Harika Dronavalli

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Harika Dronavalli
Harika Dronavalli (cropped).jpg
Dronavalli in 2016
Country India
Born (1991-01-12) 12 January 1991 (age 34)
Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India
Title Grandmaster (2011)
FIDE   rating 2467 (September 2025)
Peak rating 2543 (November 2016)

Harika Dronavalli (born 12 January 1991) is an Indian chess grandmaster. She was part of the gold winning women's team at the 45th Chess Olympiad in 2024. [1] She has won three bronze medals in the Women's World Chess Championship, in 2012, 2015 and 2017. Harika was honored with the Arjuna Award for the year 2007–08 by the government of India. [2] 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. In 2019, she was awarded the Padma Shri for her contributions towards the field of sports. [3]

Contents

Early life

Harika Dronavalli was born in a Telugu family to Ramesh and Swarna Dronavalli on 12 January 1991 in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. She attended Sri Venkateswara Bala Kuteer school. [4] Her father works as a deputy executive engineer at a Panchayat Raj subdivision in Mangalagiri. [5] She started playing chess at a very young age and won a medal in the under-9 national championship. She followed it up with a silver medal in the world youth chess championship for under-10 girls. She subsequently became a student of coach NVS Ramaraju who refined her game.

Personal life

She married Hyderabad-based Karteek Chandra in August 2018. [6] She gave birth to her first child on 24 August 2022 after having played at the 2022 Chess Olympiad, where the Indian women won the bronze medal, while in her ninth month of pregnancy. [7] Her elder sister, Anusha, married Telugu film director K. S. Ravindra. [8]

Achievements

Awards

Competitions

YearCompetitionLocationResult
2000World youth chess championship U-10 girlsSpainSilver medal
2001World youth chess championship U-12 girlsSpain
Asian under-12 girls chess championshipBikaner
2002Asian U-18 girls chess championshipBikanerGold medal
Asian under-12 girls chess championshipIran
World youth chess championship U-12 girlsGreeceBronze medal
2003Commonwealth women chess championshipMumbaiSilver medal
Asian women chess championshipCalicut
Asian women team chess championshipJodphurIndividual gold medal on fourth board
2004Commonwealth U-18 girls chess championshipMumbaiGold medal
Asian U-18 girls chess championshipIranBronze medal
World youth championship U-14 girlsGreeceGold medal
2005Asian junior girls championshipBikanerSilver medal
2006World youth championship U-18 girlsGeorgiaGold medal
Commonwealth women chess championshipMumbai
20072nd Asian indoor gamesMacauRapid chess individual women, gold medal
Classical chess individual women, bronze medal
Rapid chess team, gold medal
Classical chess team, silver medal
Blitz chess team, silver medal
Asian zonal women chess championshipBangladeshGold medal
Commonwealth women chess championshipNew Delhi
2008World junior girls chess championship [10] Turkey
Asian women team chess championship - CaptainVisakhapatnamTeam, silver medal
Individual silver medal on top board
2009Asian women team chess championship - CaptainKolkataTeam, silver medal
Individual gold medal on top board
III Asian Indoor GamesVietnamWomen individual rapid chess, bronze medal
Team blitz chess, bronze medal
Team rapid chess, bronze medal
2010Commonwealth women chess championshipNew DelhiGold medal
16th Asian Games - Women's individual chess categoryGuangzhouBronze medal
20112011 Women grandmaster chess tournament [11] HangzhouScored 5.5/9 securing her third GM norm, conferred by the 82nd FIDE Congress 2011 in Kraków [12]
Asian women chess championshipIranGold medal
Commonwealth women chess championshipSouth AfricaSilver medal
2012World women's chess championshipKhanty-MansyskBronze medal
Asian women team chess championshipChinaTeam, bronze medal
Women chess OlympiadTurkeyTeam, fourth place
World women team chess championshipTurkeyIndividual, silver medal
2014Asian Women Team Chess ChampionshipIranTeam standard format, silver medal
Individual gold medal
Team rapid format, silver medal
2015World women's online blitz championshipRomeGold medal
Asian rapid women chess championshipUAEBronze medal
World women team chess championshipChinaIndividual second board, silver medal
World women's chess championship [13] SochiBronze medal
FIDE Women Grand PrixSharjah
2016FIDE women grand prixKhanty MansiyskFifth
FIDE women grand prixChengduGold medal
Asian women team chess championshipUAEIndividual rapid format, gold medal
Individual classical format, silver medal

Team rapid format, bronze medal

2017Women's world chess championship [14] TehranBronze medal
2021FIDE women's world team championshipSilver medal
FIDE online chess Olympiad 2021OnlineBronze medal
2024 Women's event at the 45th Chess Olympiad [15] Won

National level achievements

References

  1. ↑ Burtasova, Anna (22 September 2024). "India triumphs at 45th Chess Olympiad, winning both Open and Women's competitions". www.fide.com. Archived from the original on 22 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  2. ↑ "Harika's parents on cloud nine". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  3. ↑ "Here is the complete list of Padma awardees 2019- The New Indian Express". Archived from the original on 26 January 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  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. ↑ "Harika Dronavalli's Wonderful Wedding". 30 August 2018.
  7. ↑ "Playing the Olympiad in 36th week of pregnancy - Harika Dronavalli". ChessBase India. 10 January 2023.
  8. ↑ Jain, Rupam (7 June 2015). "I am uncool, but I'm cool with that: Dronavalli Harika". The Times of India.
  9. ↑ Alter, Jamie (20 March 2017). "Mahindra Scorpio TOISA: Harika Dronavalli is Chess Player of the Year". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  10. ↑ Jon Speelman (29 August 2008). "Chess". The Independent. London, UK. p. 74.
  11. ↑ Administrator. "2011 Women Grandmaster Chess Tournament September 2011 China FIDE Chess Tournament report". ratings.fide.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  12. ↑ Administrator. "FIDE Title Applications (GM, IM, WGM, WIM, IA, FA, IO)". ratings.fide.com. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  13. ↑ Harold Dondis (4 April 2015). "Chess notes". The Boston Globe. Boston, USA. p. 3.
  14. ↑ Chris Chase (26 February 2017). "Chess notes". The Boston Globe. Boston, USA. p. 5.
  15. ↑ "'Winning the Chess Olympiad has put India on the map': Grandmasters Harika Dronavalli and Vidit Gujrathi at HTLS 2024". hindustantimes.com. 14 November 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Women's Asian Chess Champion
2011		Succeeded by
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