Chess Olympiad | I approach Vaishali whenever I have a doubt: Savitha Shri

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Savitha Shri has been on fire at the Olympiad, winning four successive games. | Photo Credit: FIDE

She was a wisp of a girl when she faced Magnus Carlsen in a simultaneous display ahead of the Norwegian’s World championship match against Viswanathan Anand in the city back in 2013.

B. Savitha Shri has come a long way since and is currently among the top Indian women chess players. A bronze medallist at the World Rapid championship in 2022, the 19-year-old WGM is making the right moves at the ongoing Olympiad in Samarkand.

She has been the star performer, winning all four games on the fourth board before being rested for Sunday’s fifth-round match against Poland.

The Chennai player, who trains under R.B. Ramesh, said the coach had been a great support and helped her make giant strides. “He (Ramesh sir) analyses games and offers psychological support. We work a lot on the middle and end-game,” Savitha Shri had told The Hindu .

On his part, Ramesh said, “Over the board, she does the most practical things without much hesitation when most players would hesitate.” The work put in with the acclaimed coach appears to be paying off at the Olympiad, and there is no one happier than her father Krishnan Baskar.

The teenager said World championship challenger R. Vaishali was like an “elder sister” and was always ready to help. “I approach Vaishali akka whenever I have any doubt. She gives me advice and I look up to her.”

Having matched wits with someone who would go on to become one of the greatest-ever, Savitha Shri is now holding her own against the game’s elite as she aims for the sky.

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