Vaishali won the Girls'
World Youth Chess Championship for Under-12s in 2012 and Under-14s in 2015. In 2013, at age 12, she defeated future World Chess Champion
Magnus Carlsen in a
simul competition that Carlsen held while in her hometown of Chennai for the
World Chess Championship 2013. She won the
National Junior Girls Chess Championship (India) consequently in 2015 and 2016. In 2016, she received the
Woman International Master (WIM) title, and in October 2016, she was ranked second in India and World No.12 girl U16-player. At that time, she had an
Elo rating of 2300. She became a
Woman Grandmaster (WGM) by completing her final norm in the
Riga Technical University Open chess tournament in Riga, Latvia on 12 August 2018. Vaishali was the part of the gold medal-winning team at
Online Olympiad 2020, where India won its first ever medal. She received her
International Master (IM) title in 2021. In 2022, Vaishali won the 8th Fischer Memorial, scoring 7/9 and winning her second
Grandmaster norm. Vaishali was invited to participate in the FIDE Women's Speed Chess Championship 2022, where she defeated the Women's World Blitz Chess Champion
Bibisara Assaubayeva in the round of 16, and compatriot
Harika Dronavalli in the quarterfinals. Vaishali played on Board 3 in the Women's section at the
44th Chess Olympiad at Mamallapuram, Chennai, in July-Aug 2022. The India women's team won the team bronze medal, and Vaishali won individual bronze for board 3. Vaishali played in the
Tata Steel Challengers 2023, scoring 4.5/14 and beating two 2600-rated GMs,
Luis Paulo Supi and
Jerguš Pecháč. She finished twelfth in the standings overall. In the
Qatar Masters Open 2023, Vaishali received her final GM norm after finishing with 5/9 and a performance rating of 2609. She also won the top women's prize in the tournament, after finishing with better tiebreaks (performance rating) than compatriot
Divya Deshmukh. She and her younger brother Praggnanandhaa became the first sister-brother duo to qualify for the respective Candidates. On January 31, 2024, the India Chess Federation submitted a Grandmaster Title Application She and her brother
Praggnanandhaa are the first sister and brother to earn grandmaster titles, with Praggnanandhaa doing so in 2018. Vaishali was part of the Indian team that won the gold medal at the
45th Chess Olympiad in the
women's event. Vaishali won bronze medal in the
Women's World Blitz Chess Championship she finished 1st in the round robin section and was defeated in the semifinals by eventual winner
Ju Wenjun. Vaishali defended her Grand Swiss title at the
FIDE Women's Grand Swiss 2025 held in
Samarkand, Uzbekistan, scoring 8/11. Thus, she qualified for the
Women's Candidates Tournament 2026. Vaishali won the
FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 held in Cyprus, scoring 8.5/14 (+5−2=7). She will play in the
Women's World Championship 2026 against
Ju Wenjun. == Awards ==