Before R Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali became the ‘Golden Chess Siblings’; their mother built the foundation: How Nagalakshmi nurtured two grandmasters

When R Praggnanandhaa became the first Indian to win the Norway Chess title, the world celebrated the young grandmaster’s brilliance. Certainly, his victory was a pride for India, but, behind the global stage he was standing at, there was his mother, Nagalakshmi, who spent years building the foundation for him. Praggnanandhaa and his sister, Vaishali, the ‘Golden Chess Siblings’ stepped into the world of chess at a very young age. Hailing from a simple middle-class family in Chennai, the path for the duo was never easy. When Praggnanandhaa and Vaishalu were young kids, they watched their father battle polio. However, their mother Nagalakshmi made sure that challenges never became a reason for her children to step away from their passion.