HYDERABAD: On September 22, Indians across the world rose in unison and sang praises for the chess players who had just won—for the first time in checkerboard history—a double gold at the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary. The road to winning in both Open and Women’s titles was anything but smooth—but they gave their very best, emerged triumphant, and evoked in us an indescribable pride. At a felicitation event recently hosted for them at Park Hyatt by Pravaha Foundation, Mytrah Energy, and MGD1, coach Srinath Narayanan and champions Arjun Erigaisi, Harika Dronavalli, Pentala Harikrishna, and Vantika Agrawal open up to Nitika Krishna about the win, their chess journeys, and more.
Winning the Olympiad feels so amazing! But it wasn’t easy; when I lost my match to my Polish opponent, I was absolutely heartbroken and stressed. My mother said, “Just look ahead.” And that’s exactly what I did, apart from practising yoga and meditation, which helped me calm down and focus.
Coming back from the loss against Poland and the personal win against the USA’s Irina Krush were defining moments for me. I actually started playing when I was around seven and what I’ve realised is that the higher you go in the chess world, the more you need to practise and learn. Winning the gold has been my dream ever since I started playing in Olympiads.
In the 2022 Olympiad, I was nine months pregnant. We were so close to winning and it was heartbreaking when we didn’t. Somew.
