Harika Dronavalli is an Indian chess female Grandmaster, who started playing in her childhood and has played chess in more than 40 countries. She has won several chess tournaments and many awards.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Harika Dronavalli was born on Saturday, 12 January 1991 (age 32 years; as of 2023) in Gorantla, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India. Her zodiac sign is Capricorn. She did her schooling at Sri Venkateswara Bala Kuteer school in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. She started playing chess at the age of 7 years. Her parents were teaching chess to her elder sister; however, she gained an interest in the game of chess and decided to make a professional career in it.
Harika Dronavalli with her parents at the age of 9 years
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 9″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
Her father’s name is Ramesh Dronavalli, and her mother’s name is Swarna Dronavalli. Her father works as a deputy executive engineer at a Panchayat Raj subdivision in Mangalagiri. She has an elder sister named Anusha who is married to Telugu Films Director K. S. Ravindra, popularly known as Bobby.
Harika’s sister Anusha, Harika Dronavalli, Harika’s mother Swarna, Harika’s father Ramesh, Harika’s husband Karteek Chandra and Harika’s brother-in-law (Anusha’s husband) K.S. Ravindra (Bobby) (right to left)
Husband & Children
Harika got married to Hyderabad-based businessman Karteek Chandra on 19 August 2019. On 24 August 2022, the couple welcomed a daughter named Hanvika.
Harika Dronavalli with her husband, Karteek Chandra
Say Hello 🙋♀️ to our little princess Hanvika ❤️🧿✨ pic.twitter.com/ndk7GRw5j6
— Harika Dronavalli (@HarikaDronavali) September 8, 2022
Religion
She follows Hinduism.
Career
She has a vast career spanning almost 2 decades. She started training to play chess at the young age of 7 under N. V. S. Ramaraju; she played in an Under-9 national championship and won a medal. She won a medal in the under-10 championship in 2000. She has played in 9 chess olympiads and many national and international championships of Under-12, Under-14, Under-16 and Under-18 age groups. She has played in different Asian women chess championships and other competitions held all over the world. At the age of 13, she became the youngest Indian girl to become the part of Indian women chess team in the Olympiad. In 2003, she became the youngest Woman International Master (WIM) in Asian Continent. In 2004, she became the Youngest Woman Grandmaster in Asian Continent. In 2007, she became an International master (IM). On 23 July 2011, she became the second Grandmaster (GM) among Indian women chess players. [1]The Times of India She played chess tournaments even during the advanced stages of her pregnancy.
Medals
Gold
- 2002: Asian Under-12 Girls Chess Championship, Iran
- 2002: Asian U-18 Girls Chess Championship, Bikaner
- 2003: Member of Indian Team – Asian Women Team Chess Championship, Jodhpur – Individual Gold Medal on 4th Board
- 2004: World Youth Championship U-14 Girls, Greece
- 2004: Commonwealth U-18 Girls Chess Championship, Mumbai
- 2006: World Youth Championship U-18 Girls, Georgia
- 2006: Commonwealth Women Chess Championship, Mumbai
- 2007: Commonwealth Women Chess Championship, New Delhi
- 2007: Asian Zonal Women Chess Championship, Bangladesh
- 2007: Member of Indian Team – 2nd Asian Indoor Games, Macau – Rapid Chess Team
- 2007: Member of Indian Team – 2nd Asian Indoor Games, Macau – Rapid Chess Individual Women
- 2008: World Junior Girls Chess Championship, Turkey
- 2009: Captain of Indian Women’s Team – Asian Women Team Chess Championship, Kolkata – Individual Gold Medal on Top Board
- 2010: Commonwealth Women Chess Championship, New Delhi
- 2011: Asian Women Chess Championship, Iran
- 2014: Member of Indian Team – Asian Women Team Chess Championship, Iran – Individual Gold Medal on Top Board
- 2015: World Women’s Online Blitz Championship, Rome
- 2016: FIDE Women Grand Prix, Chengdu
- 2016: Member of Indian Team – Asian Women Team Chess Championship, UAE – Individual Gold medal in Rapid format
Silver
- 2000: World Youth Chess Championship U-10 Girls, Spain
- 2001: Asian Under-12 Girls Chess Championship, Bikaner
- 2002: World Youth Chess Championship U-12 Girls, Spain
- 2003: Asian Women Chess Championship, Calicut
- 2003: Commonwealth Women Chess Championship, Mumbai
- 2005: Asian Junior Girls Championship, Bikaner
- 2007: Member of Indian Team – 2nd Asian Indoor Games, Macau – Classical Chess Team
- 2007: Member of Indian Team – 2nd Asian Indoor Games, Macau – Blitz Chess Team
- 2008: Captain of Indian Women’s Team – Asian Women Team Chess Championship, Visakhapatnam – the team won the silver medal
- 2008: Captain of Indian Women’s Team – Asian Women Team Chess Championship, Visakhapatnam – Individual Silver Medal on Top Board
- 2009: Captain of Indian Women’s Team – Asian Women Team Chess Championship, Kolkata – the team won the silver medal
- 2009: Captain of Indian Women’s Team – Asian Women Team Chess Championship, Kolkata – Individual Silver Medal on Top Board
- 2011: Commonwealth Women Chess Championship, South Africa
- 2012: Member of Indian Team – World Women Team Chess Championship, Turkey – Individual Silver Medal in Second Board
- 2014: Member of Indian Team – Asian Women Team Chess Championship, Iran – Team won Silver medal in Standard format
- 2014: Member of Indian Team – Asian Women Team Chess Championship, Iran – Team won Silver medal in Rapid format
- 2015: Member of Indian Team – World Women Team Chess Championship, China – Individual Silver Medal in Second Board
- 2016: Member of Indian Team – Asian Women Team Chess Championship, UAE – Individual Silver Medal on Top Board in Classical format
- 2019: FIDE Grand Swiss tournament
It’s been an incredible couple of weeks playing the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament. Finished with a 23 point rating gain and the best women’s prize 🏆🥇of 9k USD. Feels good to be back in the World top 10 and looking forward to working even harder and carrying this form in future😄 pic.twitter.com/EcUdAk9jmO
— Harika Dronavalli (@HarikaDronavali) October 22, 2019
- 2021: FIDE Women’s World Team Championship, Spain
Bronze
- 2002: World Youth Chess Championship U-12 Girls, Greece
- 2003: Member of Indian Team – Asian Women Team Chess Championship, Jodhpur – Team won Bronze Medal
- 2004: Asian U-18 Girls Chess Championship, Iran
- 2007: 2nd Asian Indoor Games, Macau – Classical Chess Individual Women
- 2009: III Asian Indoor Games, Vietnam – Women Individual Rapid Chess
- 2009: III Asian Indoor Games, Vietnam – Member in Team Blitz Chess
- 2009: III Asian Indoor Games, Vietnam – Team Rapid Chess
- 2010: 16th Asian Games, Guangzhou, China – Women’s Individual Chess Category
- 2012: World Women’s Chess Championship, Khanty-Mansysk
- 2015: FIDE Women Grand Prix, Sharjah
- 2015: World Women’s Chess Championship, Sochi
- 2015: Asian Rapid Women Chess Championship, UAE
- 2016: Member of Indian Team – Asian Women Team Chess Championship, UAE – Team won Bronze Medal in Rapid format
- 2017: Women’s World Chess Championship, Tehran, Iran
- 2019: Belt and Road Shaoxing International Women’s Open
It was a slow start to the tournament, but glad to finish the tournament strong and secure a good prize of 15k usd and the Bronze medal 🥉 at the strong Belt and Road Shaoxing International Women’s Open. pic.twitter.com/WI7Hpb44fw
— Harika Dronavalli (@HarikaDronavali) July 18, 2019
- 2021: FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2021
- 2022: 44th Chess Olympiad, Mamallapuram, Chennai
Awards
- In 2007, she won the Arjuna Award given by the Government of India.
- On 3 April 2017, she won the Women Achiever Award given by the Telangana Sports Journalist Association.
Thank U Telangana Sports Journalist Association for Women Achiever Award. Received it from former National Badminton Champion Lakshmi Garu🙂 pic.twitter.com/jZZV8KeFoi
— Harika Dronavalli (@HarikaDronavali) April 3, 2017
- In 2017, she won the most popular Sportsperson of the Year award given by the Sakshi Media Group.
Thank you Sakshi Media Group @sakshinews for the most popular sport person of the year award 😊🙏 #beautiful #Homecoming pic.twitter.com/d71ix2tZXA
— Harika Dronavalli (@HarikaDronavali) May 19, 2017
- She won the Chess Player of the Year award given by The Times of India (TOISA Annual Awards) in 2016, 2017, and 2018.
Thank You #TOISA and @timesofindia, third one in a row😊🙏 pic.twitter.com/VzJvOYKkv4
— Harika Dronavalli (@HarikaDronavali) February 27, 2018
- She was awarded the Padma Shri award by the Government of India on 28 March 2019.
.@HarikaDronavali, who has won everything that needs to be won in Indian chess had applied for #padmashri in 2016 but her application was rejected. She did not give up and won the award in 2019. The 28-year-old tells her journey with @sid_vishy https://t.co/dPfSO7hTKa pic.twitter.com/yVZLOcR2zt
— News Nation (@NewsNationTV) March 28, 2019
- On 9 March 2021, she was awarded the FLO Influential Women Award (FIWA) by FICCI.
Thank you FICCI for honouring me with FIWA award among many other great achievers 🙂♟🥳✨ pic.twitter.com/TGtmoWlY9Y
— Harika Dronavalli (@HarikaDronavali) March 9, 2021
Facts/Trivia
- She is sponsored by the company Indian Oil.
Indian Oil has been extremely supportive over the last few years and I appreciate their contribution in my career🙏🏻😊 @IndianOilcl pic.twitter.com/DcugYkhKmM
— Harika Dronavalli (@HarikaDronavali) March 26, 2019
- She applied for the Padma Shri award in 2016; however, her application was rejected. She won it later in 2019.
- Her highest International ranking is 5. [2]Facebook – Harika
- Her chess idols are Vladimir Kramnik, Judit Polgar, and Viswanathan Anand. [3]Facebook – Harika
References
| ↑1 | The Times of India |
|---|---|
| ↑2, ↑3 | Facebook – Harika |
