Grandmaster R Vaishali has upset India's first Woman Grandmaster, Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman, by calling for the abolishment of gender-specific titles in chess.

Vaishali made her controversial comment in an interview with The Times of India. Echoing the views of chess legend Judit Polgar, Vaishali said titles such as Women International Master (WIM) and Women's Grandmaster (WGM) 'create a false sense of achievement'. Vaishali took bronze in the recent World Blitz Championship (Women) in New York.

Vijayalakshmi, the first woman player from India to hold both the International Master and WGM titles, expressed her disagreement on social media. The veteran said Vaishali's comments undermine the struggles of women chess players.

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R Vaishali (right) with her brother and fellow Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa. File photo: PTI
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"I saw your article yesterday Vaishali, and I was visibly distraught. As India’s first woman Grandmaster, I find it deeply unfair and hurtful that you would suggest abolishing these titles," Subbaraman posted.

"You mentioned these titles create a "false sense of achievement," yet they played a crucial role in your own rise to recognition. If you really believed they were so, I wonder: Why take them regardless of their low value? Erasing these titles would undermine the struggles we’ve faced. We deserve respect for our progress, not erasure."

Types of FIDE titles
FIDE, the world chess body, gives out titles in the open category and for women. Titles in chess reflect a player's level, and attaining them requires certain conditions to be met. Grandmaster (GM) title is the highest, followed by International Masters (IM).

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FIDE also gives out titles specifically to women, though female players may choose to only go for titles in the open category. The classic example is GM Judit Polgar, the greatest women's player of all time, who never took a women's title and was ranked as high as No. 8 in the world. The requirements for attaining women's titles are different; for example, the requisite Elo rating to earn a GM title is 2500, while to get a WGM title, the minimum Elo needed is 2300. (Elo points are a measure of a players relative skill level. For example, World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen has an Elo of 2831, while Indian GM Abhimanyu Puranik, ranked 100th, is 2636 points.

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GM Judit Polgar attends the 2016 World Chess Championship Match Opening Ceremony at The Plaza Hotel on November 10, 2016 in New York City. File photo: Gilbert Carrasquillo

Judit Polgar on 'women titles'
Polgar shared her views on women in the game during her appearance on 'New In Chess' podcast last August. ".... delete the woman titles. "Why do we have women titles? Why don't you have titles for 2000, for 22, for 23, for 24, for 25? Isn't it much better to have the rating titles and not that it's women or men?" Polgar said.

"It does not matter whether I play an open tournament or a women tournament. I'm aiming to get this title. This title belongs to my rating, not to the gender question. It's my strength. It's my knowledge. It's what I can peform, right? I think it would be knd of a first step, which could be an extremely simple."

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What Vaishali said?
"I completely agree with her (Polgar). Early in my career, I felt that titles like WIM and WGM can create a false sense of achievement. In the open category, these titles don't hold much value and can demotivate players from aiming for the GM title. These titles were initially introduced by FIDE to encourage women's participation, but we now have many girls actively playing chess. Removing these titles could inspire more women to compete directly for GM titles and test their strengths against male players."

Vaishali is the third Indian woman to attain the title of Grandmaster after Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika. The Tamil Nadu native is the elder sister of GM R Praggnanandhaa.

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