RAMESH BABU Vaishali

Athlete

English

Her younger brother Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has played chess at elite level, and received the title of Grandmaster in 2018. (hindustantimes.com, 25 Oct 2019; ratings.fide.com, 11 Jul 2018)

She began playing chess at age seven. (hindustantimes.com, 25 Oct 2019)

She was enrolled in chess classes by her father because he wanted her to watch less television. "I used to watch a lot of cartoons when I was six years [old] or so. My parents wanted to wean me away from being glued to the television set and enrolled me in chess and drawing classes." (deccanherald.com, 22 Feb 2022; hindustantimes.com, 25 Oct 2019)

"One of the earliest things I learnt from [coach RB Ramesh] was: focus on the game and not play for results. Another important thing I learnt was to forgive ourselves like we forgive our friends. When we commit a silly mistake and lose a game, we find it tough to forgive ourselves. It was very different for me to hear these words from him. Since then, I always remember these words." (sportstar.thehindu.com, 10 Jul 2022)

She was part of the Indian team that was named Best Women's Team of the Year at the 2023 Asian Chess Excellence Awards. The award recognised the team's bronze medal at the 2022 Chess Olympiad. (chessbase.in, 03 Mar 2023)

In 2021 she received the title of International Master from the International Chess Federation [FIDE]. (ratings.fide.com, 27 Oct 2021)

In 2018 she received the title of Woman Grandmaster from FIDE. (ratings.fide.com, 27 Oct 2021)