Vaishali’s post‑win interview published after Candidates

Hours after winning the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates, R. Vaishali sat for a late-night video interview that walked through her games, preparation and mindset move by move. (youtube.com) Vaishali clinched the title on April 15 in Cyprus by beating Kateryna Lagno in Round 14, finishing on 8.5 points from 14 games. She entered the last round tied with Bibisara Assaubayeva on 7.5/13, then pulled clear when Assaubayeva drew Divya Deshmukh. (candidates2026.fide.com) (chessbase.in) The interview was published on April 16 by ChessBase India and had more than 8,000 views within about four hours. Its description said the conversation took place “late in the night” after Vaishali’s win and would cover her preparation, her team and all 14 games. (youtube.com) The Candidates is the event that selects the challenger for the world title match. FIDE’s tournament site says the 2026 edition ran from March 28 to April 16 in Cyprus, with eight players in the women’s field playing a 14-round double round-robin. (candidates2026.fide.com) That made the interview more than a victory lap: it arrived before the tournament had faded into recap and analysis. FIDE’s own coverage on April 15 said Vaishali’s win set up a Women’s World Championship match against reigning champion Ju Wenjun later in 2026. (fide.com) (candidates2026.fide.com) The result also extended India’s recent run at the top of world chess. ChessBase India’s round-14 report said Vaishali became the first Indian to win the Women’s Candidates and only the second Indian set to play a Women’s World Championship match. (chessbase.in) (theweek.in) FIDE’s video listings show Vaishali also gave shorter event interviews and a post-game press conference after the Lagno win. The ChessBase India upload stood out for length and timing, arriving the same night and promising a full reconstruction rather than a seven-minute reaction clip. (candidates2026.fide.com) (youtube.com) In chess coverage, that kind of immediate debrief is unusually useful because the player can still recall concrete calculations, opening choices and clock-pressure decisions from specific rounds. The video’s framing was explicit: preparation, mindset, team and a game-by-game review of how Vaishali won the tournament. (youtube.com) So the first detailed account of Vaishali’s Candidates run did not wait for a memoir or a magazine profile. It was online within hours of the winning handshake, while the final-round position against Lagno was still fresh. (youtube.com) (chessbase.in)