Women are contributing their best in each field. It is a pleasure to watch these women working hard, breaking barriers, and achieving their dreams. These are the same women who are mothers, sisters, aunts or the next door girl, whom with will and dedication have turned their life's around with this game.
History indicates chess as a leisure activity, but these days it is a highly competitive game that many men and women have perfected and made it their profession. It’s amazing to watch these women play the 'game of thrones'. Let us meet the queens of the game.
1. Tania Sachdev: The 33 year old, Delhi girl became an achiever when she was just eight. She earned the title of World and Asian Junior at a very early age. She is the eighth Indian Woman Grandmaster and was granted the Arjuna Award in 2009. Though chess is what she loves, she is a literature student from Delhi University and a trained Indian Clasical Dancer.
2. Koneru Humpy: An Indian chess Grandmaster from Vijayawada. She is the youngest woman to achieve the title of a grandmaster at the age of 15 years. Her success story is an inspiration to many. She won 3 gold medals at the World Youth Chess Championship in the year 1997, 1998 and 2000. She also took part in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2009–2011 and finished second, overall. Known to be the highest rated and strongest Indian contender, she is surely an achiever.
3. Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman: Just like any other child, Vijayalakshmi learnt to play chess from her father. A Chennai girl, who holds two FIDE titles under International Master and Woman Grandmaster. She is the first female player to have achieved both the titles. The 2001 Arjuna Award winner is a five time national champion and presently an FIDE rating of 2464.
4. Harika Dronavalli: Holding a FIDE ranking of 5, this lady is a young talent. A girl from Andhra Pradesh who has achieved a lot at 28 years. Awarded the fourth highest civilian award ‘Padma Shri” by the government of India in 2019, she is a highly driven person. She takes inspiration from her three idols, Vladimir Kramnik, Judit Polgar and Viswanathan Anand. She started playing chess since the age of seven and since then it’s no stopping for her. Before Padma Shri, she was also awarded the Arjuna Award 2007-2008.
5. Kruttika Nadig: A Maharshtrian by birth, she is the winner of Indian national women's championship in 2008. She is a Grandmaster who has competed in the Women’s World Chess Championship in 2010. Journalist by profession, she also played in the Women's World Team Chess Championship and Women's Asian Team Chess Championship in 2009.
We, at Mind Mentorz want to pay tribute to all those Women chess players, who have mastered the game and taken the game to greater heights. They are paving the way for young girls to learn the game and become grandmasters one day.