Vaishali, Pragg form first brother-sister GM duo in world

Chennai, December 2

Advertisement

Indian chess ace R Vaishali joined younger sibling R Praggnanandhaa to become the world’s first-ever brother-sister grandmasters duo and only the third woman from the country to earn the GM title at the IV El Llobregat Open in Spain.

Vaishali achieved the feat after crossing 2,500 ELO rating points on Friday. She is the country’s 84th GM.

The 22-year old crossed the 2,500-ponit mark at the tournament where she defeated Turkish FM Tamer Tarik Selbes in the second round.

She obtained her third GM norm at the Qatar Masters in October and needed to increase her ELO rating.

They also became the first-ever brother-sister duo to make the Candidates, the qualifying event for the World Championships. The Candidates will be held in Toronto in April.

Praggnanandhaa had got the GM title in 2018, when he was just 12.