Harika eyes the throne

Hyderabad: Dressed in bright green salwar suit, GM D. Harika was enjoying herself at Hyatt Regency in Chennai, the venue of the world chess championship.

Apart from accompanying her foreign chess friends and journalists to temples and for shopping, the young lady also spoke a few ambitious words for herself and India in the commentary box during the seventh round game.

“I want to achieve my goal of becoming the world women chess champion,“ she said, adding that her other wish is to see her country on the medals list in the chess Olympiad. “We are close to making the top of the medals table. Last time, we finished fourth. We will surely go up in the coming Olympiad,“ she added.

The Andhra Pradesh girl, who wanted the world match between Anand and Carlsen to be celebrated as a mega event, rushed to Chennai the day she landed from China.

“I reached home on Saturday morning after playing in the China league, where I scored two wins and two draws for my chess club Shandong. I took an evening flight to Chennai and came straight to the Hyatt,“ she said.

Noting that the match between the five-time champion and the World No.1 in Chennai is in itself an occasion to celebrate, the 22-year-old Harika said that Anand is a legend and he has nothing to prove to any one. “Everyone has been disappointed with the last two losses of Anand and I hope he makes a comeback. But, there is no need to a feel too disheartened."

On Carlsen, the chess princess said that the Norwegian is a strong player and extremely talented. “He is only 23 and it is not a joke to play at this level consistently. It would be wonderful for his family also,“ said Harika, who was lucky to partner Carlsen in a casual 'pair' chess game against WGM Tania Sachdev and GM Sergei Movsesian at Gibraltar Chess Festival.

“We played a lot of games. Initially I struggled to understand Carlsen's moves, as it would be my turn after he makes a move and vice versa on the same board. But slowly, I got hold of it. In one game he sacrificed the queen he sacrificed the queen and we lost. When people started making fun of us, he got serious, and we managed to end with a positive score after playing through the night."