Olympiad gold-medallist Vantika now aims for Grandmaster title

Chess Olympi gold-medallist Vantika Agrawal is someone who has learnt sport hard way.

Hailing from Noida in Uttar Presh, she h little chess infrastructure to motivate her to pursue sport.

However, her determined mor, who wanted her children to excel in whatever y pursued, supported Vantika in overcoming numerous challenges and making a mark in a sport dominated by players from South India.

Vantika finally helped India achieve its biggest glory in team chess by winning first-ever Olympi gold in Budapest recently.

Vantika, 21, is now aiming to become a Grandmaster, which could happen as early as next year.

But she knows challenges that lie ahe -- least being countless tournaments she will have to play across world and monetary burden it will put on her parents.

"It has not at all been easy reaching this level, because culture here (in north India) is all about excelling in acemics, and if you want to play chess or any or sport, you need to devote extra time to that,” said Vantika, who is a brand ambassor of ongoing Tech Mahindra Global Chess League here.

“I remember that even in school while y were supporting me, nobody really knew about chess. So, when I used to go and tell m about my achievements, y were completely uninterested... I mean, even in Shri Ram College of Commerce, where I completed my B.Com (Hons), y still don't know that I have won Olympi gold,” says Vantika, whose mor quit her job with a leing multinational to be with her daughter as she pursued success in sport.

For Vantika, Hangzhou Asian Games women’s team silver medallist last year, chess started out of curiosity to explore more sport after she h dabbled a bit in arts, music, dance, karate and a lot of or things during ‘zero’ period in school.

"I joined karate classes and did a bit of Bharatnatyam, learnt music and vocals. I was seven-and-a-half years old when I developed a liking for chess. I think first tournament I played I won some prize money. I think prizes, to some extent, became a motivation to continue playing chess.

But with coaches hard to come by, she spent 5-6 hours online every day to learn finer nuances of game. Luckily, she got a coach in Manish Uniyal, who was willing to invest his time.

“I think, I won Asian Championship U9 title in Delhi in 2011. I kept playing ‘Open’ tournaments all over India, travelling with my mor to every single state... Odisha , Maharashtra , Mumbai, everywhere.” Even as she continued to pursue sport, re was no way Vantika was willing to compromise on her acemics.

“I used to play a tournament, come back and next day, I used to have some exam or something. I remember giving 2-3 unit tests on a single day,” she recalled.

Balancing chess with acemics continued for a good 10 years and she excelled in both, winning several national titles and also scoring big in school and college.

“I remember my first medal, a silver in U11 Nationals. I achieved my first international success by winning U14 world championship bronze in 2016.” While Covid-19 pandemic brought with it several challenges, Vantika got plenty of time at her Noida residence to sharpen her skills. Soon, she went on to win mixed team gold in 2020 Online Chess Olympi.

A consistent show at Olympi in Budapest recently ded anor fear to Vantika’s cap when she along with Divya Deshmukh played a pivotal role in guiding India to gold medal at a time when stalwarts like R Vaishali were struggling.

Olympi success achieved, Vantika is now completely focused on becoming a Grandmaster.

“So, from 2022 till now, I have competed in 28 Open events to earn rating points to become a GM. I’ve been living out of suitcase. Every month, I am travelling to some place or or,” says Vantika.

“You start getting fatigued... "Playing one tournament after anor, while also arranging finances, is a challenge in itself," says Vantika’s mor Sangeeta.

But she is willing to invest in her child’s future knowing that Vantika has potential to make it big.

“An online coaching class with a foreign grandmaster costs Rs 10,000 an hour. So, if she does 10 hours of coaching every month, it comes to Rs one lakh. But we are not thinking about money right now. We are just trying to focus on her, make her a better player.

More than expenses, it’s travel and challenges to keep her child motivated in a lonely world of chess, which continuously weigh on Vantika’s mor’s mind.

Vantika knows that and is trying her best to give her mor a present for her sacrifices by becoming a GM.

“I think if I keep trying my best, I can even make it (become a GM) by next year. Divya Deshmukh is pretty close to becoming a grandmaster. But, yeah, I will also keep trying and see how things go,” Vantika signed off.