Vaishali and Lagno win WR Women’s Chess Tour opener in Tokyo

According to organiser Wadim Rosenstein, the WR Women’s Chess Tour is modelled on the WTA tennis circuit. This global knockout series brings together the world’s best female chess players at major venues on four continents. In Tokyo, the games took place at the Tokyo Toranomon Edition Hotel. A livestream kept chess fans around the world informed via WR Chess’s English-language YouTube channel and, at the same time, via the Japanese Chess Federation’s Japanese-language YouTube channel.

Vaishali Rameshbabu and Kateryna Lagno win Asian leg

Vaishali Rameshbabu is in excellent form: after winning the Candidates Tournament in Cyprus in April and qualifying for the World Championship match against Ju Wenjun, Praggnanandhaa’s sister played her first tournament in Tokyo. It was the opening event of the WR Women’s Chess Tour, a global knockout series with five stops on four continents in 2026 and a total prize fund of 200,000 US dollars. Vaishali showed her consistency and won the rapid tournament. In the blitz tournament, Kateryna Lagno (FIDE) prevailed.

With these tournament victories, Vaishali and Lagno secured their tickets to the Grand Final in Stuttgart.

Vaishali in Tokyo | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Rapid (15+10)

The event was played as an eight-player knockout tournament. Vaishali defeated IM Irene Sukandar of Indonesia in the first round, i.e. the quarterfinal, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk of Switzerland in the semifinal, and finally Kazakhstan’s IM Alua Nurman in the final. Vaishali won every round by a score of 1½–½. The losing semifinalists, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Kateryna Lagno, shared third place.

Games

Blitz (3+2)

In the blitz, however, Vaishali’s run ended in the semifinal. She lost 0–3 to eventual winner Kateryna Lagno. Lagno had also beaten Japan’s Azumi Sakai 3–0 in round one. The final was then a dramatic affair: in the long-running duel between Lagno and Kosteniuk, the match went into overtime, and Lagno won the Armageddon game.

Besides in-depth theory and exciting tactical exercises in the Scotch Game, this video course also includes a bonus section on the Scotch Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Bc4), a lively variation often leading to very dynamic positions.

Kateryna Lagno is congratulated by her oppoent | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Games

Links

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