Out of R Praggnanandhaa's shadow, Vaishali 'akka' stands tall

CHENNAI: Late on Wednesday, just after R Vaishali won the Candidates after beating Kateryna Lagno in Cyprus, she calmly reset the pieces on the board and showed nothing, not even a flicker of emotion.But the moment she walked out of the playing hall and saw her mother Nagalakshmi and brother R Praggnanandhaa waiting there, a beaming smile broke across Vaishali’s face before the three embraced. Pictures of those real, raw emotions of Indian chess’ power sibling duo with their mother have been lighting up the internet.For someone who has been trying to ‘make her own place’ in the sport, that was very much her moment — being shared with her closest, innermost circle.A couple of years ago, talking to TOI , Vaishali had spoken of getting out of her illustrious brother’s shadow. “For many years, I’ve been living as Pragg’s sister. And I’m very proud of being his sister, but I also want my own name. Slowly, I think I’m making my own place as Vaishali. I’d like to be remembered as one of India’s greatest women chess players,” she had said.Chess brought them together long before it brought them here to the top.

Vaishali was the one who brought the board into the family, picking up the pieces at age four. Then Pragg took it up and took off, becoming a child marvel who captured the world’s attention. For a period, that pulled Vaishali back, forced to navigate her own path in the long shadow of a prodigy. But it never put a dent in what they had.Now, the 24-year-old from Chennai has well and truly stepped out of that shadow. The way she humbly walked in as the lowest-rated player in the Candidates field and then produced a phenomenal run to book a place in the World Championship match is perhaps extactly the kind of “own name” making stuff she was talking of.What makes Wednesday’s triumph surreal is that there was a possibility that Vaishali wouldn’t have even been at the Candidates. In a a poor run of form, she had considered skipping the FIDE Grand Swiss, the event where she would go on to defend her title and seal qualification.It was Pragg, her “support system” as she often calls him, along with Karthikeyan, fellow GM from Tamil Nadu and a good friend, who talked her off the ledge.

For all the inevitable comparisons, there has never really been a tussle for space between the two GM siblings; if anything, it has been about standing by each other and holding ground when it matters most.“After 1.5 points in 9 rounds in the Chennai Grand Masters, I decided not to play the Grand Swiss. I felt it was maybe getting too much. Pragg and Karthikeyan convinced me not to skip it,” Vaishali had told TOI after winning the FIDE Grand Swiss.In Cyprus, watching Vaishali’s bold approach unfold, Pragg was proud of his akka’s (older sister) commanding show. “Congrats to Vaishali akka! Proud of what you have achieved! Inspiring to see how you handled the critical moments in the tournament!” Pragg wrote on X.Their bond runs deeper than just tournament support. “They always talk chess at home, at the dinner table. And, they share a very strong bond. When one is down, the other picks them up, without fail,” father Rameshbabu had told TOI .The siblings, who made history in 2024 as the first brother-sister pair to compete in the Candidates, together stand as powerful forces in world chess. But for now, Vaishali is a name to remember in her own right, not just as Pragg’s sister.