Back in March 2023, the Pravaha Foundation in collaboration with MGD1 launched 64 Squares- an initiative that would support growing chess players in their chess journey. The initiative began with some well known names- Vantika Agrawal, Savitha Shri Baskar and Ilamparthi, and some growing talents of the country like Shubhi Gupta, Charvi Anilkumar and Saparya Ghosh! The players were being supported with a sum of INR 2 crores for a period of two years.
The support reflected results very soon! Vantika achieved her final IM norm and became India’s 11th female player to earn the IM title. Both Vantika and Savitha were part of the Indian team that won the silver medal at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. Ilamparthi also became an IM and he was just 14 years old at that time.
Vantika won a team gold at the National Women’s Team Championship, while also winning a bronze in the 2023 National Individual Championship. She won the gold among women at Biel Masters, and Fagernes and Menorca Open 2023, thus becoming one of the best performers in the initial few months of sponsorship. One of her biggest achievements was the team as well individual gold medal at the 2024 FIDE Chess Olympiad! Savitha won the 2nd place among women at the Ellobregat Chess Tournament 2023. She then won the bronze medal at the Arona Chess Festival 2024. She also scored her final IM norm at the Andorra Open in August 2024.
Saparya contributed to a team gold medal in the U-14 girls section at the 2023 Asian Youth Championship. Shubhi won the National U-19 girls Chess Championship 2023. At the 2023 Asian Youth Chess Championship, she contributed to 2 team gold medals in the U-16 girls Standard and Rapid section, and a team bronze in the U-16 girls Blitz championship. Shubhi then went on to win the 2024 U-16 Girls Commonwealth Chess Championship, while winning a bronze in the U-20 Girls event. Charvi was nominated for the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2024. She then gained over 100 rapid rating points in a single tournament in June the same year, while also winning the event.
The Judit Polgar Chess Camp
In January 2024, Pravaha Foundation sponsored a 15 day chess camp for 7 Indian female chess players with the legendary Judit Polgar in Budapest, Hungary. This group included Tania Sachdev, Vantika Agrawal, Savitha Shri, Rakshitta Ravi, Sarayu Velpula, Sahithi Varshini and Priyanka Nutakki. This was one of the first instances where Judit spent such a long time with one group of players for a training camp. The camp had a great impact on the psychology and chess strength of the players, and served as a great motivating factor.
Judit later said how she wanted the players to familiarize themselves with the work ethics required to reach the top, and how it felt to work for days without a break!
Player Felicitations
When the Indian team returned from Budapest after winning gold medals at the 2024 Olympiad in both the Open and Women’s sections, Pravaha Foundation and MGD1 together hosted a felicitation ceremony for the champions in November. The players who were part of the ceremony included GMs Srinath Narayanan, Arjun Erigaisi, Pentala Harikrishna, Harika Dronavalli and IM Vantika Agrawal. Emerging players- WIMs Sahithi Varshini and Sarayu Velpula were also felicitated at the event. This event was attended by various delegates present in the city of Hyderabad.
Whether it’s supporting players in their chess journey or organising chess camps for the country’s top players with one of the best players history ever saw or honouring the players after their achievements, Pravaha Foundation has always been there for the players through 64 Squares! They have been the rock solid support, helping players cross any and every possible obstacle that they could.
The Class of 2025
After 2 successful and memorable years of 64 Squares with the first batch of chess stars, Pravaha foundation has now decided to support 5 female chess superstars for the next one year, with a sum amounting to INR 1 crore. This will be covering the players’ travel, training and other related chess expenses.
The batch includes 3 players who were already part of 64 Squares initiative since 2023- the Olympiad Gold Medalist IM Vantika Agrawal, Former World Cadet Champion WFM Shubhi Gupta, and the former Commonwealth U-8 and World U-8 champion WFM Charvi Anilkumar. WIMs Sarayu Velpula and Sahithi Varshini are the new players to the group
Sarayu is a multiple times national age group medalist. She made it to the headlines when she gained over 500 rating points in just 2 months in 2023. She also won the individual gold medal at the 2024 National Women’s Team Championship.
Sahithi is the 2017 U-10 Commonwealth Girls Champion. She is also a multiple times Asian Youth Champion. Sahithi was also part of the India C women’s team in the 2022 FIDE Chess Olympiad.
Pravaha Foundation, through 64 Squares is going to be an inseparable part of the players’ journey for the year, and we wholeheartedly believe this will help them walk more freely on the path towards their chess goals. We wish the Batch of 2025 the very best for all their upcoming endeavours!
