R Vaishali drew her last-round game against Mongolia’s Batkhuyag Munguntuul to win FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss 2023 at the Isle of Man in UK last night. Vidit Gujrathi beat Alexandr Predke of Serbia to record his seventh victory in the event and take the top spot in open section. 

• Both players also qualified for the prestigious Candidates tournament to be played in April next year in Canada. Both Vaishali and Vidit ended with identical 8.5 points apiece and stayed a half point clear of nearest rivals.
• While Vaishali got richer by over 20 lakh rupees, Vidit took home a whopping prize purse of over 66 lakh rupees.
• Vaishali became the first Indian to win the Grand Swiss and will have her task cut out in the Candidates alongside India’s first woman Grandmaster - Koneru Humpy. Humpy is likely to qualify by virtue of her high rating but the decision will be known only in January 2024.