GM Harika Dronavalli today makes her debut in the Chennai Chess Olympiad 2022 playing the first board against IM Jovanka Houska who defends England’s colours. Harika is nine months pregnant as of now, but she decided to compete for the national team of India. England vs India live
Round 3 Team pairings / Round 3 board pairings (women’s section) / Round 3 board pairings (open section)
A month ago, in the interview for ChessBase India Harika explained that the decision to play for the team wasn’t easy: “I didn’t miss any olympiads since I started playing for the Indian team. My first Olympiad was in 2004, Mallorca. Since then, I have played all the Olympiads, including the Online Olympiads. Initially, I thought that I’ll miss this one- but then so many things happened so quickly, and the Olympiad was shifted to India. I’m doing everything in my power to play in Chennai, and the rest I’m leaving to fate. If it is written that the Olympiad will shift from Russia to India, then I think it’s in my fate to play the Olympiad”. She added that one of the stories that inspired her to take the decision was Serena Williams who won the Australian Open while being 8 weeks pregnant. See the video of Harika Dronavalli preparing for the Round 3 match below
