It's Official! Vaishali Is India's 84th Grandmaster
It's been four months in the making, but Vaishali Rameshbabu is officially a grandmaster, now that FIDE has approved the latest batch of title applications. She joins her brother GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu to establish the first brother-sister GM combination in chess history.
Vaishali's accomplishment, as the 84th Indian grandmaster and 42nd woman from any country to become a GM, has already been widely recognized. In January, she was presented with the Arjuna Award. Last month, ahead of the 2024 Women's Candidates Tournament, Vaishali spoke with IM Levy Rozman about a number of topics, including the tournament where she met all the GM requirements, her opponents in the Candidates, the chess boom in India, and more.
Vaishali is not the only notable player with a shiny new title as FIDE approved a total of 58 players: nine grandmasters, two woman grandmasters, 40 international masters, and seven woman international masters. (More on the title approval process below.)
Yes!!!😊 https://t.co/MUxyxjlbOi
— Vaishali (@chessvaishali) April 30, 2024
Notable players who became grandmasters in addition to Vaishali include GM Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux, Canada's 15th grandmaster, and 15-year-old GM Ediz Gurel, who is the 15th grandmaster from Turkiye. IM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, who recently earned the GM title at age 12, will have his title application processed at the next FIDE meeting.
Congratulations to 15-year-old Ediz Gurel on winning the Prague Challengers and qualifying for next year's Masters... on top of becoming a GM yesterday! https://t.co/C9UfszNtuK pic.twitter.com/JY5LwTtIDc
— chess24 (@chess24com) March 7, 2024
15-year-old IM Brewington Hardaway leads the list of new international masters, who are more than two-thirds of the players with newly-approved titles. Iran's IM Sina Movahed is another junior player who joined the international master ranks, while IMs Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova of the United States, Sarah Papp of Germany, and Meruert Kamalidenova were among the women who are now officially recognized as international masters.
Officially an International Master! Grateful for everyone who has supported me throughout my journey. Hopefully GM comes soon. pic.twitter.com/94MwzGzhhT
— Brewington Hardaway (@IMBrewChess) April 29, 2024
Only two players, WGMs Tijana Mandura and Michalina Rudzinska, are new woman grandmasters, but seven players now have the woman international master title, the most notable among them being Yosha Iglesias.
I'm officially a Woman International Master!
— Yosha Iglesias (@IglesiasYosha) April 29, 2024
Despite its anti-trans regulations, FIDE had to recognize me as a WIM!
I'm happy to have shown that it was possible, to have paved the way for my sisters. Girls, I don't wish you to do as well, but to do even better. 🏳️⚧️💜 pic.twitter.com/DtKnRgnUik
The youngest player in the group of new WIMs, Aydin Gulenay, was born in 2006 and, like Gurel and Erdogmus, is part of a growing chess trend in Turkiye.
Grandmasters must achieve a 2500 rating and three norms to earn the title, but it is not instantly conferred. Players formally apply for the title—as they also must for the other three titles that require norms, woman grandmaster, international master, and woman international master—and approval decisions are made at every quarterly FIDE meeting. That said, it is rare for FIDE to deny a title application and, for the purposes of record-keeping, players are considered to have the title upon earning it, rather than from when it is officially approved.
FIDE's full list of approved titles at their first meeting of 2024 can be found here. (Note: WIM Anastasia Nazarova is actually Anastasia Keinanen. The listed FIDE ID and country, Finland, are correct.)
Nathaniel Green is a staff writer for Chess.com who writes articles, player biographies, Titled Tuesday reports, video scripts, and more. He has been playing chess for about 30 years and resides near Washington, DC, USA.
