cup in Serbia - are team tournaments and this time, I want to contribute properly for the team," Vaishali said.
