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Harika Dronavalli

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

Harika Dronavalli
CountryIndia
Born (1991-01-12) 12 January 1991 (age 34)
Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India
TitleGrandmaster (2011)
FIDE rating2483 (June 2025)
Peak rating2543 (November 2016)

Harika Dronavalli (born 12 January 1991) is an Indian chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). 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]

Early life

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Harika was born to Ramesh and Swarna Dronavalli on 12 January 1991 in Guntur where 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

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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

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Awards

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  • 2003: Woman International Master (WIM) title - youngest woman international master, Asian continent
  • 2004: Woman Grandmaster (WGM) Title - youngest woman grandmaster, Asian continent
  • 2007: Men international master
  • 2011: Grandmaster (GM) title - Second woman to become Grandmaster in India
  • 2016 and 2017: Chess Player of the Year by The Times of India (TOISA Annual Awards)[9]
  • 2017: Featured by Verve magazine in the top 40 popular women sportspersons of the year
  • 2019: Awarded Padma Sri on 26 January (Republic Day)

Competitions

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Year Competition Location Result
2000 World youth chess championship U-10 girls Spain Silver medal
2001 World youth chess championship U-12 girls Spain
Asian under-12 girls chess championship Bikaner
2002 Asian U-18 girls chess championship Bikaner Gold medal
Asian under-12 girls chess championship Iran
World youth chess championship U-12 girls Greece Bronze medal
2003 Commonwealth women chess championship Mumbai Silver medal
Asian women chess championship Calicut
Asian women team chess championship Jodphur Individual gold medal on fourth board
2004 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
2005 Asian junior girls championship Bikaner Silver medal
2006 World youth championship U-18 girls Georgia Gold medal
Commonwealth women chess championship Mumbai
2007 2nd Asian indoor games Macau Rapid 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 championship Bangladesh Gold medal
Commonwealth women chess championship New Delhi
2008 World junior girls chess championship[10] Turkey
Asian women team chess championship - Captain Visakhapatnam Team, silver medal
Individual silver medal on top board
2009 Asian women team chess championship - Captain Kolkata Team, silver medal
Individual gold medal on top board
III Asian Indoor Games Vietnam Women individual rapid chess, bronze medal
Team blitz chess, bronze medal
Team rapid chess, bronze medal
2010 Commonwealth women chess championship New Delhi Gold medal
16th Asian Games - Women's individual chess category Guangzhou Bronze medal
2011 2011 Women grandmaster chess tournament[11] Hangzhou Scored 5.5/9 securing her third GM norm, conferred by the 82nd FIDE Congress 2011 in Kraków[12]
Asian women chess championship Iran Gold medal
Commonwealth women chess championship South Africa Silver medal
2012 World women's chess championship Khanty-Mansysk Bronze medal
Asian women team chess championship China Team, bronze medal
Women chess Olympiad Turkey Team, fourth place
World women team chess championship Turkey Individual, silver medal
2014 Asian Women Team Chess Championship Iran Team standard format, silver medal
Individual gold medal
Team rapid format, silver medal
2015 World women's online blitz championship Rome Gold medal
Asian rapid women chess championship UAE Bronze medal
World women team chess championship China Individual second board, silver medal
World women's chess championship[13] Sochi Bronze medal
FIDE Women Grand Prix Sharjah
2016 FIDE women grand prix Khanty Mansiysk Fifth
FIDE women grand prix Chengdu Gold medal
Asian women team chess championship UAE Individual rapid format, gold medal
Individual classical format, silver medal

Team rapid format, bronze medal

2017 Women's world chess championship[14] Tehran Bronze medal
2021 FIDE women's world team championship Silver medal
FIDE online chess Olympiad 2021 Online Bronze medal
2024 Women's event at the 45th Chess Olympiad[15] Won

National level achievements

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  • 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.

References

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  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.
  12. ^ Administrator. "FIDE Title Applications (GM, IM, WGM, WIM, IA, FA, IO)". ratings.fide.com.
  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.
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Media related to Harika Dronavalli at Wikimedia Commons

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Women's Asian Chess Champion
2011 		Succeeded by
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