Pentala Harikrishna facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Pentala Harikrishna |
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Harikrishna in 2021
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| Country | India |
| Born | 10 May 1986 Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India |
| Title | Grandmaster (2001) |
| FIDE rating | 2719 (June 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2770 (December 2016) |
| Peak ranking | No. 10 (November 2016) |
Pentala Harikrishna (born May 10, 1986) is a famous Indian chess player. He is a Grandmaster, which is the highest title a chess player can get.
Harikrishna reached his highest world ranking of 10th in November 2016. He also achieved his best rating, 2770, in December 2016. On August 17, 2001, he became the youngest Indian Grandmaster. Later, other young players like Koneru Humpy and Gukesh Dommaraju broke his record.
He has won many important tournaments. These include the Commonwealth Chess Championship in 2001 and the World Junior Chess Championship in 2004. In 2011, he became the Asian Individual Champion. Harikrishna has also represented India in many team events. He played in seven Chess Olympiads and helped India win a bronze medal at the World Team Chess Championships in 2010.
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Early life and learning chess
Pentala Harikrishna was born in Guntur, a city in Andhra Pradesh, India. He started playing chess when he was just four years old. His grandfather, Ranga Rao, taught him the game. His grandfather was also his first chess coach.
Chess career highlights
Junior success
Harikrishna was a very strong junior player. He won many Indian national titles for different age groups. These included the Under-8 (1993), Under-10 (1995), Under-14 (1999), Under-15 (1998), and Under-18 (1998) championships. In 1996, he won the World Under-10 Championship. He also won the Under-18 prize at the Commonwealth Chess Championship in 1999.
By the age of 14, he joined the Indian team for the 2000 Chess Olympiad. This was a big event where countries compete in chess. His good performance there helped him get closer to becoming a Grandmaster. He officially became a Grandmaster in 2001.
Becoming a Grandmaster (2001-2004)
After becoming a Grandmaster, Harikrishna continued to play well. He won the Commonwealth Championship in London in 2001. He also tied for first place at the Hastings Chess Congress in early 2002.
He kept improving his skills and rating. His rating went from 2539 in January 2003 to 2673 in October 2005. A chess rating shows how strong a player is. The higher the number, the better the player.
In November 2004, Harikrishna won the World Junior Chess Championship. This important tournament was held in Kochi, India. He scored 10 out of 13 points, showing his great talent.
Playing in top tournaments (2005-2009)
Because of his success, Harikrishna started getting invited to even stronger tournaments. In 2005, he tied for first place at the Bermuda tournament. He also won the Sanjin Hotel Cup, finishing a full point ahead of other players.
He worked with Elizbar Ubilava, a coach who had also trained Viswanathan Anand, a former World Champion. This helped Harikrishna improve his game even more. In October 2005, he won the Essent Crown Group. He also reached the third round of the Chess World Cup 2005.
In 2006, he tied for first place at the Reykjavik Open. He also won the Chess960 Junior Chess Championship. Chess960 is a fun version of chess where the starting position of the pieces is random.
Harikrishna played in fewer tournaments after 2007. But he still had good results. In September 2008, he won the Spice Cup in the United States. In 2009, he won the Nancy Rapid event in France. He also helped India win the Asian Team Championships that year.
Breaking 2700 (2010-2013)
In January 2012, Harikrishna won Group B of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament. This win earned him a spot in the top Group A for the next year. He also won the Cappelle-la-Grande Open in France.
By the end of 2012, his rating was 2698, his highest yet. In January 2013, he played in the Tata Steel A group for the first time. He finished seventh and finally broke the 2700 rating mark. This is a big achievement in chess. He was only the third Indian player to reach this level.
He continued his strong play in July 2013. He won the Biel Masters with 8½ out of 11 points.
Recent years (2014-2024)
In 2015, Harikrishna won the 10th Edmonton International tournament. He started with an amazing 5 wins in a row! He also tied for first place at the Isle of Man International.
In February–March 2016, he played in the IMSA Elite Mind Games in China. He did very well in the blitz chess event, gaining many rating points. Blitz chess is a fast version of the game.
In July 2020, he won a Chess960 event in Biel, Switzerland. This tournament was special because players were separated by plexiglass due to COVID-19. He also helped India win a gold medal in the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2020 along with Russia.
In 2023, Harikrishna worked as a coach for Ju Wenjun during her Women's World Championship match.
Most recently, he was part of the Indian team that won the gold medal at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, in 2024. Gukesh Dommaraju, the current World Champion, shared that Harikrishna was part of his preparation team when he won the Championship.
Team results
Harikrishna has played for India in many team events. He has represented his country in eleven Chess Olympiads. He first played in the Olympiad when he was just 14 years old!
| Olympiad | Individual result | Team result |
|---|---|---|
| Istanbul 2000 | 6.5/11 | 8th |
| Bled 2002 | 3.5/10 | 29th |
| Calvia 2004 | 5.5/11 | 6th |
| Turin 2006 | 8/12 | 30th |
| Dresden 2008 | 6/10 | 16th |
| Khanty-Mansiysk 2010 | 6/10 | 18th |
| Istanbul 2012 | 5.5/10 | 35th |
| Baku 2016 | 5.5/9 | 4th |
| Batumi 2018 | 7/10 | 6th |
| Chennai 2022 | 5.5/10 | 4th |
| Budapest 2024 | 2.5/3 | 1st |
He also played in World Team Chess Championships and Asian Team Chess Championships:
| Event | Individual result | Team result |
|---|---|---|
| 13th Asian TCC 2003, Jodhpur India | 5/8 | Silver |
| 15th Asian Games 2006, Doha Qatar | 6.5/9 (Silver) | Gold |
| 3rd Asian Indoor Games 2009, Hanoi Vietnam | 4.5/8 | Bronze |
| 16th Asian TCC 2009, Kolkata India | 4/6 (Bronze) | Gold |
| 7th World TCC 2010, Bursa Turkey | 4/8 | Bronze |
| 16h Asian Games 2010, Guangzhou China | 6/9 | Bronze |
| 8th World TCC 2011, Ningbo China | 3.5/9 | 8th |
| 17th Asian TCC 2012, Zaozhuang China | 6/9 | Silver |
| 10th World TCC 2015, Tsakhkadzor Armenia | 5/9 | 9th |
Harikrishna has played for many different chess clubs around the world. He helped the Baden-Baden club win titles in Germany. He also won medals with clubs in Greece, Russia, and Spain. In 2014, he won the Turkish Super League with Istanbul Technical University. He also won a silver medal with the Czech club G-Team Novy Bor.
Personal life
Pentala Harikrishna married Nadezda Stojanovic from Serbia in 2018. Their daughter, Maya, was born in early 2021. Since 2018, Harikrishna has lived in Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic. He plays for the chess club Nový Bor there.
