AGRAWAL Vantika

Student

Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi, IND

English

She was diagnosed with dengue fever upon her arrival in Uruguay for the 2017 World Youth Championships. She went into quarantine and had to miss the tournament. (DD India YouTube channel, 12 May 2023; TEDx Talks YouTube channel, 26 Apr 2021)

She sustained a fracture in her left hand early in her chess career. (TEDx Talks YouTube channel, 26 Apr 2021)

She began playing chess at age eight. (DD India YouTube channel, 12 May 2023)

She was introduced to chess by her brother. "As a child I learnt many activities like dance, music, piano, singing, and many sports like basketball, skating, karate and tennis. I enjoyed all those activities but never saw any of them as the one. Around the same time, my brother Vishesh learned chess. He needed a partner to play with him so he taught me the game. After that we played it almost all the time. I saw chess as something that raised my curiosity and challenged my abilities infinitely." (TEDx Talks YouTube channel, 26 Apr 2021)

To earn the title of Grandmaster. (DD India YouTube channel, 12 May 2023)

Indian chess player Viswanathan Anand. (DD India YouTube channel, 12 May 2023)

Her mother. (TEDx Talks YouTube channel, 26 Apr 2021)

"Winners are not those who never fail but those who never quit." (TEDx Talks YouTube channel, 26 Apr 2021)

She received the title of Woman Grandmaster from the International Chess Federation [FIDE] in 2021. (FIDE, 27 Oct 2021)

In 2016 she received the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement in India, which recognised her success in chess. (thestatesman, 13 Jul 2023; asianage, 03 Dec 2016)