If one was to mention the name Harika Dronavalli, chances are most of us would go Who? In incomprehension! After all, this is not a cricketer we’re talking about; it isn't even someone we think of as a real sportsperson… after all chess is all about brain, not brawn, right? Not quite. Here is why we should know about Harika Dronavalli:
She really wanted to go for gold this time and felt that this was her best chance yet to win gold. This time around however, it was the Chinese player with the nerves of steel; Tan Zhongyi who laid Harika low in semi final. It was a keenly fought match that went down to the tie-breaker.
Harika was able to get past players such as Dinara Saduakassova from Kazakhstan who holds the FIDE title of Woman Grandmaster, Sopiko Guramishvili from Georgia, and Nana Dzagnidze, also a chess grandmaster from Georgia.
The 26 year old from Andhra Pradesh has been a chess grandmaster since 2011 and a part of the national chess team since she was 13. This bronze medal was her third after her bronze winning performances in 2012 and 2015 previously. In 2008 she had won the World Junior Girls Chess Championship, when she was just 17 years old.
In 2007-08, she won the prestigious Arjuna Award. In 2016 she rose to World No 5 in the FIDE rankings. In 2010, she won bronze at the Asian Games.
Unfortunately, few of us know about Harika and her achievements and even fewer knew when she came home with a medal. There were no milling fans to welcome her back. This is chess after all; not cricket. In fact chess isn't really a ‘sport’, right?
If you think chess is all about the mind and not about a fit body, think again. Chess can be very stressful both physically and mentally and so requires very high levels of physical fitness. So to prepare for the World Championship, Harika not only practiced opening gambits, possible endgames and masses of tactical calculations, she also got physically fit for this tournament. Plus she had to practice playing with hijab; this being a compulsory requirement for this championship being held in Iran.
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