BUDAPEST: Over the last few months, R Vaishali has spent a lot of time thinking about Ju Wenjun. At some level, she may even start to think like the Chinese, the person she will face in the women's World Championship next year. The 25-year-old, who is in the city to take part in the pilot edition of the Total Chess World Championship, gave a sneak peek into her preparation for that match, why she is going to treat this inaugural event as preparation and the prospect of facing men over the board for the next 10 days. She also smiled when asked if R Praggnanandhaa, her sibling, would be part of her team for the match against Wenjun. Excerpts:
How is prepping for the World Championships different compared to the Candidates?
You are thinking about one player every day. At the Candidates, it's obviously different because you are going to face seven players in a double round-robin. It's also going to be my first World Championships so I'm also learning a lot of new things in the process. Maybe, we will get to know (have you started to think like Wenjun?). But I'm enjoying this process of preparing for the match.
In terms of hours, is it longer or is it more intensive?
End of the day, you have to be in good shape during tournaments. Even if you do some 12-13 hours (in a day), if your brain is not working well, there's no point in putting in a lot of hours. For me, sleep is something that is very important.
What does a typical Vaishali day look like with all the preparation?
At this point, not so much (spending a lot of time on the World Championships). Maybe once we get closer to the match... but now, I have other tournaments to prepare for, so I have to think about other things.
Have you started your training camps and can you give some details about your team?
I'm preparing for the best version of myself to be in the match. I'm constantly working on trying to improve my game. Of course, I'm continuing to work with the psychologist. She has been working with me but I will keep the name with me for the time being. Let's say I have a team (smiles).
Will you be forgetting about that match against Wenjun over the next 10 days?
For me, I'm seeing this tournament also as training preparation for the World Championship. I'm going to be playing a lot of strong players in the world. It's going to be a big challenge every day. And I want to play my best chess here and take it as preparation.
On playing men in terms of testing yourself?
Over the last few years, I have been playing a lot of Grand Prix events. So I could not play a lot of open events compared to when I was chasing GM norms, for example. But I have played many games against most of them (men). Playing in open tournaments will definitely push you to the limit. Even if you get into winning positions, you are tested till the last and you won't get points easily. These players here are super strong, and it will help you improve faster.
