A 22-year-old girl and her brother have become the world’s first-ever pair of siblings to earn the grandmaster title for playing chess.
Young Vaishali Rameshbabu became the third female grandmaster from India after she crossed the 2500 FIDE ratings to earn the grandmaster title at the IV El Llobregat Open in Spain on 1st December.
The chess ace defeated Turkish FM Tamer Tarik Selbes in the second round and surpassed the rating threshold after starting the tournament with two consecutive wins.
Excited Vaishali told local media: “I am very happy to have finally earned the title. It’s just two rounds. I am also focusing on the tournament.
“But I am really happy with the GM title.
“I’ve finally achieved a goal of mine since I started playing chess. I was so close to it, so I was really excited, but there was some pressure as well.
“My game was not so good in the middle, but somehow, I managed to win.”
Vaishali and her younger brother, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, made history by becoming the first-ever pair of Grandmaster siblings. They are also the first brother-sister duo to qualify among the hopeful candidates for the World Championship.
Praggnanandhaa earned the GM title in 2018, when he was just 12.
The other two female Indian GMs are Koneru Humpy and D Harika. Humpy was the world’s youngest female player ever, when she became a GM in 2002, at the age of 15.
Vaishali was introduced to chess by her father, Rameshbabu, who was also passionate about the game.
He recognised the girl’s potential and enrolled her in chess coaching at the age of five. Vaishali swiftly advanced, securing victories in various state and national-level tournaments within her age group.
A crucial step in Vaishali and Pragg’s chess journey was their training under Grandmaster RB Ramesh. The siblings were sent to Chennai’s Bloom Chess Academy at an early age and have only continued to excel.
Ramesh told local media: “Both of them were already practising six to eight hours a day back when I started working with them.
“They were very hardworking, not to mention ambitious.”
