Harika Dronavalli qualifies for FIDE World Chess Championship Freestyle (Special Arrangement)
NEW DELHI: Indian women’s chess today tells two very different stories. In Cyprus, Vaishali Rameshbabu and Divya Deshmukh are locked in a fierce battle on the women’s singles, seeking the right to challenge the reigning world champion. Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away, another Indian star charted a very different path to stardom in the same 64-field game but a completely different format.Yes, he is Grand Master (GM) Harika Dronavalli.In a country where only four women have ever won the title of GM, 35-year-old Harika remains one of its most enduring stalwarts. As her compatriots prepare for the traditional grind of World Championship cycles, Harika has qualified for next year’s inaugural FIDE Women’s Freestyle World Chess Championship.
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Harika Dronavalli Exclusive: Inside Grenke’s #chess win, viral no-handshake incident and moreJust a week ago, at the buzzing Grenke Chess Festival in Karlsruhe, Germany, Harika secured the top prize for women in the Grenke Freestyle Open. In doing so, she became the first Indian woman to book a spot in a format that strips away the safety net of opening theory and leaves players with nothing but their raw intuition.‘It was my first freestyle tournament’Freestyle Chess, or Chess960, is a format where the starting position of the pieces is random. For players who have spent decades memorizing thousands of variations on the Ruy Lopez or the Sicilian defense, this is a terrifying prospect. However, Harika entered the arena with the Zen department.“It was amazing, especially since it was my first freestyle tournament,” Harika said in an exclusive interview with TimesofIndia.com. “I hadn’t watched it much before. I didn’t know anything about it. I went in with a blank mind that, okay, whatever comes, I have to take it because it’s something very new to me.” For many elite GMs, the lack of control over the opening can be paralyzing. But it wasn’t like that for Harika. “I wanted to do well. But at the same time, I didn’t even know if it was too much to want because I’d never played it. It was a sweet surprise that it went really well. Suddenly I see chess differently.”Eye-catching resultsThe Grenke Open soon became a brutal testing ground against some of the best minds in the world. Harika had a tournament win over American GM Awonder Liang and a high-quality draw against the legendary Levon Aronian, a man many consider one of the best in freestyle chess.“I haven’t played too many open tournaments since COVID and haven’t been able to play many of the extremely high-ranked players. It’s been a while,” Harika admitted. “So it’s a good reminder for me too and a good confidence booster. Like, you know, I could deal with them.”Defeating a 2700 ranked powerhouse like Liang and holding his own against Aronian served a dual purpose. “It felt like I was back to what I’ve always done. I had a baby during and after COVID. I kind of couldn’t play too many open tournaments. It took me back to the old days.”Unfiltered grindingHowever, the journey to Germany was full of uncertainties. Harica’s trip to Germany was a throwback to her youth as a solo traveler, complicated by shifting geopolitical tensions in the Middle East that recently caused flight cancellations across the region.“I booked a ticket a long time ago with Qatar Airways. I wasn’t sure if I would make it or what the situation was because flights were getting canceled and leaving,” she recalled. “I went the day before so that in case something went wrong, I would have enough time to somehow get to Germany. “I had to take the train from Frankfurt. I missed the times and then I had to find my way. The trains got late. It took about six to seven hours of midnight time to get to the place. I haven’t done these things lately. We’ve gotten used to a certain level of comfort where everything is set up.”Rather than being frustrated, Harika found joy in the chaos as she admitted with a smile, “I enjoyed it. It felt like I had done this many times before, but we just lost touch with it. It was fun to get into these situations. It reminded me of my childhood.”A festival of more than 3000 mindsThe Grenke Open is considered the largest open chess tournament in the world, boasting over 3,000 participants. The sheer scale of this event was sensory overload.“It brought me back to my World Youth Days. Back then we saw so many people playing around, so many boards. It was nice to see so many people and fans who love chess,” she said.Explaining how she was able to avoid all the noise coming from a large gathering during her games, she added: “Generally, once the game starts for me, I’m completely out of the zone. Nothing has changed for me on the board.”That ability to zone out was key, especially given that the tournament was to punish two games a day, a format Harika hadn’t touched in years.“It was not a planned gap. I like to play in the open section’Ever since Harika became a mother, tournament appearances have been more selective.With the 35-year-old playing her last Open tournament in 2024 in Sharjah, many assumed her withdrawal from the Open section (where men and women compete together) was a conscious strategic choice. Harika clarifies that it was a natural flow of life rather than a departure from an open circuit. “It wasn’t a planned gap. I like to play in the open section. It just kind of happened due to circumstances and situations. Maybe the preferences changed after I became a mother, but it wasn’t a conscious decision,” she told the website.However, success in Germany reignited that fire.“When I look back, I realize, ‘Oh, it’s been a while since I played the Open.’ I am always open to playing strong open tournaments. I really hope to get back to some of them this year,” she claimed.Solving the “Chess960” puzzle with HarikaTo the uninitiated, Freestyle Chess (Chess960) may seem like a different sport. With 960 possible starting positions, the turn 1 book is thrown out the window.On her first attempt, how did Harika come up with positions that baffled even seasoned experts? “I don’t think I have tips as such,” she laughed. “Finally, we have to understand that we are chess players. I’ve been playing chess professionally for 26 years. Somewhere subconsciously, even if I wasn’t sure of it, I was a chess player. I just kept playing moves on the chessboard. I just played moves on the chessboard.”It’s not as hard as we think. You have to focus on what you know best, your ideology, where to put the pieces, and go for it. I don’t know if it’s instinct or not, but my level of understanding tells me to do it. You have to believe it because you’ve worked for years.”Road to the World CupHarika now joins a formidable field for the inaugural FIDE Women’s Freestyle World Championship. She will stand alongside the likes of Bibisara Assaubayeva, Dinara Wagner and Alua Nurman as pioneers of this new era.“It’s nice that they’ve started doing it for women now,” Harika remarked. “Before, freestyle became very normal for men, but there were no special tournaments for women. We neglected this format. Now that the serious world championships are starting, it motivates us to focus on freestyle.”
