Who is Savitha Shri? The unbeaten Indian IM at Chess Olympiad 2026

Savitha Shri Baskar has been on a dream run at the 2026 FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, winning all seven games she has played so far. 

The 19-year-old is one of the sole reasons why the Indian women's team still remain in reckoning to defend their title won two years ago.

Savitha's chess journey started when she was just four years old, and over the years she has gone on to win major medals, become a Woman Grandmaster and an International Master, and represent India at some of the biggest events in the sport.

Her journey into chess

Savitha started playing chess after watching her elder brother play. She was around four or five years old when she became interested in the game, and after performing well in her first tournament, her family realised that she had a strong interest in chess and started giving her more opportunities to compete.

She soon began doing well at the National level, which led to bigger events such as the Asian Championships and World Junior tournaments. 

Before the pandemic, Savitha made one of her biggest rating jumps, gaining more than 300 rating points in just two months while playing tournaments in Europe. 

In December 2022, Savitha gained major international attention by winning bronze at the FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship in Almaty, Kazakhstan, at just 15 years old.

She finished third with 8 points from 11 games and became the youngest player in chess history to win a World Rapid and Blitz medal.

In 2023, Savitha began completing the requirements for her International Master title. She secured her first IM norm at the Fagernes GM Open and her second at the Norway Chess Open. She also earned her Woman Grandmaster title at the Fagernes Open and won a team silver medal at the Asian Games.

Savitha secured her third and final IM norm at the 40th Andorra Open in July 2024. This made her the 13th Indian woman to earn the International Master title. 

In 2025, FIDE formally confirmed her International Master title. She also finished fourth at the Women’s World Rapid Chess Championship in Doha in December.

In 2026, Savitha added another major achievement by becoming the Asian Women’s Individual Chess Champion. She is now an International Master and Woman Grandmaster, while also pursuing a B.Com degree in Marketing Management at M.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women in Chennai.

The financial struggles

Behind Savitha’s success is a long period of financial struggle for her family. Supporting a chess career at the international level was not easy, with travel, coaching and tournament fees adding to the costs.

Her father had been working as an electrician in Singapore for around seven years before leaving his job and returning to India to support her chess career.

Giving up the job also meant giving up an important source of family income, and the family soon faced difficulties in managing both household expenses and the cost of Savitha’s chess career.

At one point, the family had to sell gold jewellery to arrange money for Savitha’s entry fee for a national tournament. International tournaments were even harder to afford.

When she qualified for the World Rapid Chess Championship in Kazakhstan in 2022-23, the family needed funds  for the trip but could not afford it. Her school eventually helped fund her participation.

The family also could not afford to support Savitha and her elder brother at the same time, as he had also played competitive chess at the state and national levels. After seeing Savitha’s potential, the family decided to continue supporting her chess career.

Corporate sponsorship helped for some time, with a company supporting her travel during 2023 and part of 2024. However, that support later stopped, making the period. But in April 2026, Savitha qualified for a Tamil Nadu government financial-support scheme based on her sporting achievements giving her the financial support she needed. 

Her performances at the Olympiad add another major chapter to a journey that began with her picking up chess at the age of four and has taken her to the international stage.