Harika Dronavalli

Harika Dronavalli (born 12 January 1991) is an Indian chess grandmaster. She has won three bronze medals in the Women's World Chess Championship, in 2012, 2015 and 2017. Dronavalli was honored with the Arjuna Award for the year 2007–08 by the government of India.[1] In 2016, she won the FIDE Women's Grand Prix event at Chengdu, China and rose up from world no. 11 to world no. 5 in FIDE women's ranking. Vladimir Kramnik, Judit Polgar and Viswanathan Anand are her chess inspirations.[2] In 2019, she was awarded the Padma Shri for her contributions towards the field of sports.[3]

The native form of this personal name is Dronavalli Harika. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Harika Dronavalli
Full name	Dronavalli Harika
Country	India
Born	(1991-01-12) 12 January 1991 Gorantla, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India
Title	Grandmaster (2011)
FIDE rating	2515 (August 2020)
Peak rating	2543 (November 2016)

Harika Dronavalli

Medal record
Representing  India
Women's World Chess Championship
	2015 Sochi	Individual
Asian Games
	2010 Guangzhou	Women's Individual

Early life

Dronavalli was born to Mr. Ramesh and Mrs. Swarna Dronavalli on 12 January 1991 in Guntur where she attended Sri Venkateswara Bala Kuteer[4] Her father, Ramesh, works as a deputy executive engineer at a Panchayat Raj subdivision in Mangalagiri.[5] She took keen interest in chess at a very small age. She won a medal in under-9 national championship. She followed it up with a silver medal in world youth chess championship for under-10 girls. That's when she approached her coach NVS Ramaraju, who refined her game. She became the second Indian woman to become a grandmaster, after Humpy Koneru.

She married in August 2018.[6]

Achievements

2019

• Awarded Padma Sri on 26 January on Republic Day.

2017

• Bronze Medal at the Women's World Chess Championship, 10 February – 4 March, Tehran, Iran.[7][8]

2016

• FIDE Women Grand Prix, Khanty Mansiysk - 5th position
• FIDE Women Grand Prix, Chengdu - Gold Medal.
• Asian Women Team Chess Championship, UAE - Member Indian Team
  • Individual Gold medal in Rapid format.
  • Individual Silver Medal on Top Board in Classical format.
  • Team won Bronze Medal in Rapid format.

2015

• World Women's Online Blitz Championship, Rome - Gold Medal.
• Asian Rapid Women Chess Championship, UAE - Bronze Medal.
• World Women Team Chess Championship, China - Member Indian Team
  • Individual Silver Medal in Second Board
  • Team stood 4th place.
• World Women's Chess Championship, Sochi - Bronze Medal.
• FIDE Women Grand Prix, Sharjah - Bronze Medal.

2014

• Asian Women Team Chess Championship, Iran - Member Indian Team
  • Team won Silver medal in Standard format
  • Individual Gold Medal on Top Board
  • Team won Silver medal in Rapid format
  • Team won Gold medal in Blitz format

2012

• World Women's Chess Championship, Khanty-Mansysk - Bronze Medal.
• Asian Women Team Chess Championship, China - Member Indian Team
  • Team won Bronze Medal
• Women Chess Olympiad, Turkey - Member Indian Team
  • Team got 4th place (best result in Indian Women Chess History.)
• World Women Team Chess Championship, Turkey, - Member Indian Team
  • Individual Silver Medal in Second Board
  • Team stood 4th place.

2011

• 2011 Women Grandmaster Chess Tournament, Hangzhou, China[9] - scored 5.5/9 and secured her third GM norm (The GM title was conferred by the FIDE Congress 2011[10] 82nd in Kraków, Poland in October.)
• Asian Women Chess Championship, Iran - Gold Medal.
• Commonwealth Women Chess Championship, South Africa - Silver Medal.
• Men Grand Master Title - Second Woman to Become Men Grand Master in India.

2010

• Commonwealth Women Chess Championship, New Delhi - Gold Medal.
• 16th Asian Games, Women's Individual Chess Category, Guangzhou China - Bronze Medal.

2009

• Asian Women Team Chess Championship, Kolkata - Captain Indian Women's Team
  • Team won Silver Medal
  • Individual Gold Medal on Top Board.
• III Asian Indoor Games, Vietnam
  • Women Individual Rapid Chess - Bronze Medal.
  • Member in Team Blitz Chess - Bronze Medal.
  • Team Rapid Chess - Bronze Medal.

2008

• World Junior Girls Chess Championship, Turkeym - Gold Medal.
• Asian Women Team Chess Championship, Visakhapatnam - Captain Indian Team
  • Team won Silver Medal
  • Individual Silver Medal on Top Board.

2007

• Men International Master
• 2nd Asian Indoor Games, Macau
  • Rapid Chess Individual Women - Gold Medal.
  • Classical Chess Individual Women - Bronze Medal.
• 2nd Asian Indoor Games, Macau - Member Team India
  • Rapid Chess Team - Gold Medal.
  • Classical Chess Team - Silver Medal.
  • Blitz Chess Team - Silver Medal.
• Asian Zonal Women Chess Championship, Bangladesh - Gold Medal.
• Commonwealth Women Chess Championship, New Delhi - Gold Medal.

2006

• World Youth Championship U-18 Girls, Georgia - Gold Medal.
• Commonwealth Women Chess Championship, Mumbai - Gold Medal.

2005

• Asian Junior Girls Championship, Bikaner - Silver Medal.

2004

• Women Grand Master Title - Youngest Women Grand Master in Asian Continent.
• Commonwealth U-18 Girls Chess Championship, Mumbai - Gold Medal.
• Asian U-18 Girls Chess Championship, Iran - Bronze Medal.
• World Youth Championship U-14 Girls, Greece - Gold Medal.

2003

• Commonwealth Women Chess Championship, Mumbai - Silver Medal.
• Asian Women Chess Championship, Calicut - Silver Medal.
• Women International Master Title - Youngest Women International Master in Asian Continent.
• Asian Women Team Chess Championship, Jodhpur -Member Indian Team
  • Team won Bronze Medal.
  • Individual Gold Medal on 4th Board.

2002

• Asian U-18 Girls Chess Championship, Bikaner - Gold Medal.
• Asian Under-12 Girls Chess Championship, Iran - Gold Medal.
• World Youth Chess Championship U-12 Girls, Greece - Bronze Medal.

2001

• World Youth Chess Championship U-12 Girls, Spain - Silver Medal
• Asian Under-12 Girls Chess Championship, Bikaner - Silver Medal

2000

• World Youth Chess Championship U-10 Girls, Spain - Silver Medal

National Level Achievements

• 2009 - National Women Chess Championship, Chennai - Gold Medal.
• Won 16 Medals in National Level Tournaments including Women 'A' Championship, Women 'B' Championship, National Junior Girls and Sub-Junior Girls Titles during these 16 years.

Other Achievements

• Chess Player of the Year - 2016 and 2017 by The Times of India (TOISA Annual Awards)
• Featured by Verve magazine in 2017 amongst the top 40 popular women sportspersons of the year[11]

References

1. "Harika's parents on cloud nine". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
2. PowerPlayChess (14 August 2014). "Olympiad Tromsø 2014 - A quick chat with Harika Dronavalli" – via YouTube.
3. Here is the complete list of Padma awardees 2019- The New Indian Express
4. Subrahmanyam, V. V. (3 August 2011). "Calculated moves". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
5. "Harika's parents on cloud nine". The Hindu. 6 August 2008. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
6. https://www.chess.com/news/view/harika-dronavallis-wonderful-wedding
7. Administrator. "Harika, Dronavalli FIDE Chess Profile - Players Arbiters Trainers". ratings.fide.com. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
8. "World Women's Chess Championship: Harika Dronavalli won bronze and shockingly, India didn't even cheer". Firstpost. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
9. Administrator. "2011 Women Grandmaster Chess Tournament September 2011 China FIDE Chess Tournament report". ratings.fide.com.
10. Administrator. "FIDE Title Applications (GM, IM, WGM, WIM, IA, FA, IO)". ratings.fide.com.
11. Alter, Jamie (20 March 2017). "Mahindra Scorpio TOISA: Harika Dronavalli is Chess Player of the Year". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 August 2017.

External links

Media related to Harika Dronavalli at Wikimedia Commons

• "Dronavalli, Harika". Chess Database. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
• "FIDE Chess Profile Harika Dronavalli". World Chess Federation. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
• Interview of Dronavalli Harika at Women's World Chess Championship 2010.
• Interview of Dronavalli Harika by Frederic Friedel, June 2015.