After her triumph at the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament 2026 in Cyprus, Vaishali Rameshbabu shares her thoughts and feelings in an interview with Charlize van Zyl. She spoke about her games, her love and passion for chess, and her journey to victory. Below you can find both text and video versions of this interview.
CharIize van Zyl: I am joined today by Vaishali Rameshbabu, the winner of the FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026. Vaishali, you were quite speechless in the last press conference, with the feeling still being new. Now that it’s sunk in, tell me how you feel about this amazing victory.
Vaishali: It’s a dream-come-true moment for all of my family. It’s been a long journey to become World Champion and to be playing there, and I’m very happy that I won the Candidates. It was a very close event and quite an unpredictable one.
Charlize van Zyl: Indeed, very close and very unpredictable until the last moments of the final round. Let’s talk about that last round. It’s fourteenth round; mathematically six of the eight players still have a chance to win, and everything’s on the line. You’re playing against Lagno. Tell me, what went through your preparation going into that and your mind-set from the night before to the start of the game?
Vaishali: The one good thing is that we had the same round timing as any other round, unlike an early morning game or something else compared to other tournaments. I just kept to my routine and prepared as usual. The approach was simply to play the base game and accept whatever comes, because only my game is under my control. The Sicilian Dragon came as a huge surprise, but I had prepared it before the tournament, so that helped.
Charlize van Zyl: So, knowing you had to win and knowing that Lagno also knew you had to win, there was no special preparation even outside of the board?
Vaishali: Not really. Again, if she beats me, then she also had some chances, and the tournament would have been wide open. That’s why she played for more and chose the Dragon because, otherwise, she could have chosen some other solid option. Of course, that also helped me because I was happy to face the Sicilian given the situation.
Charlize van Zyl: In the final round, did you find yourself looking over at Bibisara – Divya at all or did you stay focused on what was going on in your own game?
Vaishali: Of course, I checked briefly here and there, but I tried my maximum to focus on my game, because that’s what matters in the end.
Charlize van Zyl: Let’s talk a bit about your escape-artist phase in the first half of the event. With Divya and Goryachkina, there were a few slippery moments, but you handled them so well. This is a very good trait that you have. Do you think it is luck, or is this a skill of yours that you don’t give up, you keep going?
Vaishali: A bit of both. Even when you’re very resourceful, it doesn’t work all the time, so I had some luck there for sure. I also feel that I was very resourceful and I didn’t give up: I kept putting small pressure, because everyone here is so strong and it’s not easy to fight back from a worse position against them. Even starting from the first game in which I found this a4, Nc4 idea and she had to find this Qf8 idea, which was the only way to keep the advantage. That wasn’t easy at all. Then in the second game against Divya there was this one slip where she found Qg4, and my position became lost, but with less time it wasn’t easy. So, summing up, resourcefulness and a bit of luck.
Charlize van Zyl: So you had this resourcefulness in the first half while in the second half you showed a lot of technique and played some incredibly good games. Did you change anything between the first and the second half of the event; preparation or anything outside the chess?
Vaishali: My first win came against Lagno: I played a very good game, but towards the end I missed some chances and over a couple of moves I was lost, and by the time we reached the time control, she blundered and I was winning again. Overall I was outplaying her but during two or three moves, things bent up. I felt that I should not have missed that chance but that is was OK.
Then let’s not forget my game against Tan Zhongyi in the first half, because it changed things totally. I played very badly right from the opening and I was very lucky to score a win from this position. Initially, I felt very bad because I shouldn’t be playing like this and taking points, so therefore I started to focus on my game quality: I just wanted to play some good games. I think in the second half, my play drastically improved and I, indeed, played some good games.
Charlize van Zyl: You told us in the press conference that you felt bad, but do you have that feeling during the game itself, or do you try to mute it?
Vaishali: There are games where I’m worse and I keep defending and save the game, but in this one it didn’t feel like I was defending. It’s just a moment of lapse that could happen to anybody. I’ve had many painful losses like this, and it’s just tough: I have also been there, and it will just feel miserable, what to do? The moment she played Ra1, she obviously understood, but it was too late. It’s very tough, but it goes on.
Charlize van Zyl: Another tough game was against Zhu Jiner in the second half. It was such a critical one, where she caught up to you, but you kept fighting back afterwards. You told us in the press conference that you’re able to fight back because of the people around you. Can you expand on that a little bit more?
Vaishali: My game with Black against Goryachkina was a very nice game. I don’t usually win games like this: it felt a bit different from how I usually win, especially against Goryachkina, who is very strong and doesn’t lose many games with White. After this win, I had a one-point lead with three rounds to go, which I didn’t imagine at all. It just added some more pressure within me, and I couldn’t sleep that night. Against Zhu Jiner it was an interesting opening: things could have been a lot different, but I felt like I was not at my best. Also, she played really good moves, such as the critical Rb5, then h5, Rg4 and h4-h3 came so fast that I didn’t see this option at all. I was very upset, but then I felt that things were back to normal, so I could focus on the last two games. Having this one-point lead added to the pressure, but now the tournament was wide open again. I have a great support system: my team helped me so much, and also my mother and Pragg helped me cope with it.
Charlize van Zyl: So, losing this game alleviated the pressure of being the front runner? That’s interesting because when we spoke about Toronto – your incredible five-game victories in a row towards the end after a bad start – you told me that it was because of the pressure of the tournament that you didn’t do so well. Have you noticed this as perhaps a point to kind of work on in terms of dealing with the pressure? Because you’ve got the play, but this seems to be something in your way.
Vaishali: Yes, it seems like a pattern. It was definitely recognized even before the tournament. One of the main focuses here was that I was to just enjoy the tournament and not think about results, but it’s not always possible to get. It’s something I really worked on, because I also feel that’s when my best play actually comes out. I think it’s something I will try to rework on it and try to master it.
Charlize van Zyl: Let’s talk about your team: you’ve mentioned your mom and Pragg are here, but tell me about the functioning of your team, especially for a tournament like this and also those who don’t travel with you. How does it work behind the scenes?
Vaishali: Both of my trainers, Ramesh and Aarthie Ramaswamy, have been a huge pillar of strength, for Pragg’s and my own careers. We both started working with Ramesh when I was 13 years old and Pragg was nine years old, so it’s been more than 12 years – a long journey. They both have been a huge help for us: planning every little thing, scheduling camps, etc… We have learned a lot from both of them and we are very grateful to both. Of course, I had a team helping me with my preparation, but for now I’ll keep it secret. I also had GM Pranesh here. He’s someone I have known for many years and he’s also a student of Ramesh and we used to have a lot of training camps together. We have worked a lot together and it was Ramesh’s idea to have in during the Candidates, because with Pragg we have worked a lot together over the years. He’s also very nice and very fun to be around, a good friend. His support was crucial during the tournament: I can get tense quite fast and there were a lot of high pressure moments during the tournament. He kept me cool when there were several movements in the preparation and I didn’t know what to do. He was always chilled out and said, “Okay, you can manage, it’s okay, it’s fine”. A very positive attitude and I’m very happy that he was here and he helped me in every way possible. Especially with me, both Ramesh and Aarthie can keep me calm and that’s more important for me than having a strong second for me. It worked out perfectly!
Charlize van Zyl: Are you going to expand this team at all working towards the World Championship? You know you’ve got a recipe that works, and you can stick to it. What were you going to do?
Vaishali: A lot of things have been running through my mind since last night. I’ve not yet planned or confirmed anything. I think I will take a good rest and then plan forward.
Charlize van Zyl: Let’s speak a bit about this match. You’ve probably given it some thought, although maybe not too much yet. You told me in our previous interview that you could be the next World Champion because of your decisive game – you will do really well in the match because you’re able to come back. How do you see your chances against Ju Wenjun?
Vaishali: I’ve not played that many classical games against her. I got the chance to play in Norway in 2024 and 2025: there was a double round-robin, and we played four games, and then we had some Armageddon games. Three of the classical games ended in a draw, and I lost one. All those games were very interesting, and we also had some crazy Armageddon games. So yeah, some interesting games. Definitely, she’s one of the strongest women players, a five-time World Champion with a lot of experience. It’s going to be tough, but I think I have some time to improve. I’ll give my best to the work, and I’m looking forward to the match; I’m very excited!
Charlize van Zyl: What do you consider something that you would want to work on before that match?
Vaishali: I have to find a balance with my consistency, as my games can fluctuate a lot.
Charlize van Zyl: Have you considered a mental coach to deal with the pressure? It’s quite big in sports these days?
Vaishali: Yes, I’ve been working with a psychologist the past eight or nine months. She has helped me a lot and supported me.
Charlize van Zyl: Tell me about your relationship with chess. It’s your profession, you are playing all the time and I can see how passionate you are after wins and losses. Do you love the game outside of the professional side of it?
Vaishali: I love to work on chess more than anything, it makes me very happy. I think it’s when like I’m very happy working on chess. I can work for hours solving studies and solving positions. If I find an interesting idea, it that makes my day. Sometimes I want to share those ideas with people around me.
Charlize van Zyl: So working on chess you never find it boring or tedious?
Vaishali: Sometimes it’s quite exhausting because I don’t know when to stop and there are days when I go crazy but it also makes me very happy. I think that recently I have found the balance: to take a break and then get back the hunger for the game.
Charlize van Zyl: That sounds very healthy! So, right now you are the next challenger to play the world Championship match. There are so many young girls looking up at you, especially in India. What message would you send to them after this victory?
Vaishali: Just enjoy the game: there is more to it than the game itself. Play a lot of tournaments and enjoy the process.
Charlize van Zyl: Thank you very much for joining us. I can imagine you are going to have an amazing reception when you get back home: good luck with that! We shall see you at the match!
Vaishali: Thank you so much.
Photos: Michal Walusza, Yoav Nis and Niki Riga