Hyderabad’s Harika corners glory in Fide women’s speed chess
Playing the FIDE Chess.com Women's Speed Chess Championship from her Banjara Hills residence, Dronavalli Harika lost a close battle to China’s Hou Yifan 13-15 in the final
Hyderabad: Even as cricket queen Mithali Raj cornered all the glory in Worcester against England in the third and final women’s one-dayer when she became the highest run-getter in world, another Hyderabad girl, Dronavalli Harika dazzled in the chess circuit to add another feather to her glittering career. Playing the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship from her Banjara Hills residence, the 30-year-old lost a close battle to China’s Hou Yifan 13-15 in the final. Hou is a four-time women’s world champion and the winner of the 2017 Biel tournament.
Harika, who has an ELO rating of 2422, had entered the main event as a qualifier and made it all the way to the final. According to the Fide-chess, the final score was equal two games before the end, and Hou was the first to admit that it could have gone either way.
An important moment in the match was when Harika suffered some internet problems after the fifth move, and by the time she had reconnected and checked if everything was working (including her connection to Zoom), she was down to a minute and 21 seconds for the rest of the game, which she ended up losing.
Hou said at any point, it could have gone in another direction.”I feel I was just lucky to win this match,” she said.
But Harika was gracious in her defeat. “My opponent played much stronger. I tried to fight and fight until the end. Overall, I am not upset about my performance. I could have done better but it’s fine. It was an eventful journey as I reached the final through qualifiers,’’ she said.
Talking about her journey in this tournament, Harika knocked out GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, one of the big and strong players of the world, in her first match. The Hyderabad player won 14.5-12.5. In the quarterfinals, she toppled GM Anna Muzychuk with almost the same score. Muzcychuk was a world blitz champion.
In the semifinals, Harika eliminated current world champion and GM Kateryna Lagno. The match was decided in the third bullet game of the tiebreak as Harika won against the top seed.
Harika said although it is not classical chess it does give a good feeling that you could reach the final as she could beat strong players. “I enjoyed the tournament. The last time I played a big tournament was the online Olympiad in September last time where India won the gold,’’ she said.
According to Harika, online games are very unpredictable. “It is not about the strength of your game but one has to be focused and wait for your chances. Getting a silver in this tough competition is good. I won $12,000 that too from home. In this pandemic time it is one of my best tournaments.’’
Harika’s next big assignment is the World Cup to be held in Sochi (Russia) from July 12. “I do not have much expectation because I’m going to play a board game after one year or so. Since it is a knock-out tournament, it is unpredictable. I have to play the tournament with a mask. It will be a different challenge. I’m optimistic. I don’t want to stress myself. I want to enjoy classical chess. Right now it is important to get back to the classical chess mode,’’ said the three-time World Cup bronze medallist.
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