Vantika Agarwal.
Credit: X/@vantikachess
Bengaluru: If you want to feel impressed, and simultaneously inept, you have to hear Vantika Agrawal chronologically detail her win over Georgia’s Bela Khotenashvili at the recent Chess Olympiad.
For over a minute, she goes on an elaborate explanation - a testament to her eidetic memory - as to how she overcame the Grandmaster en route to India’s gold.
Oddly, it’s all quite endearing. Though the content is expectedly dense, it isn’t as taxing as you’d think. Perhaps, it’s how she holds a smile throughout the monologue or that she says it all with such pride, passion and excitement.
Maybe, it’s just refreshing to see a 21-year-old - the likes of whom you would typically spot milling about from cafe to cafe - take on the world with this demeanour.
Vantika might be as unostentatious as they come, but put her on a board, and she’ll show you the ropes, and flash a decadent smile at the end of it.
“…One of the things I learnt from playing on the second team last year, is the further you go, the more pressure you encounter, it never gets easy,” she tells DH.
“I knew we were in tough situations repeatedly, but I was prepared for it. I knew I had to sleep well and do all the basics right. We knew we were in a position to win, and we would go for it.”
“Also, being the top seeds really gave us the confidence,” she adds.
This is Vantika, the competitor, being in the zone. She gets in and begins to sneer as she builds up the storyline. Her eyes remain fixated. The more you speak about the games themselves, the deeper her frown lines become.
For instance, on four separate occasions, the Indian women’s team found itself in a spot of bother. They had been good on most days, but troubles of old would push them into corners, and it was up to Vantika to bail them out.
Frown on. Glasses drooping. Body taut. She delivered. Every single time.
In fact, she became only the second woman after Divya Deshmukh to go unbeaten in the tournament, winning six of her nine games.
“I knew I had to win and do well in all the games. I remember I made some blunders in the game against Poland, and I was feeling terrible about it. I couldn’t sleep for the better part of the night, but the next day, I had the chance to feel better and give the team what they deserve,” she says.
“It was my duty to the team. It was payback time,” she adds.
With D Harika, Vantika’s senior team-mate also on the call, the youngster gets to get out of this competitive space when the question is directed towards the former.
Now, she’s just playing about with her hair and listening intently to what Harika has to say. She even blushes and slinks out of screen view when Harika talks about how proud she is of Vantika.
“I have learnt so much from my seniors,” she says when she returns to the screen.
“One of the most important things in chess is to remain in the moment or to get back to it if you did leave. I spent a lot of time between games talking to my team-mates because so many of them have been around so long and have played against the opponents I might be facing for the first time."
“I had to learn how to finish games better, and be more relaxed and be more objective with my games. I knew that we couldn’t be desperate. That’s something we all stood by and I think that was the most important factor in our triumph.”
She smiles again.