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. 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. 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.
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. Her father works as a deputy executive engineer at a Panchayat Raj subdivision in Mangalagiri. 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. 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.
Achievements Awards 2003: Woman International Master (WIM) title - youngest woman international master, Asian continent 2004: Woman Grandmaster (WGM) Title - youngest woman grandmaster, Asian continent 2007: International Master (IM) title 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) 2017: Featured by Verve magazine as one of the top 40 popular women sportspersons of the year 2019: Awarded Padma Shri on 26 January (Republic Day)
Competitions YearCompetitionLocationResult2000World youth chess championship U-10 girlsOropesa del Mar, SpainSilver medal2001World youth chess championship U-12 girlsSpainAsian under-12 girls chess championshipBikaner2002Asian U-18 girls Chess ChampionshipBikanerGold medalAsian under-12 girls chess championshipIranWorld youth chess championship U-12 girlsGreeceBronze medal2003Commonwealth Chess ChampionshipMumbaiSilver medalAsian Women's Chess ChampionshipCalicutAsian Women's Team Chess ChampionshipJodhpur Individual gold medal on fourth board2004Commonwealth U-18 girls chess championshipMumbaiGold medalAsian U-18 girls chess championshipIranBronze medalWorld youth championship U-14 girlsGreeceGold medal2005Asian junior girls championshipBikanerSilver medal2006World youth championship U-18 girlsBatumiGold medalCommonwealth Women's Chess ChampionshipMumbai20072nd Asian indoor gamesMacauRapid chess individual women, gold medalClassical chess individual women, bronze medalRapid chess team, gold medalClassical chess team, silver medalBlitz chess team, silver medalAsian zonal women chess championshipBangladeshGold medalCommonwealth Women's Chess ChampionshipNew Delhi2008World junior girls chess championshipTurkeyAsian women team chess championship - CaptainVisakhapatnamTeam, silver medalIndividual silver medal on top board2009Asian women team chess championship - CaptainKolkataTeam, silver medal Individual gold medal on top board3rd Asian Indoor GamesVietnamWomen individual rapid chess, bronze medalTeam blitz chess, bronze medalTeam rapid chess, bronze medal2010Commonwealth Women's Chess ChampionshipNew DelhiGold medal16th Asian Games - Women's individualGuangzhouBronze medal20112011 Women grandmaster chess tournamentHangzhouScored 5.5/9 securing her third GM norm, conferred by the 82nd FIDE Congress 2011 in KrakówAsian Women's Chess ChampionshipIranGold medalCommonwealth Women's Chess ChampionshipSouth AfricaSilver medal2012Women's World Chess ChampionshipKhanty-MansiyskBronze medalAsian Women's Team Chess ChampionshipChinaTeam, bronze medal40th Chess OlympiadIstanbulTeam, fourth placeWomen's Team Chess ChampionshipTurkeyIndividual, silver medal2014Asian Women's Team Chess ChampionshipIranTeam standard format, silver medalIndividual gold medalTeam rapid format, silver medal2015Women's World online blitz ChampionshipRomeGold medalWomen's Asian Rapid Chess ChampionshipUAEBronze medalWomen's World Team Chess ChampionshipChengduIndividual second board, Silver MedalWorld Women's Chess ChampionshipSochiBronze medalFIDE Women Grand PrixSharjah2016FIDE Women's Grand PrixChengduGold medalAsian Women's Team Chess ChampionshipUAEIndividual rapid format, gold medalIndividual classical format, silver medal Team rapid format, bronze medal2017Women's World Chess ChampionshipTehranBronze medal2019FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2019Douglas, Isle of ManHighest Placed Female (Women's Trophy)2020FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2020OnlineGold Medal2021Women's World Team Chess ChampionshipSitgesSilver medalFIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2021OnlineBronze medal202244th Chess OlympiadChennaiBronze Medal2024World Blitz Team Chess ChampionshipAstanaTeam Silver, Individual Gold on Board 645th Chess OlympiadBudapestGold MedalWomen's World Rapid Chess ChampionshipNew York 6th (2nd Without tiebreaks)2025Women's World CupBatumiTop 82026Grenke Freestyle Chess OpenGrenkeHighest Placed WomenWorld Rapid Team Chess ChampionshipHong KongSilver MedalAsian Women's Rapid Chess ChampionshipGold MedalAsian Women's Blitz Chess ChampionshipGold Medal
National level achievements 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
External links
Harika Dronavalli () at Chess Database