It was a memorable day for siblings R. Praggnanandhaa and R. Vaishali in the Xtracon Open chess championship on Sunday.
Praggnanandhaa, with 8.5 points from 10 rounds, clinched the open title while Vaishali got her first GM-norm and second IM-norm. Vaishali, with 7.5 points, finished 15th.
This is the 13-year-old Praggnanandhaa’s first major crown after becoming a Grandmaster in June last year.
The 18-year-old Vaishali, speaking from Copenhagen, was ecstatic.
“We had some good moments in the tournament earlier. We bagged the World youth title in Greece in 2015 (I won the u-14 category and he won u-10). Last year, in the Gredine Open in Ortisei (Italy), he got his final GM-norm and I received my second WGM norm. This (Xtracon Open) is a big victory for him as it is a strong tournament,” said Vaishali.
