R.B. Ramesh, the coach of the brother-sister Grand Master (GM) duo R. Praggnanandhaa and R. Vaishali, on Wednesday said that Vaishali is greatly self-aware and self-confident now.
“When we started working, probably ten years ago, Pragg was not the better player among the two. Vaishali was probably, 300 or 400 points above Pragg. Then, he started overtaking Vaishali in terms of performance and rating.
“This had some kind of a negative impact on Vaishali. Because, earlier it was Pragg who was known as Vaishali’s brother, but now Vaishali was known as Pragg’s sister. It was a bit tough on her. And we used to have discussions on this.
“Now, she has outgrown these inhibitions. She’s feeling more secure with her own identity and performance. I think that’s the big positive. She’s believing more in herself.
“She was stuck around the 2430 level (rating points) for some time. And it looked like a steep climb towards 2500, but she got it in a span of a few months. So, that’s a very positive sign, because it shows she has found what works for her. Otherwise, a 70-point gain at this level is not easy,” he said at the Chennai Grand Masters Chess Championship.
He also spoke of Praggnanandhaa’s improvement as a chess player.
“After he became a GM, he improved a lot in openings. And that propped him from 2500 to, like, 2675 level. So, it took around two to three years to build a very comprehensive repertoire. That means you have to process a lot of information, understand those; and remember which among those are difficult. But in his case, he has a fantastic memory.
“And his defensive qualities have improved a lot. He probably has one of the best defensive games now. Maybe, the top three (in the World). Now, I feel he is more or less a complete player who has a lot of strengths, and we just have to make those strengths even stronger.”
