Vaishali becomes GM, joins Praggnanandhaa to form world's first brother-sister Grandmasters duo
Chennai, Dec 2: Indian chess ace R Vaishali joined younger sibling R Praggnanandhaa to become the world's first-ever brother-sister Grandmasters duo and only the third woman from the country to earn the GM title, at the IV El Llobregat Open in Spain.
Vaishali achieved the feat after crossing 2500 ELO rating points on Friday. She is the country's 84th GM.
The 22-year old Chennai-based Vaishali crossed the 2500 mark at the tournament in Spain where she defeated Turkish FM Tamer Tarik Selbes in the second round.
She obtained her third GM norm at the Qatar Masters tournament in October and needed to increase her ELO rating.
They also became the first-ever brother-sister duo to make the Candidates, the qualifying event for the World Championship match. The Candidates will be held in Toronto in April.
Her younger brother Praggnanandhaa had got the GM title in 2018, when he was just 12.
Koneru Humpy and D Harika are the two other women GMs from India.
Humpy was the world's youngest female player ever, when she became a GM in 2002, at the age of 15.
Chess legend Viswanathan Anand congratulated Vaishali on social networking platform 'X'.
"She worked very hard the last few months and this augurs well as she gets ready for the candidates. Her parents and just maybe the competition at home should be congratulated.
@Rameshchess & Aarthie for being her rock," Anand wrote.
Vaishali was introduced to chess by her father, Rameshbabu, who himself was a chess player.
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Shiv Sena (UBT) to go it alone in local bodies polls, says Sanjay Raut
Nagpur, Jan 11: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said his party will contest the upcoming elections to the various local bodies alone.
Talking to reporters, the Rajya Sabha MP said the INDIA bloc and Maha Vikas Aghadi alliances were for the Lok Sabha and assembly polls.
"In an alliance, workers of individual parties don't get opportunities, and it hampers organisational growth. We will contest polls to the Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur and other municipal corporations, zilla parishads and panchayats on our strength," he said.
He said party chief Uddhav Thackeray gave the party indications that it should go alone.
Hitting out at Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar for indulging in a blame game over the MVA's defeat in the state assembly, Raut said those who don't believe in consensus and compromise have no right to be in an alliance.
He further claimed that the INDIA bloc did not hold a single meeting after the Lok Sabha elections.
"We were not able to appoint even a convenor for INDIA bloc. It isn't good. As the largest party of the alliance, it was the Congress's responsibility to convene a meeting," the Sena (UBT) leader said.
Reacting to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's remark that he has never mentioned farm loan waivers in his speeches, Raut said, "Even if he hasn't spoken about it. Farm loan waiver and Rs 2,100 for Laadki Bahin beneficiaries are mentioned in the BJP's poll manifesto. These two promises have to be implemented. He is the finance minister in the BJP government, and he will have to do it."
To a query on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks during his first podcast that he is human and can make mistakes, Raut said, "He (Modi) is god. I don't consider him a human. God is god. If someone declares him an incarnation of god, how can he be a human? He is the 13th avatar of Vishnu. If someone who has been considered god says he is human, something is wrong. There is chemical 'locha'."
