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More women will be inspired to play chess thanks to Olympiad gold, says 22-year-old IM – Firstpost

Posted on by angelo
More women will be inspired to play chess thanks to Olympiad gold, says 22-year-old IM – Firstpost

The 45th Chess Olympiad that concluded in Budapest earlier this month was a watershed moment in the history of Indian chess. Having previously won a total of three bronze medals across the Open and Women’s categories in the tournament that has been in existence for a century now, India finally ended their long wait for gold in the Hungarian capital.

What made the occasion even sweeter was the fact that India won not one but two gold medals, achieving a golden sweep that had been achieved by just two nations in the past — Soviet Union and China.

While the road to the top of the podium was something of a breeze for the Open team, who were virtually assured of gold with a round to spare, it was slightly bumpier for the women’s team. Especially after India lost to Poland in the eighth round, the defeat suddenly threatened their hopes of winning gold.

Had India lost their match against the United States in the subsequent round, it could very well have been game over for the Indian women’s team in their pursuit of gold, the medal that they had come so close to winning in Chennai two years ago.

Read | Indian women’s chess finally announces itself with historic Olympiad gold in Budapest

In the match against the USA, R Vaishali lost to Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova while Divya Deshmukh and Tania Sachdev were held to draws by Carissa Yip and Alice Lee respectively. Had it not been for 22-year-old International Master Vantika Agrawal’s victory over Irina Krush, the Indian contingent might not have returned home with both gold medals in their possession.

speaking to Firstpost on the sidelines of a recent event in New Delhi, Vantika commented on how crucial her victory over Krush was in helping the team finish on top of the standings after 11 rounds. And when asked about her favorite moment from her campaign, in which she won six and drew three, Agrawal picked her victory over Georgia’s Bella Khotenashvili in the seventh round.

“My personal favorite moment from the tournament was the win against Georgia because Georgia are four-time Olympiad champions. So my victory helped us win that round. And my win against USA was also special because it was crucial that day.

“It was because of that drawn that we were able to win gold by winning the next two rounds,” Vantika told Firstpost on the sidelines of a felicitation ceremony organized by the All India Chess Federation for the victorious Indian team.

After holding the USA to a draw, India faced a tricky situation in the remainder of their campaign. Not only did they need to win both of their remaining rounds, against China and Azerbaijan, but they were also dependent on Kazakhstan’s results, given the two teams were level on points ahead of the final round and the Kazakhs were actually leading after the ninth.

So even after India ended their campaign with a commanding 3.5-0.5 victory over Azerbaijan in the final round, they had to wait for a few minutes — which would have felt like an eternity for the players at the time — for the result in Kazakhstan’s Round 11 clash against USA, which would end in a 2-2 stalemate.

Vantika, for one, did not lose faith in India flying back home with the trophy in their kit bag, even while the Kazakhs and the Americans battled on.

“There was tension (during the KAZ vs USA game) but we had already done our job by then. And I was pretty confident that the gold medal is within our grasp now,” added Vantika, who has received training at the legendary Viswanathan Anand’s chess academy along with the likes of D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and Divya.

Besides Vantika, the women’s team comprised GM Harika Dronavalli and IM Tania Sachdev as the senior members, the former being part of the Indian team that had finished fourth in the women’s category in the 2012 Olympiad – which was their best-ever result in that section at the time.

The remaining members of the team — GM Vaishali and IM Divya as well as Vantika — were all born in a year that started with ‘2’. With the trio likely to be around for some time and their heroics in Budapest likely to inspire several more female IMs and GMs down the road, women’s chess in India appears to be in safe hands for now and certainly has a bright future going ahead.

“This is the greatest moment for women’s chess in India. More women will be inspired to play chess thanks to this victory. They won’t be discouraged by the fact that chess is not part of the Olympics. They will be working harder, and a lot more youngsters will be coming in,” Vantika, who also won individual gold on Board 4 in Budapest, added.

The victorious team had a packed schedule after arriving home from Budapest last week, meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence in the national capital and being congratulated by the AICF on the same day, the federation also announced cash prizes for players, captains, and coaching staff that amounted to Rs 3.2 crore.

The euphoria over India’s historic feat is yet to fade away more than a week after their victory. However, there will come a time when the players and their coaches will have to move on and focus on their next set of goals.

As for Vantika, who has a B.Com degree from Delhi’s Shri Ram College of Commerce, her immediate target will be achieving a 2500 Elo rating and attaining Grandmaster status.

“I want to be a Grandmaster at the earliest. I want to cross 2500. As for long-term goals, I want to feature in bigger events down the road and if possible, compete in the world championship,” Vantika signed off.