Hyderabad: After winning the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad along with Russia on Sunday India's star chess player Dronavalli Harika in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat opened up about team's journey in the tournament.
India team at the FIDE Online Olympiad created history on 30 August by winning its first-ever gold. However, in another first, this was shared with Russia, following an internet failure that affected two games.
How does it feel to covert the 2014 Bronze into a Gold in 2020?
This feels really really magical as this is the first time that the country has won a Gold in the Chess Olympiad. To be part of India's first gold-winning team will always be a memorable moment for me. I also hope that this win inspires future generations to win more medals for the country.
This was the first time that the tournament was held online due to the pandemic.
How was the experience and how different is it from the normal game?
It's a bit different from the board I would say. It's more tiring to play online as we have to constantly watch the computer screen and sync with it. But slowly we are getting used to it as the future competitions will also be played online. This different format gave us the opportunity to prove our selves from home. It's a very positive start for us.
Tell us about the competition. More than 160 countries participated in Online Chess Olympiad. How tough was it to win a Gold?
This competition is a tough one. Generally, when we play on the board there are thousands of people who participate in it. This is one of the strongest tournaments in chess. We played against China in the pool division and they are the strongest team in the World. After that win, we started believing in our selves. Our team spirit helped us beat good teams.
Talk us through your journey in the tournament and partnership with Koneru Humpy, Hari Krishna and other teammates?
We were 12 team members and out of which we three were from Telugu states. We know each other from years as we have represented the country for many games. It is a very proud moment for us that we are from Telugu states and are representing the country.
After the Nation Cup defeat how difficult was it for the team to make a comeback?
Nation Cup and Online Chess Olympiad are two different Chess tournaments. We knew that Olympiad will be special and we will have to work hard to crack it. Nation Cups experience also helped us in the Chess Olympiad.
India's juniors also played very well in the tournament. So what do you think about India's future in Chess?
I think it is a brilliant opportunity for the juniors to play in such a prestigious tournament. I totally support the decision to play all groups together than having different groups. This will help them to improve their game and motivate them to do better in future. And I am sure that they will do wonders for the country.
