Bhakti is the FIRST Goan to qualify for 'A'

Bhakti Kulkarni became the first Goan to qualify for the National ‘A’ Women’s chess championship to be played in December this year at Rajkot.

The Asian U-14 girls champion and student of Mahila Nutan School, Margao scored a dramatic win over eighth-seeded Nabila Farheen (Elo 2103) in the 11th round of ‘B’ event in Chennai to take her score to 7.5 points. Bhakti, who had made an offer for a draw in the initial stage, turned the tables on her opponent, winning in 36 moves.

Bhakti’s coach Dronacharya awardee Raghunandan Gokhale remarked that Bhakti’s qualification was just the beginning of a bright future for Goan chess, stated a Goa State Chess Association’s congratulatory press release.

Bhakti's next tournaments include the World Youth Championships in Batumi, Georgia, the Commonwealth Chess Championship in Mumbai and the National Women's 'A' in Rajkot.

Shubham tops Moira chess

Shubham Pinge emerged champion at the M F Pinto memorial all-Goa chess tournament organised by AA de Moira. He scored seven points to pip Umang Kaisare (6) to the second position.

Shubham displayed great form to brush aside all his rivals, winning all his games on his way to bagging Rs 1200. The 12-year-old Umang, meanwhile, stunned veteran V Sivaswamy to herald his arrival as a budding talent. Former state champion P M Kantak (5.5) was lucky to draw with another rising star 10-year-old Niraj Saripalli (5.5) by a perpetual check. The fourth and fifth prizes were shared by Suhas Asnodkar and Manmesh Naik (5.5 each and identical tie-break scores). Niraj finished 6th while Wilson Cruz (5) was 7th. Following prizes were awarded: Best woman: Prasanna Sivaswamy. Best Moira player: Kelvin de Lima. Best U-7: Snehil Shetty, U-9: Rakshit Rai, U-11: Pranav Zantye, U-13: Anurag Mhamal.

Bhakti, Shradha and Nandhini to play in National "B"

Bhakti Kulkarni (ELO 2060), Shradha Mohanan (ELO 1870) and Nandhini Saripalli (ELO 1845) will be amongst the Goan contingent in the National "B" Chess Championship to be held at Chennai from the 19th to the 26th of September, 2006.

The other two members of the Goan team are Meloisa Celianne Carvalho and Anuradha Chavan. Smt. Priya Kulkarni is the accompanying official of the team. Bhakti narrowly missed out in the qualification race in last year's "B" which was held in Sangli. In the new format, 20 ladies will be selected for the National "A" to be held in Rajkot in December. Good luck to the young ladies!

XI Individual World Championship for the Blind

Goa will be the proud host of the Eleventh Individual World Championship for the Blind.
The tournament will be held from the 8th of October to the 19th of October, 2006 and the scenic venue is the Hotel Radisson White Sands Resorts, Varca.

A large turnout is expected with participants from over 40 countries with approximately 15 International Masters included in the fray. The top six players will play in the next Olympiad (for the sighted) and the top player will be crowned as World Champion. The games on the top boards will be telecast live on the internet.

More details of this prestigious tournament can be obtained at the website of the All India Chess Federeation for the Blind at http://www.aicfb.org/index.asp.

Ivana Furtado bags Geno award.

Cricketer Saurabh Bandekar and chess prodigy Ivana Furtado have been selected as best sportsman and sportswoman respectively by Sports Journalists Association of Goa (SJAG) for the Geno Award 2005-06 to be presented on September 7. Ivana is perhaps the youngest Goan to have been singled out for the prestigious award and that too in the field of chess wherein Goans are still finding their bearings!

Seven year old Ivana who won the bronze medal at the Asian Youth Festival in New Delhi in December 2005 and followed it up with a silver medal at the same competition in Teheran, Iran this year. She still has one more year in the Under 8 category, where she can be expected to bag the gold medal next year to equal the performance of her Goan teammate Bhakti Kulkarni who won the gold medal in the Girls Under 14 section.

Both Ivana and Bhakti will be participating in the World Youth in Georgia in October and Ivana will play in the National Under 7 to be held in Panjim from November 15th to the 20th at the Don Bosco School complex.

The girls have received tremendous support from the Goans both at home and abroad. The Sports Authority of Goa and the Goa State Government have also been consistently encouraging them throughout to accomplish these stupendous feats.