India’s Grand Master Harika Dronavalli broke back into the top five in the world chess rankings after a commanding show in the Isle of Man International Chess tournament that concluded earlier this week.
Harika Dronavalli
This is the second time during this year that Harika has scaled such heights, soaring on a series of wins and commendable performances in international tournament.
Harika not only finished with 5.5 points in the Isle of Man tournament that saw some of the best chess players in action but also emerged as the one of the top woman player at the event. She won as many as four games out of nine, including a breakthrough victory over world no. 1 Hou Yifan of China. She drew three other games and lost only two in a highly demanding format.
The 25-year-old Hyderabadi gained 15.4 crucial points in the bargain to take her live ratings from 2528 to 2543.4. That was good enough to pull her up from her tenth position to a commendable World No. 5.
The ranking will be ratified on November 1, when the updated FIDE rankings are released.
“It is a huge confidence booster for me,” Harika said, when she got to know about her rise in the rankings. “I had attained my career best ranking of five in July but there was a dip in my rankings after that. I wasn’t happy at all with the slide and I worked really hard. I am happy that it has paid dividends and I have attained my first goal. I am now looking forward to moving further up,” she added.
Harika has had a great year so far, having won multiple championships, including the Chengdu GP and the Eurasian Blitz in Kazakhstan. She will next head for the Cap d’Agde Rapid Chess Tournament in France from October 22-29.