For years, the chess world kept circling back to the same question: what’s it like being R Praggnanandhaa’s sister? Vaishali Rameshbabu answered it with grace every single time. But on April 15 in Cyprus, that narrative finally shifted, and the game is richer for it.

Vaishali, 24, had already earned her place among the elite by winning the FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss 2025. In Cyprus, she went a step further, clinching the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament 2026 with a composed final-round victory over Kateryna Lagno. Her score of 8.5/14 sets up a World Championship clash with Ju Wenjun and confirms her arrival at the very summit. The performance was controlled, clinical, and entirely her own.

At the post-game press conference, she called it “a dream come true!” “This win means a lot, especially for my family. They’ve been with me through everything.” Reflecting on a mid-tournament setback against Zhu Jiner, she added that she was proud to have stayed focused and delivered in the closing stretch. She also acknowledged her support system: “At my best I can fight with all these players equally — and thanks to my team, who believed in me even when I doubted myself.”

Also read: Vaishali wins FIDE Grand Swiss again, qualifies for Candidates

But the story stretches back to Chennai, 2013. A 12-year-old Vaishali sat across the board from World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in a simultaneous exhibition. Facing one of the greatest players in history, she was among only two participants to beat him that day—a spark that ignited a relentless pursuit of excellence.

That pursuit became a family legacy. It was Vaishali who first fell in love with chess—and who introduced a young Praggnanandhaa to the game. He would go on to become one of the sport’s brightest prodigies, while she was often framed in relation to him. For years, she lived in that shadow. Now, she has stepped out of it with authority.

Together, they have made history as the first brother-sister duo to both achieve the Grandmaster title. As Vaishali put it, it has been “a collective family effort over many years, with each of us playing a part.”

The Rameshbabu household now stands at the pinnacle of Indian women’s chess. The “Pragg’s sister” tag is no more. Today, she is the Candidates Champion, a Grandmaster—and, above all, Vaishali R.

By Joe Williams (With inputs from Rakesh Kulkarni, International Master and one of the keen observers of Indian chess)