India’s “Pragg” & Vaishali Rameshbabu
by
John Bain
In 2024, 23-year-old sister Vaishali joined 19-year-old brother Praggnanandhaa “Pragg” as the world’s first ever brother-sister chess Grandmasters (GM)!
“Pragg” earned the GM title in 2018 at the age of 12 years, 10 months and 13 days old–at the the time he was the second-youngest person ever to achieve the GM rank. Russia’s Sergey Karjakin was the youngest, attaining the GM title at 12 years and 7 months old in 2002.
Trivia
Today, the youngest GM record is held by Abhimanyu “Abhi” Mishra, a child of Indian immigrants who was born in the USA on February 5, 2009. Abhi became a GM in 2021 at the age of 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days old, breaking Sergey Karjakin’s record by more than 2 months, which had stood since 2002!
Vaishali Rameshbabu
In December 2023 at the Llobregat Open Chess Tournament in Spain, Vaishali crossed the 2500 rating threshold. She fulfilled all of the requirements for the GM title and became the third woman and 84th person in India to do so.
On January 21, 2024, the India Chess Federation submitted a Grandmaster Title Application on behalf of Vaishali to the FIDE Qualification Committee.
That’s Not All!
Also First Brother-Sister
in
World Chess Candidates Tournaments
In 2024, Vaishali and her brother “Pragg” became the first ever siblings to compete in their respective Candidates Tournaments.
In the Candidates Tournaments, the Top 8 players in the world compete against each other for the opportunity to challenge the respective World Chess Champions for the title in a 12 game match.
2024 Women’s Candidates Tournament
Final Results
April 22, 2024
Vaishali Tied for 2nd!
Vaishali finished the 2024 Women’s Candidates Tournament tied for 2nd place with 7.5 points.
Trivia
Amazingly, Vaishali logged more wins (6) than any other player in Women’s Candidates Tournament!
“Pragg” Rameshbabu
World Chess Candidates Tournament
Final Results
April 22, 2024
Pragg finished the World Chess Candidates Tournament in 5th place with 7 points. He had 3 wins, 3 losses and 8 draws.
India’s “Pragg” & Vaishali Rameshbabu
Rankings & Ratings
Today, Vaishali (2506) is ranked the #11 strongest woman chess player in the world.
Women’s World Chess Ratings
August 2024
World Chess Open Ratings
August 2024
Pragg (2749) is ranked the #12 strongest chess player in the world.
Pragg is now rated & ranked higher than the current World Chess Champion, China’s Ding Liren (2745), who after an emotional collapse is ranked only the #15 strongest chess player in the world.
China’s Ding Liren is scheduled to defend his title in November-December 2024 against India’s Dommaraju Gukesh in Singapore. At 18 years old, Gukesh is the youngest Challenger in the history of chess.
The Family
Family when Pragg Earned his GM Title
Pragg (right) pictured in 2018 next to his mother, Nagalakshmi, along with father, Rameshbabu and sister Vaishali.
Vaishali was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu in India on June 21, 2001.
Pragg was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, in India on August 10, 2005.
Their father, Rameshbabu, works as a branch manager at Tamil Nadu State Apex Co-operative Bank, also known as TNSC Bank, an Indian cooperative banking company headquartered in Chennai.
Their mother, Nagalakshmi, is a homemaker. Over the years and to this day, Nagalakshmi makes all the arrangements for chess tournaments throughout the world for her children and travels with them.
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