Candidates Preview: Praggnanandhaa, Vaishali brace for cerebral warfare in Cyprus

R Praggnanandhaa’s idea was right but the execution was dubious. He played with urgency and aggression on his debut Candidates chess tournament two years ago, and though he got penalised for his overambition in the second round against fellow Indian and eventual champion D Gukesh, he did not play passively in the remaining of the tournament. An even-score in the last Candidates — beating Nijat Abasov twice and Vidit Gujrathi once — was not too bad a show.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Losing to Gukesh, Nakamura and Caruana must have been tough in Toronto. But Pragg, who held the world record of being the youngest ever International Master (IM) at 10 years, 10 months and 19 days in 2016, learnt his lesson. Pragg made the most of elite tournament invitations in classical chess last year. If winning at Wijk aan Zee was not enough, he made an Elo jump from 2741 to 2785 in seven months, spanning 55 games. But a Candidates spot clinched through the FIDE circuit also underlines his consistency. Pragg took up chess because of his elder sister Vaishali and soon escaped the gravitational force of sibling rivalry. They were of similar strength (aged 10 and 14) till March 2016 before younger Pragg zoomed ahead.Vaishali (Elo 2470) is women's world No. 18 now and Pragg is 12 . But at 2741, the boy is way stronger. Vaishali, whose peak rating was 2506, is largely playing women-only tournaments now. Despite the sketchy form, Vaishali's second successive FIDE Grand Swiss title indicates her resilience. Aided by proximity with Pragg, Ramesh and mentor V Anand, she is expected to have better ammunition than most of her rivals at the Candidates. Translating that on the board will be tough, though.Vaishali will need more luck than Pragg if she is to go all the way in the Candidates, and memories of the backrank checkmate she delivered to the last Candidates winner, Tan Zhongyi at the World Rapid late last year still linger.Zhu Jiner and Zhongyi, both from China, are better placed to win the 14-round tournament due to their higher strength and critical strike rate than Vaishali.Pragg will face a tough challenge from Nakamura, Caruana, Wei Yi and Sindarov. Pragg and Vaishali became the first ever siblings to qualify for the Candidates together in 2024. Now, they are seeking a reprise.Candidates info