India · 2026-10-11 · 2 min read

Pragg and Vaishali: Grandmaster brother and sister from Chennai

Two siblings who made chess history together.

R Praggnanandhaa (Pragg) and his older sister R Vaishali grew up in Chennai. Their parents first enrolled them in chess classes to keep them away from too much TV, and both fell in love with the game.

Pragg became a Grandmaster in 2018 at 12 years and 10 months, one of the youngest in history. In 2023 he reached the final of the FIDE World Cup in Baku, where he lost to Magnus Carlsen.

Vaishali became a Grandmaster in 2023. Together they are the first brother and sister to both hold the Grandmaster title.

Their story shows what a supportive family, good coaches and plenty of daily practice can do.

You can step through Pragg’s and other masters’ games in our database of 5.4 million games.