TIRUPATI: Two sisters, aged 10 and seven, from Tirupati are making rapid strides in the world of chess. V Tripurambika and her younger sibling Guruvarshini have dominated many of their opponents and won medals at state-level championships.Tripurambika played under-10 chess tournaments in Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
After winning the event in Visakhapatnam held in April this year, she advanced to the national championship conducted in Jammu from April 26 to May 1, and was placed in the top 16 at the event with 100 players.
Tripurambika secured a FIDE rating of 1,101, which is considered decent and will improve as she plays more matches. The ratings were jointly released by the World Chess Federation and All-India Chess Federation.
The 10-year-old, a Class VI student at Gowtham Public School, developed an interest in chess from her early years. She aspires to win national-level contests and represent India at international events. "I became curious because my grandfather plays chess at home. I honed my skills after playing against him. I look up to chess masters Harika Dronavalli and Viswanathan Anand," he said.
Her father Pratap told The New Indian Express: "My daughter used to attend Bhagavad Gita classes and learn slokas at school. When we saw her singing the slokas without making any mistakes in the pronunciation, we knew that she has a good IQ."
"This prompted us to make her learn something new and since then she has been playing and practising chess at home. She is, currently, being coached by PR Ananad Mohan, who happens to be my school friend and works as a government teacher," said Pratap.
Under Anand’s guidance, Tripuramabika secured the top spot at the under-10 Star Chess National Championship organised in Vellore in 2021. She also secured the first spot in the under-9 Masthanaiah Fide Rapid Rating Open Chess Tournament in Hyderabad the same year.Tripurambika, who is currently preparing for national-level games, has also started training under coach D Kalyan Chakravarthy from Guntur.
Meanwhile, Guruvarshini, who learnt to play chess from her elder sister, won the under-7 School Games State Championship held in Guntur on January 3 and 4, and even represented Andhra Pradesh at a national-level chess championship held in May in Bhubaneswar.
She also secured a silver at Masthanaiah Chess World national championship. Guruvarshini came second in the under-6 All-India Schoolastic Online Chess Chamionship conducted by South Mumbai Chess Academy.
Sister learnt chess from grandfather
Ten-year-old Tripurambika, a class 6 student at Gowtham Public School, developed an interest in chess in her early formative years. "I became curious because my grandfather plays chess at home. I honed my skills after playing against him," she said.
Under the guidance of coach Anand Mohan, Tripuramabika secured top spots at the under-10 Star Chess National Championship organised in Vellore and under-9 Masthanaiah Fide Rapid Rating Open Chess Tournament in Hyderabad