Harika Dronavalli (born 12 January 1991) is an Indian chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). 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 was born to Ramesh and Swarna Dronavalli on 12 January 1991 in Guntur where 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. She became the second Indian woman to become a grandmaster, after Koneru Humpy.

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. Her elder sister, Anusha, married Telugu film director K. S. Ravindra.

Achievements

2024

2021

2019

2017

2016

2015

2014

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

National level achievements

Other achievements