Like Brother, Like Sister

We have heard phrases such as: like father, like son and like mother, like daughter. Now like brother, like sister can be added to the list. R. Praggnanandhaa is widely considered to be India’s brightest chess talent since Viswanathan Anand, and is currently No. 13 in the FIDE rankings. For a long time, his elder sister R. Vaishali despite being a capable player herself was in the shadow of her brother and had to live with the tag ‘Pragg’s sister’.

Not any more. This month the 22-year-old Chennai-born became the third woman Grandmaster in the country, after Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika, and in the process she and Pragg became the first ever brother sister duo to be GMs in the world.

“I am very proud of being Pragg’s sister. He has always pushed me and motivated me a lot. But I always wanted my own name and I would like to be remembered as one of India’s finest women chess players,’’ Vaishali said earlier this month, making her intentions clear on making a name for herself on the international stage.

Vaishali achieved her first GM norm in 2019 and took three years to win her second norm in 2022. Her third norm came about in the Qatar Open in October this year. And this month with two consecutive victories in a FIDE rated tournament in Spain she went past the 2500-mark Elo rating to reach the milestone that only two other Indian women players had reached before her.

Vaishali’s coach R.B. Ramesh who has played a vital role in her career hailed her achievement. “Vaishali’s ambition for many years was to become a GM and it has happened now. Having qualified for the Candidates, winning the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament ahead of many strong players and now this, she is obviously in very good form and can go further,’’ Ramesh said.

Vaishali broke India’s 12-year wait to find its third woman GM since Harika joined Humpy in 2011. She is also India’s 84th GM, is currently ranked world No. 11 in the FIDE women’s ranking and is India’s No 2. player after Humpy. She says that both Humpy and Harika have been an inspiration for her. “In the last few years I am getting to speak with them and learn,’’ Vaishali said.

But no less an inspiration has been her brother. “Pragg was the one who put the Candidates qualification thought into my head. He made me believe in my game and that I am strong enough to do so. He has been my biggest inspiration”, Vaishali added.

Another person who has had a vast influence on her has obviously been Viswanathan Anand. “I am part of Anand sir’s academy and it has been a great learning experience for me. I had messaged Anand sir once the GM title was confirmed and he congratulated me and it was very special. Thanks to Anand sir for inspiring so many of us over so many decades,’’ she said.

Vaishali was the part of the gold medal-winning team at the Online Olympiad in 2020 where India won its first ever medal. Representing India in the 44th Chess Olympiad at Mamallapuram, near Chennai, in July-August 2022 she played a notable role in the Indian women’s team winning the bronze medal while also winning the individual bronze.

Initially Vaishali’s progress was steady but in the last couple of years it has been nothing short of spectacular. And this year she has made rapid strides culminating in her GM title. First she played in the Tata Steel Challengers scoring 4.5/14 in a formidable field and beating two 2600 rated GMs, Luis Paulo Supi and Jergus Pechac.

She finished 12th in the standings overall. Then in the Qatar Masters Open she received her final GM norm after finishing with 5/9 and a performance rating of 2609. She also won the top women's prize in the tournament, after finishing with better tiebreaks than compatriot Divya Deshmukh.

Vaishali qualified for the Candidates tournament, the qualifying event for the World chess title match, by winning the Grand Swiss tournament in the Isle of Man. She did not lose a single game and scored 8.5/11. She will travel to Toronto next April for that prestigious event. She and Praggnanandhaa are the first sister-brother duo ever to qualify for the respective Candidates.

Her interest in chess was triggered at a very young age by her father Rameshbabu, an entusiastic player himself. He works at the TNSC Bank in Chennai as a branch manager while her mother Nagalakshmi is a homemaker.

Vaishali hopes her achievement becomes a starting point and there will be many girls who will be competing for the GM title in the coming years. "I hope I can motivate many to choose chess as a sport’’ Vaishali said. She has also completed her B Com degree, and is currently pursuing a masters in HR Management from a college in Chennai.