‘Blank mind’ & bold leap: How Harika Dronavalli cracked freestyle chess on debut

NEW DELHI: Indian women’s chess contiguous tells 2 precise antithetic stories. In Cyprus, Vaishali Rameshbabu and Divya Deshmukh are locked successful a fierce conflict astatine the Women’s Candidates, chasing the close to situation the reigning World Champion.

Meanwhile, thousands of kilometres away, different Indian prima has charted an wholly antithetic way to glory successful the aforesaid crippled of 64 squares, but a wholly antithetic format.Yes, she is Grandmaster (GM) Harika Dronavalli.In a federation wherever lone 4 women person ever earned the GM title, 35-year-old Harika remains 1 of its astir enduring pillars. As her compatriots hole for the accepted grind of World Championship cycles, Harika has qualified for the inaugural FIDE Women’s Freestyle Chess World Championship, which is acceptable to instrumentality spot adjacent year.

Just a week ago, successful the bustling Grenke Chess Festival of Karlsruhe, Germany, Harika secured the apical women’s prize astatine the Grenke Freestyle Open. In doing so, she became the archetypal Indian to publication a spot successful a format that strips distant the information nett of opening theory, leaving players with thing but their earthy intuition.'It was my archetypal freestyle tournament'Freestyle Chess, oregon Chess960, is simply a format wherever the starting presumption of the pieces is randomised.

For players who person spent decades memorising thousands of variations successful the Ruy Lopez oregon the Sicilian Defence, it is simply a terrifying prospect. Harika, however, walked into the arena with a zen-like detachment."It was amazing, particularly due to the fact that it was my archetypal freestyle tournament," Harika told TimesofIndia.com successful an exclusive conversation. "I haven’t followed overmuch of it before. I didn’t cognize thing astir it.

I went with a blank authorities of mind, that okay, immoderate comes, I person to judge it due to the fact that it’s thing precise caller for me."

For galore elite GMs, the deficiency of power implicit the opening tin beryllium paralysing. For Harika, though, that was not the case. "I wanted to bash well. But astatine the aforesaid time, I didn't adjacent cognize if it was excessively overmuch to inquire for due to the fact that I had ne'er played it. It’s been a saccharine astonishment that it went truly well. Suddenly, I’m seeing chess successful a antithetic way."Eye-catching resultsThe Grenke Open soon became a brutal proving crushed against immoderate of the champion minds successful the world. Harika's tally successful the tourney included a stunning triumph implicit American GM Awonder Liang and a high-quality gully against the legendary Levon Aronian, the antheral galore see 1 of the champion successful freestyle chess."Since COVID, I didn't play excessively galore unfastened tournaments, and I couldn't play galore of the highly high-rated players.

It’s been a while," Harika admitted. "So, it’s a bully reminder for myself too, and a bully assurance booster. Like, you know, I could bash good with them."Beating a 2700-rated powerhouse similar Liang and holding her ain against Aronian served a dual purpose. "It felt similar I’m backmost to what I ever utilized to do. During COVID and aft that, I had a baby. Somehow, I couldn’t play excessively galore unfastened tournaments. This took maine backmost to my aged times."The unfiltered grindThe roadworthy to Germany, however, was filled with uncertainties. Harika’s travel to Germany was a throwback to the solo traveller days of her youth, analyzable by the shifting geopolitical tensions successful the Middle East that had precocious caused formation cancellations crossed the region."I booked my summons agelong backmost by Qatar Airways. I wasn’t definite if I would beryllium reaching oregon what the concern was due to the fact that the flights were cancelling connected and off," she recalled.

"I went 1 time earlier conscionable truthful that successful lawsuit thing goes wrong, I would person capable clip to someway scope Germany.

"I had to instrumentality a bid from Frankfurt. I missed the timings, and past I had to find my ways. The trains got delayed. It took immoderate six to 7 hours of midnight timing to scope the place. These things I haven't done successful caller times astatine all. We got truthful utilized to a definite comfortableness level wherever everything is arranged."Rather than being frustrated, Harika recovered joyousness successful the chaos arsenic she admitted with a smile, "I enjoyed it.

It felt similar I’ve done this galore times before, but we conscionable mislaid interaction of it. It was amusive to get into these situations. It reminded maine of my puerility days."A festival of implicit 3,000 mindsThe Grenke Open is billed arsenic the largest unfastened chess tourney successful the world, boasting implicit 3,000 participants. The sheer standard of the lawsuit was a sensory overload."It took maine backmost to my World Youth days. That’s erstwhile we utilized to spot truthful galore radical playing around, truthful galore boards.

It was bully to spot truthful galore chess-loving radical and fans," she said.Explaining however she was capable to debar each the sound coming from the ample gathering during her plays, she added, "Generally, erstwhile the crippled starts for me, I americium wholly retired of the portion from everywhere. It didn't alteration thing for maine connected the board."This quality to portion retired was crucial, particularly fixed the tournament’s punishing docket of 2 games a day, a format Harika hadn't touched successful years.'It wasn’t a planned gap. I similar to play successful the unfastened section'Since becoming a mother, Harika’s tourney appearances person been much selective.With the 35-year-old playing her past unfastened tourney successful 2024 successful Sharjah, Many assumed her displacement distant from the Open conception (where men and women vie together) was a conscious strategical choice. Harika clarifies that it was much astir the earthy travel of beingness than a status from the unfastened circuit.

"It wasn’t a planned gap. I similar to play successful the unfastened section. It conscionable happened someway owed to circumstances and situations. Maybe the preferences changed aft becoming a mother, but it wasn't a conscious decision," she told this website.However, the occurrence successful Germany has reignited that fire."When I look back, I realise, 'Oh, it’s been a portion since I played unfastened tournaments.' I americium ever unfastened to playing beardown unfastened tournaments.

I truly anticipation this twelvemonth I’ll get backmost to immoderate of them," she asserted.Deciphering the "Chess960" riddle with HarikaFor the uninitiated, Freestyle Chess (Chess960) tin look similar a antithetic sport. With 960 imaginable starting positions, the publication is thrown retired of the model from Move 1.How did Harika, successful her precise archetypal attempt, fig retired positions that baffle adjacent seasoned experts?

"I don't deliberation I person tips arsenic such," she laughed. "Finally, we request to recognize that we are chess players.

I’ve been playing chess for 26 years professionally. Somewhere subconsciously, adjacent if I wasn't sure, I was a chess player. I conscionable kept playing moves connected the board.It’s not arsenic hard arsenic we deliberation it is. You conscionable person to absorption connected what you cognize best, your ideology connected wherever to enactment pieces and conscionable spell for it. I don't cognize if it's instinct oregon not, but it's my knowing level suggesting maine to bash this. You person to judge successful it due to the fact that you've worked for years."The roadworthy to the World ChampionshipHarika present joins a formidable tract for the inaugural FIDE Women’s Freestyle World Championship. She volition basal alongside the likes of Bibisara Assaubayeva, Dinara Wagner, and Alua Nurman arsenic the pioneers of this caller era."It’s bully that they started doing this for women now," Harika noted. "Earlier, Freestyle had go precise mean for the men, but for women, determination were nary peculiar tournaments. We neglected this format. Now that they are starting a superior World Championship, that motivates america to absorption connected Freestyle."