Vantika Agrawal felt terrible on the night she drew with Alicja Sliwicka.
She was winning that game completely in India’s match against Poland at the Chess Olympiad, and she knew her team depended on her.
But, she made a terrible mistake with her queen on the 56th move. Now, the game was going to end in a draw; that would also mark the end of the Indian team’s seven-match winning streak.
“I knew I let my team down, and there is no worse feeling than that,” Vantika tells The Hindu over phone from her home in Noida. “That position remained before my mind’s eyes all the time; my blunder, Qe4, haunted me. I am glad that my mother was with me in Budapest and she helped me recover.”
Life often gives you a second chance to redeem yourself.
Vantika was going to grab that with both her hands. She did.
In the final three rounds, she won two and drew the other. Her win with black pieces against Irina Krush helped India draw with the United States. Then, she drew with Lu Miaoyi in the penultimate round to help India beat China.
“Those games were important for our team, and if I hadn’t done well, it would have been disastrous,” says the 21-year-old. “I was delighted that I could win my game and the match against Azerbaijan, and thus the gold.”
She also won the individual gold on the fourth board. “That was a bonus, but it was my dream to win the team and the individual gold medals,” she smiles. “We were under a bit of pressure as we were the top seeded-team in the women’s event.”
About India scoring a stunning double, she says she was absolutely confident of the men’s team. “Maybe even more confident than our own chances in the women’s Olympiad,” she laughs. “I thought D. Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi were brilliant. We didn’t expect Gukesh to dance so well in celebration, though.”
She says the All India Chess Federation deserves credit for letting the women’s team’s support staff travel to Budapest. “Our captain Abhijit Kunte proved to be immensely helpful,” she says. “He advised on things like the choice of openings. And when we were feeling down after that loss to Poland, he tried to lift our spirits by taking us outside for our team meeting.”
Her next goal is to be a Grandmaster. Only three Indian women have done that.
Published - September 26, 2024 08:54 pm IST
