TN girl chess prodigy youngest to earn 2000 Elo points

CHENNAI: Sharvaanica AS, the little girl from Ariyalur all of nine years who has been making waves with her chess prowess, has now become the youngest female chess player in the country to surpass 2000 Elo points.

In the latest rankings announced on Friday, the Woman Candidate Master occupies the top position in her category with a rating of 2049. She currently holds the number 1 spot across both boys' and girls' divisions in the U-9 and U-10 categories. Sharvaanica, she leads in the girls’ U-9, U-10, U-11, and U-12 age category in the country.

Entering October with a rating of 1915, she has now risen by 134.4 points to achieve this remarkable milestone. Most recently, Sharvaanica competed at the Muensterland Open Chess tournament in Germany from October 12 to 19, where she gained 91 Elo points.

In October, she also competed in the 2nd Annemasse International Festival Master tournament in France, where only players with over 2000 Elo points are allowed to participate. However, she secured a special entry as Asia's youngest Woman Candidate Master and played against higher-ranked opponents. Her performance there earned her 43 Elo points, significantly boosting her ranking.

Tamil Nadu's first woman Grandmaster, R Vaishali, crossed 2000 Elo points at age 12, while Divya Deshmukh reached it at 11 in February 2017, and Vantika Agrawal at age 12.

Sharvaanica is currently in Europe, competing in the II International Chess Open 'City of Lagos' tournament and she will be heading to Portugal next to take part in Festival de Xadrez from November 10 to 17.