Goans improve their ratings in January 2008 FIDE list!

Goans improved their ratings considerably in the January
FIDE Ratings list thanks to their participation in various
National championships throughout the country. Woman FIDE Master
and WGM Norm Holder Bhakti Kulkarni gained 52 points after an excellent
performance in the National Junior Championship in Nagpur
which she won with a round to spare and by a margin of 2
points after going unbeaten in 11 rounds.

State Champion Anurag Mhamal overtook Swapnil Hobble
after a good performance in the National Subjunior Championship
in Chennai where he stood twelfth. Also gaining was Cyrus Perreira
who garnered 25 points from an impressive display in the National
Under 11 in Calicut and Mohanan Harikrishnan who gained 22
points after standing 4th in the National Under 9 Championships
in Bangalore.

In the year 2008, we expect to see a lot more Goans rated
with the National 'B' to be held in Goa and since it is 13 rounds, there
will be a golden opportunity for the upcoming Goan players to get
their initial FIDE rating with the home field advantage!

Some of the important ratings of the active players are as follows -

Bhakti Kulkarni 2164 (+52)
Anurag Mhamal 2106 (+14)
Swapnil Hobble 2105
Suhas Asnodkar 2031
Shubham Pinge 2012
Vasanth Naik 2002
Sumit Asnodkar 1999
P.M. Kantak 1990
P.P. Insulkar 1963
Standrik Colaso 1957
Manmesh Naik 1953
Niraj Saripalli 1952 (-15)
Sanjay Kavlekar 1947
Celianne Carvalho 1926
A. Malwankar 1914
Umang Kaisary 1889
Prasanna Swamy 1884
Cyrus Perreira 1870 (+25)
Keegan Furtado 1870
Amogh S. Namshiker 1859
Shradha Mohanan 1857
Nandhini Saripalli 1849 (-27)
Agasti Tari 1845 (-30)
Ivana Furtado 1834
V. Siva Swamy 1820
Pranav Zantye 1774 (-21)
Anuradha Chavan 1766
M. Harikrishnan 1752 (+22)
Brahmanand Kamat 1747
Chinmay Patil 1698 (-27)
Rakshith Rai 1659 (+3)
Sampada Barve 1651

Cash award for Ivana

Goanetters in Toronto today presented a cheque
for Rs 20,000 to Ivana Maria Furtado for winning
the World Under-8 chess event in Turkey recently.
Ivana retained the crown for the second successive year.

The award was presented by Mr Bosco D’Mello,
vice-president, at a function to mark the international
year end meet of Goanetters at Mira Mar.

Fr Ariosto Coelho, Mr Mariano A Pereira, Mr Eustaquio
Santimano, Mr Marlon Menezes, Mr Roy Pimento, Mr Cipriano
Fernandes, Mr Rajan Parrikar, Mr Jerry Fernandes,
Ms Ana Maria Goswami, Ms Melinda Powel, Mr George Pinto,
Mr Vivek Menezes, Mr Nacimento Caldeira, Mr Cecil Pinto
were among those present.

Mr Eli Furtado spoke and Ivana played simultaneously
with 6 youngsters.

Wilson tops Margao tourney

Wilson Cruz won the all-Goa open chess tournament 2007,
organised by Margao Chess and Rotary Club of Margao at
Rotary hall, Margao. In the final round, Wilson pipped
young Niraj Saripalli, who finished second, to score
8 points from 9 closely contested rounds.

Cyrus Pereira upset Nandini Saripalli to claimed third
spot. Special prizes in age group categories were awarded
to - Vipul Kulkarni and Sawant Riya (U-12), Akshay Deulkar
and Bhakti Naik (U-15), Anirudh Bhat and Gauri
Hadkonkar (U-8).

Mr Avdhoot Kare, president of Rotary Club of Margao,
Mr Shirish Naik, secretary and Mr Ashesh Keni gave
away the prizes

National 'B' in Goa will be a pivotal event - AICF

All India Chess Federation's (AICF's) decision of
giving status of GM norm for the National 'B' championship
to be held at Goa in June next is considered as a pivotal step
in the important process of having more Indian Grandmasters.
AICF's central council meeting here has made good use of
the International Federation's (FIDE) ruling by giving
GM norm for National 'B' tournaments. Hitherto, only
National 'A' was considered as GM norm tournament.

FIDE allows its national affiliates to have any one
of the domestic championships under GM norm regulations
without the mandatory foreign players' participation.
"It is a right step in the direction of giving scope
to a larger number of players to achieve the vital GM
(or IM) norm and it would help India have more than the
present 17 GMs in a shorter time," D V Sundar,
Secretary, AICF, said.

"I am delighted and honoured that AICF has chosen Goa
as the site for the first norm version of the National 'B'"
was the reaction of GSCA President Sameer A. Salgaocar,
who also happens to be Vice President of the AICF and attended
the crucial meeting in Chennai. "We will take all the steps
necessary to make it a show piece event", he added.

The meeting also decided the qualification criteria for
the National 'A' championship (a 14-player event from 2008).
The top 11 finishers in National 'B' (to be held in Chennai
from February 3 to 16, 2008) and three top seeded players
of National 'A' would be eligible to compete in 2008 National 'A'.

In 2005, the system had 22 players competing in all-play-all
format. The players' association requested for a change
since it was taking about 25 days to finish the event.
Consequently, the National Women 'B' would be a 12-player
event with nine qualifying from National 'B' and three seeded
stars from National Women 'A'. Players with highest FIDE ratings
(five each of men and women) would be allowed to represent
India in the Chess Olympiads.

For the 2008 Dresden Olympiad, the AICF has decided the FIDE April
ratings list as criteria for selection.

Gokhale Sir's felicitation kicks off Anniversary year!

The felicitation of Dronacharya Awardee Raghunandan
Gokhale at the hands of GSCA Vice President
M.R. Naik at the Mir Sultan Khan Chess Academy, Sanvordem
marked the commencement of the 30th
anniversary celebrations of Goa State Chess Association.

Gokhale, who is also due to celebrate his 50th birthday
few days later, remarked that a chess revolution is truly
underway in the tiny state of Goa. Although he is the Chairman
of Maharashtra Chess Association, Gokhale mentioned that
he enjoyed sepnding time in Goa and this was largely due to
the fact that he had received lots of love and affection from the Goan
officials, parents and children.

Sameer A. Salgaocar, President of GSCA, stated that
on Goa's Liberation Day, it was only fitting that we felicitate the
gentleman who had liberated our Goan students from the days
of directionless chess. 'With the advent of the Dronacharya,
Goa has seen its children rise to become World, Asian, Commonwealth
and National Champions and that too in such a short period of time',
he added.

Tatvesh Savant, a product of the Academy, was presented a digital
clock on the occasion by Gokhale for becoming the Under 7 State
Champion. His pet student Bhakti Kulkarni was later presented a
digital camera for earning her first Woman Grandmaster norm. Finally,
it was Niraj Saripalli who received a cash award for becoming the first
Goan boy to stand in the top 10 of three different National Championships.

The function was well attended by the officials, parents and children.
Sanjay Kavlekar, the Academy in charge, presented the Vote of Thanks.

'Benefits for the players and children in the 30th Anniversary year'

At the Special General Body Meeting of the Goa State
Chess Association held today
at the International Centre, Dona Paula
it was decided to sponsor two donor entries
each in the Under 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 categories
of the National Championships in both the Boys and
Girls sections. Also, a sum of Rs. 1,000/- will be
paid to all the selected participants towards their
expenses for the National tournaments.

This is part of the 30th year Anniversary celebrations of the Goa
State Chess Association. A special souvenir will also
be published on this occassion. This year's State
championship and Subjunior championships will also
have a record prize money of Rs. 50,000/- and Rs. 25,000/-
respectively. Porvorim Chess Club, Porvorim and Mir Sultan Khan
Chess Academy, Sanvordem have come forward to organise
these two prestigious tournaments.

Coaching camps for the upcoming players are planned with the
guidance of reputed International Masters such as Vishal Sareen,
Lanka Ravi and D.V. Prasad. Laptops, digital clocks and cash
awards will be given to deserving candidates. Many kids from other
states will be felicitated as well and their entry fees for various
tournaments will also be sponsored to garner goodwill for G.S.C.A.
among our colleague associations.

The year will officially kick off on December 19th when Dronacharya
awardee Raghunandan Gokhale and International Champion and Woman
Grandmaster Norm holder Bhakti Kulkarni will be felicitated.
Later during the year, a felicitation of Bhausaheb Padsalgikar,
the veteran organiser is planned at Taleigao Chess Academy.
The founder members of GSCA as well as the veteran players
will be honoured by the Association during the course of the year.

The final icing on the cake will be the hosting of the National 'B'
which will involve the participation of numerous Grandmasters and
International Masters and will be a full fledged norm event for the
first time in India. More than 400 players are expected to participate in
this tournament.

Vishy Anand hails Ivana's feat!

(Photo - Ivana receiving the Gold Medal from FIDE General
Secretary Ignatius Leong)

World Champion Viswanathan Anand congratulated
Ivana Furtado on her unique accomplishment of
winning two consecutive World Under 8 Girls
Championships in 2006 (Batumi, Georgia) and
2007 (Antalya, Turkey).

Ivana and Anand first met at the AICF felicitation function
of Vishy in Chennai. Ivana invited Aruna and Vishy to Goa
and the World Champion would have made it had it not
been for a bout of viral fever last minute. Thereafter, Ivana
called Anand to wish him for Diwali and Vishy inturn wished
her all the success for her upcoming tournament in Turkey.

Motivated by the kind words and gestures of this
great champion, Ivana who is a student of Our Lady of
Rosary, Dona Paula went on to be the only Gold medallist
in the large Indian contingent sent to Antalya. Her next goal
is to become the World Women's Champion one day, she states!

Bhakti, Anurag and Hari for Commonwealth Chess

Riding on the success of her victory in the
National Junior Girls Chess Championship in
Nagpur, WFM Bhakti Kulkarni will be participating
in the the Parsvnath Commonwealth Chess
Championship 2007, which would be hosted by the
Delhi Chess Association at 'Khelgaon' from 2nd to
10th December 2007. Also present with her from Goa
will be State Champion Anurag Mhammal and 4th
in the National Under 9 Mohanan Harikrishnan.
The tournament, which will be a full fledged norm
event, has attracted a record 275 players till
date with entries still pouring in.

The mini-version of the Commonwealth Games 2010,
which is scheduled at the same venue, has attracted
the cream of chess talents from 11 Commonwealth
countries; Australia, Bangladesh, England, Malaysia,
Pakistan, Republic of South Africa, Singapore,
Sri Lanka, Trinidad & Tobago, Maldives and host India.

The field includes 13 Grandmasters (GM);
5 Women Grandmasters (WGM), 40 International
Masters (IM), 5 Women International Masters (WIM),
5 FIDE Masters (FM) and 3 Women FIDE Masters (WFM),
which adds to nearly 70 titled players who would
be vying for a prize fund of US $ 20000 with
the winner pocketing US $ 4000 in this 10-round event.

There are more than 15 titled players and 20 FIDE
rated players from outside the country have confirmed
their participation in the tournament, which is
excellent news for norm seekers including Bhakti
and Anurag. Bhakti will be defending her Commonwealth
Under 18 Girls title which she won in Mumbai last year
as well as trying to earn some valuable ELO rating
points which will get her to cross 2200 mark.
This incidentally will be the first international
tournament for young Harikrishnan who won the
Sangli Under 9 Boys title in fine style.

The pride of seeding goes to Indian national champion,
GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly who is rated 2585 followed by
GM Gawain Jones of England (2567). However, the star
attraction of this tournament would undoubtedly be
hitherto world's youngest Grandmaster, 14-year old
Parimarjan Negi (2514) whose wonderful exploits has
made the chess world follow his progress. Jones and
Negi, who are below 20, are one of the world's
young exciting talents.

On the women's front, the glamour girl of Indian chess,
WGM Tania Sachdev (2413), who has recently won the
Indian national Women's championship for the second
consecutive time, would be posing tough challenge
to the top women's players, IM Dronavali Harika (2480)
and WGM Nisha Mohota (2416).

The tournament is sponsored by Parsvnath Developers Ltd,
which has made Delhi as the one of the top chess
destinations in the world. The travel partner of the
event is Indian Airlines.

Ivana conquers the world - again!!!

Goa's Ivana Furtado guaranteed herself a place
in chess history by drawing the last round of the World
Youth Chess Championships being played
at Antalya, Turkey and thus retaining the world title
that she won in Batumi, Georgia last year. Considering the
fact that the Russians and Chinese were in Turkey in
full force, Ivana's second World championship can be rated as
even more commendable than the first one.

Dronacharya awardee Raghunandan Gokhale advised
Ivana to use the Pirc Defence for the second consecutive time
in two days and she won a pawn in the opening itself. Thereafter,
she gradually outplayed her opponent - Zhansaya Abdumalik
of Kazhakastan - to come up with a winning position. However,
when her opponent offered her a draw which was sufficient for
her title, Ivana agreed and thus won her 7th International Gold
medal in two and a half years!

This eight year old girl from Our Lady of Rosary High School, Dona Paula
has won two World Championships, one Asian Title, two World Schools
Gold medals and two Asian Schools Gold Medals. Her coach Raghunandan
Gokhale, India's first Dronachraya awardee was full of praise for Ivana and
said that we can expect even greater things from her in the future.

A special show was organised at the Sharada Mandir High School,
Miramar wherein the last round game was webcast live to the students
and teachers of the school. Goa State Chess Association officials
including the President Sameer A. Salgaocar and Secretary Suhas Asnodkar
were present to explain the intricacies and subtleties of the game.

Ivana's efforts were praised by the AICF Honorary Secretary D.V. Sundar
who said that she had showed her 'fighting qualities' to come back strongly
after losing to compatriot C.H. Meghna during the tournament. Chief
Minister of Goa Digamber Kamat also applauded Ivana for her stupendous
accomplishment of winning the World Championship for the second
consecutive time.

Umang is Runner Up in Sangli Under 17

(Photo - Umang Kaisary receiving prize from R Chitale, 91 years old Bhausaheb Padsalgikar is also present)

13 year old Umang Kaisary, student of Sharada Mandir,
Miramar Panaji, added yet another feather in his cap by taking the
runnerup spot in the Kanetkar Memorial All India Under 17 Chess
Tournament held at Sangli, Maharastra from 15th to 17th Nov. 2007.

Sameer Kathmale (Elo 2099), and Andhra Pradesh U 17 Champion
Anand Reddy (Elo 2035) also took part in the tournament. Umang was
tied with Anand Reddy for 2nd place on points but won the tiebreaker blitz
game in a cool and collected fashion.

Earlier, Pranav Zantye won the Under 11 section in which Goan Rishabh
Naik stood second. Goans, who had swept all the top 3 in the Under 9
section thus were dominant in this section as well!

Ivana continues to dominate, Bhakti held to a draw

Ivana Furtado continued her fine form with a win over
P. Preethy in the third round of the World Youth
Chess Championships being played in Antalya,
Turkey. However, the other Goan in the fray,
WFM Bhakti Kulkarni was unlucky not to win a full point
against her highly rated opponent and had to remain
content with a draw.

In her game against 6th seed WFM Abby
Marshall (ELO 2208) of the United States,
National Junior Girls Champion Bhakti (ELO 2112) used
a novelty on the twelfth move of the Queen's
Gambit Declined, Tarrasch Variation prepared
by her coach Dronacharya awardee Raghunandan
Gokhale. Her opponent was obviously caught offguard and
fell behind on time while preparing her replies
to this unusual choice of plan. Bhakti developed
her advantage positionally and won a pawn as well.
She looked all set to win the game except that she
blundered in the last stages of the endgame and
had to settle for half the point.

What was unfortunate was that Bhakti missed the chance
to put away a high quality opponent. Abby Marshall has
has won two national invitational girls' chess tournaments
over the past two years and tied for eight place (along
with GM Hikaru Nakamura!) at this year's U.S. Open.
Nevertheless, credit must be given to both the players
for the fighting spirit shown in this remarkable encounter.

Ivana, with 3 points from 3 rounds, looks good to go
all the way as per Coach Gokhale. She next faces
Narmin Mammadova of Azerbaijan in the 4th round
in her quest to become the youngest Indian to win two
World Championships and the first Indian to win a World
Championship in two consecutive years. Altogether six players
share the lead after the 3rd round in the Girls Under Eight
section, and eight more rounds remain in this prestigious
tournament.

In the Under 18 Girls Section, India has a bright chance
as both 2nd seed WIM Kiran Manisha Mohanty and WIM Mary
Ann Gomes are on top of the table with 3 points each (along
with 3 others). In the Under 14 Open section, IM S.P. Sethuraman
would be rated as a strong contender after he disposed off former
World Champion FIDE Master Narayanan Srinath. Altogether
1450 players from 103 countries are taking part in this mega event.

Finally a quote from Bhakti's opponent (Abby)
on the endgame -
'The end game is where you have to be precise,
where you have to be fast and smart.
You have to make sure that you what want
to do happens faster than what your opponent wants'.

Well said Abby!!

Bhakti and Ivana both win 2nd round games

Goa's both players - Ivana Furtado and
WFM Bhakti Kulkarni - won their second round
games in the World Youth Chess Championships
being played at Antalya, Turkey.

Bhakti (ELO 2112) defeated Turkish girl
Berfu Dincok (ELO 1945) in 70 moves of a
Ruy Lopez (Spanish Opening) game. She won
a piece in the opening itself and gradually wore
her opponent down. When we contacted Bhakti,
she expressed satisfaction with the conditions in
the tournament and was happy with the overall
facilities provided by the organisers. Bhakti had a
slice of good luck as well when top seeded Russian
WFM Olga Giriya (ELO 2338) was held to a draw and 2nd
seeded WFM Sopiko Guramishvili (ELO 2305) of Georgia
lost to an unfancied opponent.

Ivana, Goa's other medal hope, also won her game
against Helin Melek Saim of Turkey. Ivana is
trying to defend the crown that she won in Batumi,
Georgia last year and in the process she stands to
become India's youngest double World Champion!

One other defending champion, FIDE Master Girish
Kaushik (ELO 2086) was not so lucky when he lost
to unrated Ayan Akhmetov of Kazhakastan in the
Boys Under 10 Section. Playing his favourite Dragon
Variation of the Sicilian Defence, Girish faced a blistering
attack on his castled King. Although he survived that, the
price he paid was too high in terms of material, and he
eventually succumbed on the 71st move. Indian hopes were
kept alive in the same section, when Asian Champion Shardul
Gagare (ELO 2080) mated his opponent Aksel Sena Bicer
of Turkey in just 31 moves of an English Opening game.

No prizes for guessing the coach of all the three winners -
Ivana, Bhakti and Shardul. He is none other than Dronacharya
Awardee Raghunandan Gokhale who will be trying to
make it a Golden tournament for his students in Antalya!!

Ivana and Bhakti start off with wins

Both the Goans - World Under 8 Champion Ivana Furtado
and National Junior Champion Bhakti Kulkarni - started with
victories in the World Youth Chess Championships
which got underway in Antalya, Turkey.

Commonwealth Under 18 Girls Champion Bhakti (ELO 2112),
who is starting as the 19th seed in the Girls
section, defeated unrated Salama Al Khelaifi of Qatar
with the black pieces. She will next be playing Berfu
Dincok (ELO 1945) of Turkey in the second round.

Ivana, who is also the Asian Under 8 Girls Champion,
defeated Samantha Revita Glo of the Philippines
in the first round. She will be playing Melek Helin Saim
in the second round. Ivana will be fancying her chances
now as both the top seed Valentina Fiesco (ELO 2048)
of Colombia and the third seed Agnieszka Dmochowska
(ELO 1463) of Poland lost in the first round.

In other results, in the Girls Under 14 section,
2nd seeded Padmini Rout (ELO 2226) could be
considered lucky to escape with a draw
against Reka Kantor (ELO 1780) of Slovakia.
After the opening, Reka was a pawn up and had a double
Bishop advantage as well, but could not somehow
find the technique to convert her superior
position into a victory.

In the Boys Under 14 Section, topseeded
IM S.P. Sethuraman (ELO 2427) had no
problems whatsoever in disposing off
Jonathan Tordeur (ELO 1988) of Switzerland
in just 29 moves of an English Attack
in a Sicilian Defence Opening. However, in the
Boys Under 12 section, National Under 11 Champion
Fenil Shah (ELO 2124) was shocked by unrated
Iskandar Aripov of Uzbekistan and Asian Under 8
Champion G.V. Revanth Reddy (ELO 1625) went down
to unrated De Li Derek Lim of Singapore in
what could be perceived as major blows to
the Indian contingent's chances!

Goan kids sweep Sangli Under 9

Goan kids created a record of sorts
when they swept the top three places
in the traditional All India Open tournament
which takes place in Sangli every year.

In the Under 9 section, wherein both boys
and girls take part, M. Harikrishnan of Goa
won the first prize. He has been on a tear of
late and following his 4th place finish in the
National Under 9 in Bangalore, he added one more
feather in his cap by winning the Sangli crown.
He is being presently coached by V. Sivaswamy of
Bambolim Chess Club.

Following him was Anirudh Bhat of Margao who is
also a very strong, upcoming player. In third
place was Gauri Keshav Hadkonkar who enabled an
unprecedented Goan 'sweep' of the top 3 spots in
this prestigious competition. Finally there was
even more cheer for the Goan contingent when Rishabh
Naik stood 5th. Following in the footsteps
of Bhakti and Ivana, these youngsters will now hope
to carve out a niche for themselves at the national
and international level!

Bhakti's felicitation

National Junior Girls Champion Woman
FIDE Master being felicitated at
the Annual General Meeting of the
Goa State Chess Association by
AICF Vice President Sameer A. Salgaocar
in the presence of her father Pradip Kulkarni.

Also present are GSCA officials - Secretary
Suhas Asnodkar, Acting Secretary Augusto
Pinto and Treasurer Sachin Arolkar.

The meeting was attended by more than 75
life members of the GSCA.

Bhakti will also participate in the Girl Under 16
Section of the World Youth Chess Championships
in Antalya later this month along with World Under
8 Girls Chess Champion Ivana Furtado.
They will subsequently play in the Commonwealth
Championships in New Delhi where Bhakti will
defend her Under 18 Girls Gold Medal which she
won in great style last year.

Both the players will be having the benefit of their coach
Dronacharya Awardee Raghunandan Gokhale guiding
them personally in Turkey!

Riya Sawant stands fourth In National Under 7

Goa's Riya Sawant stood 4th in the
Girls section of the National
Under 7 Chess Championships
which concluded in Lucknow today.
This exceptional performance
follows her brilliant effort in the National
Under 9 tournament in Bangalore last month
where she stood 8th in a very tough field.
Goan kids have been on a tear recently
with half a dozen top ten performances
in the Nationals over the last 1.5 months -
(Riya Sawant twice, Niraj Saripalli, Bhakti Kulkarni,
Ivana Furtado and Mohanan Harikrishnan).
Add to that we have Anurag Mhamal (12th),
Cyrus Perreira (14th), Tatvesh Sawant (15th)
and Urvi Bandekar (16th) and the entire
scenario in Goa becomes crystal clear!

Riya finished with 7.5 points and will have
the satisfaction of having finished
in the top 10 of two National tournaments
in the same calendar year. She is presently
being coached by V. Sivaswamy of Bambolim
Chess Club, the cradle of many Goan champions.

The President and the Secretary of the
Goa State Chess Association
congratulated Riya and her coach on her unique
accomplishment and wished her continued success
in the future. There will be a separate felicitation
function for Riya on her return to Goa.

The final standings of the all the Goans
participating in the tournament were as follows -

Girls section - Riya Sawant 4th, Urvi Bandekar 16th,
Vidula Dempo 25th.

Boys section - Tatvesh Sawant 15th, Sumukh Pinge 62nd.

Bhakti interviewed by Chessfm.com

National Junior Girls champion, Bhakti Kulkarni of Goa is this week's guest on Chess.FM India's weekly show. The "India this Week" report by Arvind Aaron, we have the Indian team in action at the Asian Indoor games at Macau, the National Under-11 championship at Kozhikode, the upcoming National Women "A" Chess Championship at Pune and much more...

The Saturday show begins at 7PM IST and is available right through the week on the following link and website for your listening pleasure. You can listen to Chess.FM India directly heard through the web browsers at http://www.chessclub.com/chessfm/India.asx or visit www.chess.fm for more.

Chess.FM India, the exclusive India channel of Internet Chess Club's www.chess.fm was inaugurated during the Anand Charity Simul for Vidyasagar charity organisation. The previous Saturday show guests include various chess personalties, former World Junior champion GM Harikrishna, World's youngest Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi, Grandmaster Sandipan Chanda, Indian Women champion WGM Tania Sachdev, GM Dibyendu Barua, WGM Dronavalli Harika, IM Prathamesh, WGM S Vijayalakshmi, IM GN Gopal, WIM Kiran Manisha Mohanty, IM D V Prasad, R V Gokhale, WGM Swathi Ghate, GM Praveen Thipsay, GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly,GM Abhijit Kunte.

Chess.FM India is a free service and apart from the Saturday weekly show, has broadcasts Grandmaster commentary and analysis of world class Chess events such M Tel Super category tournament, Bulgaria and the Sparkassen Chess Festival, Dortmund, the Mainz Rapid and the World Chess Championship at Mexico. Viswanathan Anand.

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K Visweswaran, India Representative,

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email: IccIndia@chessclub.com Ph: +91-9444934036 .

Star Players felicitated at GSCA Annual General Meeting

(Photo - National under 9 4th place winner Mohanan Harikrishnan
being presented a digital chess clock by AICF Vice President
Sameer A. Salgaocar in the presence of his parents and GSCA
officials)

Goan star players were felicitated with cash prizes
and certificates at the Annual General Meeting of
the Goa State Chess Association which took place
at the BPS Sports Club in Margao today.

The players honoured by the Association included

1. Bhakti Kulkarni who won the National
Junior Championship in Nagpur and stood 2nd in the Asian
Under 16 Championships in Uzbekistan;

2. Ivana Furtado who won the Asian Under 8
Championships in Al Ain, U.A.E.;

3. Mohanan Harikrishnan who stood 4th in the
National Under 9 in Bangalore;

4. Riya Sawant who stood 8th in the National Under 9
in Bangalore;

5. Niraj Saripalli who stood 8th in the National Under 11
in Kozhikode.

Agasti Tari was also given a cash prize for having accomplished
his rating and having won a board prize in the National Schools
Tournament in Vishakapatnam.

The Association also decided on hosting the National "B"
tournament next year as well as conducting some coaching camps
with some reputed players as part of the 30th Anniversary celebrations.
Also the A.N. Naik Memorial All India Open tournament will be revived
and the main sponsor will be the Monginis Group.

The Association thanked the Goa government and the Sports Authority
of Goa for all the assistance and financial help sanctioned throughout
the year and also the AICF for having allotted the prestigious National
"B" next year to Goa.

Anand's felicitation - 2

Photo 1 - World Champion Viswanathan Anand with World Under 8
Champion Ivana Furtado and AICF Vice President Sameer A. Salgaocar

Photo 2 - World Under 8 Champion Ivana Furtado with her idol and
chess legend Super Grandmaster Koneru Humpy

Niraj Saripalli finishes 8th; Cyrus 14th

Goa's Niraj Saripalli continued the state's
fine showing in the recent national events
by clinching the eighth spot in the National
Under 11 Chess Championships which
concluded in Kozhikode, Kerala.

In the tournament, Niraj had a bad start when
he lost to a low rated player in the second round
itself. Nevertheless, he kept his nerve and gradually
his position improved. In the last round, he beat the
fancied R. Eswar to finish in a five way tie for the
fourth place with 8 points. However, his poor tiebreak
score cost him dearly here and he finished on 8th
place which is a commendable performance.

Goa's Cyrus Perreira also followed closely with
7.5 points. He finished in the 14th spot which
is highly encouraging considering the fact that
he has one more year in this category.

Pranav Zantye finished 26th and Chinmay finished
38th. In the Girls Section, Vaishakhi Pilarnkar
finished 47th.

Umang Kaisary wins M. F. Pinto Memorial Open Chess in Moira

(Report prepared by GSCA Vice President Augusto Pinto)

Scoring 7 points from 7 rounds, 13 year old Sharada Mandir student Umang Kaisary proved that in Goan chess nobody can take anything for granted as he swept past all opposition to emerge champion at the M. F. Pinto Memorial open chess tournament organised by Associacao Academica de Moira. State champion Anurag Mhamal (6) took 2nd spot, the experienced Vasant Naik ( 5.5) was third, while State no.2 Shubham Pinge (5 ) was relegated to 4th spot on better progressive tie-break score. The 5th prize went to Arvind Mhamal (5) who edged out Wilson Cruz on better cut progressive tie-break score.

Others to get consolation prizes included Nandini Saripalli (Best 15 player); Rishabh Naik - (Best under-11); Shravan Barve (Best unrated boy) Varshitha Reddy (Best unrated girl) and Gajanan Haldankar (Best Moira player). The tournament was played using a combination of Lightning and Blitz formats, and the playing field had a total of 15 rated players.

The inform Umang defeated Shubham Pinge in the 4th round after sacrificing a piece in a French opening game. Shubham blundered by accepting it as it soon led to a back rank mate.

In the 5th round he met Anurag, and played aggressively against the Sicilian Rossolimo opening with black pieces. In the endgame that resulted, Umang's Bishop proved better than Anu's Knight and he forced the State Champion's resignation when his King got cornered.Although he was champion with a round to spare, he still went all out to defeat Arvind Mhamal in the last round.

The prizes were distributed by former President of GSCA , Adv. S. S. Rao who spoke of how chess players benefitted academically.Also present were GSCA officials Suhas Asnodkar, (Secretary); Sachin Arolkar (Treasurer); Arvind Mhamal (Jt. Sec.); Augusto Pinto (Acting Secy);and arbiters Tanay Kaisare and Shrikant Barve.

Ivana attends Anand's felicitation

World Under 8 Girls Champion Ivana Furtado,
her father Eli Furtado and GSCA President
Sameer A. Salgaocar attended World Champion
Viswanathan Anand's felicitation at Chennai.
On this occasion, Anand was presented a cheque
of Rupees Ten lakhs by the AICF President
N. Srinivasan in the presence of Asian President
Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, AICF
Secretary D.V. Sundar and cricketing legend
and former Indian captain Rahul Dravid.

During the function, Ivana was asked to present
a bouquet to the World Champion. The crowd broke
out into a spontaneous rapture as India's youngest
champion and the senior most champion came
face to face on the stage. Ivana also described
this moment as 'absolutely thrilling' and her father
Eli said that she was simply 'overwhelmed'.

'When I see these young kids (including Ivana)
I can see in their eyes what Anand means to them'
stated Dravid. 'He has been an inspiration to all of us.
I’d also like to congratulate his family,” he added.

Ivana also got some time to spend with her idol
and Super Grandmaster Koneru Humpy before
the function. Her coach Dronacharya Awardee
Raghunandan Gokhale also flew down from Mumbai
for this momentuous occasion.

Ivana later presented a resolution passed by
Goa State Chess Association commending Anand’s feats.
She also invited both Aruna and Vishy Anand to visit
Goa when they have some free time to which she received
a positive answer from Aruna.

GSCA President Salgaocar gave the credit to AICF
Secretary D.V. Sundar for having initiated the novel scheme
of having all of India's chess champions visit Chennai
for participating in Anand's moment of glory. 'When Ivana
went up on the stage, Goan chess had a moment that
will be indelibly imprinted on our minds', he later mentioned.

3 Goans in the top 10

Three Goans finished in the top 10
to create history in the National Under 9
Chess Championships which concluded
at Bangalore. Of these, Harikrishnan will have
a bright chance to represent India next year as the
3rd placed Ch. Mohineesh (ELO 1925) will get
seeding if he places in the top 3 in the World
Youth which is getting underway next month
in Antalya, Turkey.

Mohanan Harikrishnan (ELO 1730) was the
pick of the lot. He finished fourth in the Boys'
section after beating M. Karthikeyan of Tamil
Nadu. Harikrishnan will consider himself unlucky
not to finish in the top 3 as he had a brilliant
tournament and won accolades from one and all
for his sterling display. Before this the best finish
by a Goan boy was the 5th place of Cyrus Perreira
in the Under 9 held in Solapur last year.

World Under 8 Girls Champion Ivana Furtado finished
5th after beating statemate Gauri Hadkonkar in the
last round. Ivana has one more year in the Under 9
section and we expect her to finish much higher
in the next year's edition of this same tournament.

Perhaps the greatest revalation was young Riya Sawant
who finished 8th in the Girls section. Riya is still eligible
for the Under 7 Nationals which get underway later this
month in Lucknow. Another pleasant surprise for the Goans
was the performance of Gauri Hadkonkar who finished
in 18th place. GSCA President Sameer A. Salgaocar
flew down to Bangalore for the Prize Distribution ceremony
and congratulated the successful Goan players in person.

Boys (final round): Diptayan Ghosh (9.5) drew with Sidhanth Mohapatra (9); Ch Mohineesh (8.5) drew with Sardara Preet (8.5); M. Satvik (8.5) bt Ashwath P. Hari (7.5); Arjun Bharat (8.5) bt Gv. Revanth Reddy (7.5); M. Karthikeyan (7.5) lost to Harikrishnan Mohanan (8.5); Adarsh P. Yeshwanth (8.5) bt Maniar Thirth (7.5).

Girls: Sunya Sakta Satpathy (8) lost to GK Monisha (9.5); Sweety Patel (8.5) bt M. Mahalakshmi (8); Shoumi Mukherjee (9) bt Akhankya Kabi (7); C.H. Meghana (8) bt Divya Garg (7); Ivana Maria Furtado (8) bt Gauri Keshav Hadondkar (7).

Ivana in joint second place

World Under 8 Girls Champion Ivana
Furtado of Goa found herself in joint
second place after the sixth round of the
National Under 9 Chess Championships
being played at Bangalore.

Ivana defeated Megha Gupta of Gujarat in the
sixth round. This was the same girl who had
defeated topseed Sweety Patel (ELO 1983)
in the first round so Ivana could not take any
chances. She eventually prevailed in a tough
battle to bag her 5th point in 6 rounds.

G.K. Monnisha (ELO 1705) of Tamil Nadu is in
the lead with 5.5 points. Ivana and 4 others
are in the second spot with 5 points each.
Goa's Gauri Hadkonkar (4 points) and Riya Sawant
(3.5 points) are also doing well. Ivana faces the leader
in a crucial encounter in the 7th round.

In the boys section, two Goans are in joint 5th
place surprisingly with 5 points each. They are
M. Harikrishnan (ELO 1730) and Rakshit Rai
(ELO 1656). Hopefully, one or both of these can
qualify for the internationals by placing in the top 3.

Anurag finishes 12th

Goa's state champion Anurag Mhamal (ELO 2092)
finished off with a nice win aganst Tejas Ravichandran
(ELO 1980) of Tamil Nadu and ended with 7.5 points
in the National Subjunior Chess Championships which
concluded here at Chennai today.

Tejas launched a premature attack on the Kingside which
was effectively foiled by Anurag and he also won a piece
in the ensuing melee. Mhamal simplified matters into a
winning endgame and his opponent resigned in just 29
moves. This makes up somewhat for Anurag's unfortunate
loss yesterday against IM Norm holder Aditya Udeshi (ELO 2355)
of Maharashtra where he failed to claim a draw by repetition
of moves.

Considering that Anurag was seeded 24th at the start of the
tournament, a 12th place finish is indeed a welcome effort from
this 12 year old lad. He finished ahead of former World Under 12
Champion N. Srinath (ELO 2201 and 16th place) and last year's
Under 11 National Champion Fenil Shah (ELO 2124 and 18th place)
so his performance is indeed commendable. His next tournaments will
be the Under 13 Nationals and the Commonwealth Chess Championships
which are both to be conducted in New Delhi in December, this year.

Also doing well was Nandhini Saripalli (ELO 1876) of Goa who beat
unrated Pallavi of Bihar in the last round. Although she was
ranked 28th at the start of the tournament, Nandhini finished 23rd.
Goan chess lovers can expect more good things to come from both
Anurag and Nandhini in the future!

Tejas Ravichandran (1980) - Anurag Mhamal (2092)
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.c3 Bd6 6.Bg3 Nf6 7.Nbd2 Qe7
8.Bxd6 Qxd6 9.Bd3 0-0 10.0-0 e5 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Qxe5 13.Nf3 Qc7
14.Qa4 b6 15.Qh4 Re8 16.Rad1 h6 17.Bc2 Bb7 18.Qh3 Rad8 19.Bb1 Ne4
20.Rfe1 Rd6 21.Nh4 Bc8 22.g4 h5 23.f3 hxg4 24.fxg4 Rh6 25.Rxd5 Qe7
26.Bxe4 Rxh4 27.Qf3 Rxg4+ 28.Kh1 Qxe4 29.Qxe4 Rgxe4 0-1

Nandhini Saripalli (1876) - Pallavi
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3 c5 5.b3 Nbd7 6.0-0 b6 7.Bb2 Qc7 8.Ne5
Bd6 9.f4 a6 10.c4 Bb7 11.Nd2 0-0 12.Rc1 h6 13.Qe2 Rfc8 14.g4 Ne4
15.Ndf3 Nxe5 16.dxe5 Be7 17.f5 Qd8 18.cxd5 Qxd5 19.Rcd1 Qc6 20.Qg2 Ng5
21.Be2 Ne4 22.Nd2 Nxd2 23.Qxc6 Bxc6 24.Rxd2 Rd8 25.Rfd1 Rxd2 26.Rxd2
exf5 27.gxf5 Bg5 28.Kf2 Bh4+ 29.Kf1 Bb5 30.Rd6 Bxe2+ 31.Kxe2 b5 32.Rc6
Be7 33.Rc7 Kf8 34.e6 f6 35.Rd7 a5 36.Rb7 b4 37.Kd3 a4 38.bxa4 Ke8
39.Kc4 Rxa4 40.Rb8+ Bd8 41.Kb3 Ra7 42.a3 bxa3 43.Bxa3 Ra5 44.Rc8 c4+
45.Rxc4 Rxf5 46.Rc8 Re5 47.e7 Rxe7 48.Bxe7 Kxe7 49.Kc4 Bb6 50.e4 Kf7
51.Kd5 g5 52.h3 h5 53.Rc6 Be3 54.e5 fxe5 55.Kxe5 h4 56.Kf5 Bf4 57.Rb6
Ke7 58.Rb7+ Kf8 59.Kf6 Ke8 60.Rh7 Bc1 61.Re7+ Kd8 62.Re2 Bf4 63.Kf7
Bc1 64.Re1 Bf4 65.Rd1+ Kc7 66.Ke7 Kc8 67.Rd4 Kc7 68.Rc4+ Kb6 69.Ke6
Bd2 70.Kd5 Kb7 71.Kd6 Kb8 72.Kd7 Kb7 73.Rc2 Bf4 74.Rb2+ Ka8 75.Ke6 Bc1
76.Rb1 Bf4 77.Kf5 Bd2 78.Kg4 Ka7 79.Rb5 Ka8 80.Rxg5 Bxg5 81.Kxg5 Kb7
82.Kxh4 Kc8 83.Kg5 Kd8 84.Kf6 Ke8 85.Kg7 Ke7 86.h4 1-0

Anurag holds International Master to a draw

State Champion Anurag Mhamal (ELO 2092) managed to
hold reputed International Master M. Shyam Sundar (ELO 2241)
of Tamil Nadu to a 25 move draw in the crucial ninth round of the National
Sub junior Championships being played in Chennai.

Shyam Sundar had tied for first place in the Asian Junior
Championship in New Delhi last year and this was going to be
a tough battle for Anurag. In a French Defence opening,
12 year old Anurag actually managed to get a slight
positional edge as his opponent had an isolated Queen pawn.
However, that did not seem to be enough and the players agreed
for a draw through a repetition of moves.

IM S.P. Sethuraman (ELO 2427) of Tamil Nadu leads with 8 points
after he defeated statemate FM K. Priyadarshan (ELO 2298).
He is followed by International Master B. Adhiban (ELO 2422)
and R. Ramnath Bhuvanesh (ELO 2115) also of Tamil Nadu
and Antonio Viani D' Cunha (ELO 1988) of Karnataka
who are on 7 points each.

Anurag is in joint 5th position with a bunch of other players.
Two more rounds remain in this event and he will have to win both
to stand in the first five who will have a chance to represent
India in the World Under 16 Olympiad next year.

In the Girls section, A. Niji (ELO 1925) took over the sole lead with
7.5 points. Top seed WFM Pon. N. Krithika (ELO 2140) was shocked by
Tamil Nadu state mate R. Bharathi (ELO 2017) in a Caro Kann Opening.

Shyam Sundar M (2241) - Anurag Mhamal (2092) [C10]
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Be7 6.Bd3 Ngf6 7.Nxf6+
Bxf6 8.0-0 0-0 9.Re1 c5 10.c3 cxd4 11.cxd4 Nb6 12.Qc2 g6 13.Bh6 Re8
14.Rad1 Nd5 15.a3 b6 16.Ne5 Bb7 17.Be4 Bg5 18.Bxg5 Qxg5 19.Rd3 Rac8
20.Qd1 Re7 21.Rg3 Qh6 22.Rh3 Qg5 23.Rg3 Qh6 24.Rh3 Qg5 25.Rg3 1/2-1/2

4 more Goans in October 2007 FIDE list!

Four more Goans - Agasti Tari, Brahmanand Kamat,
M. Harikrishnan and Rakshith Rai - made it to the FIDE rating list
which was released on October 1, 2007. This reflects the
growing popularity of chess with the youngsters in Goa
as they are now performing well in the Open tournaments
and earning a name for themselves and the State.

Goan chess also celebrated the success of Anurag Mhamal
and Umang Kaisary whose ratings improved by 33 points and
67 points respectively. Whereas Umang dazzled in Mangalore
with a 2093 performance, Anurag essayed a brilliant 2203 performance
in the National 'B' conducted at Dindigul, Tamil Nadu.

Among the active players the gap between Woman FIDE Master
Bhakti Kulkarni and Anurag Mhamal has narrowed to just
20 points though it must be mentioned that Bhakti will be gaining
61 ELO points for her performance in the National Junior Championship
which will be reflected in the January 2008 rating list.

Some of the important ratings are as follows -


J. Venkata Ramana 2168
Mandar Tahmankar 2141
Bhakti Kulkarni 2112
Swapnil Hobble 2105
Anurag Mhamal 2092
Suhas Asnodkar 2031
Shubham Pinge 2012
Sumit Asnodkar 1999
P.M. Kantak 1990
Niraj Saripalli 1967
Standrik Colaso 1957
Sanjay Kavlekar 1947
Celianne Carvalho 1926
A. Malwankar 1914
Umang Kaisary 1889
Prasanna Swamy 1884
Nandhini Saripalli 1876
Keegan Furtado 1870
Shradha Mohanan 1857
Cyrus Perreira 1845
V. Siva Swamy 1820
Pranav Zantye 1795
Anuradha Chavan 1766
Chinmay Patil 1725

New entrants
Agasti Tari 1875
Brahmanand Kamat 1747
M. Harikrishnan 1730
Rakshith Rai 1656

Recent top rating performances by Goan players

1. Commonwealth, November 2006 - 2328 Bhakti Kulkarni (9 games)
2. National Junior Girls 2007 - 2220 Bhakti Kulkarni (10 games)
3. National B 2006 - 2203 Anurag Mhamal (12 games)
4. Sangli, May 2007 - 2176 Anurag Mhamal (8 games)
5. Sangli, May 2005- 2175 Bhakti Kulkarni (7 games)
6. Rochess, December 2006 - 2162 Anurag Mhamal (7 games)
7. Sangli, December 2006 - 2157 Anurag Mhamal (8 games)
8. Mangalore 2007 - 2093 Umang Kaisary (7 games)

GSCA salutes Viswanathan Anand!

In its Executive Body meeting, Goa State Chess
Association passed a resolution congratulating
Viswanathan Anand for winning the World Championship
title in Mexico.

'Anand will always be special for Goa' said President
Sameer A. Salgaocar adding that 'it was here in Panjim that
Vishy won his first National title (Subjunior open) in 1983
by scoring a perfect 9 out of 9 points'.

Anand also won the National Junior crown the subsequent
crown in Vasco city to add to his fond memories of the
state.

Bhakti remains unbeaten; wins by record margin!

Commonwealth Under 18 Girls Champion Bhakti
Kulkarni (ELO 2112) drew her last round game with National
Under 17 Champion R. Preethi of Tamil Nadu (ELO 2109)
to remain unbeaten in the National Junior Girls Chess
Championship which concluded here at Nagpur today.

At the outset of the game, Goa's wondergirl Bhakti
offered a draw to her reputed rival from down South.
However, her opponent refused as she was trying to
seal the runner up position for herself. Nevertheless,
as the game progressed, it was Preethi who found
herself in a spot of bother and she landed up offering
the draw which Bhakti gladly accepted.

With this result, Bhakti finishes with 10 out of a possible
11 points and stays unbeaten in this gruelling event.
The margin of 2 points over her nearest rivals is a record
as well as the fact that she is the first girl after Koneru
Humpy to have won the Juniors title while still being
eligible for the Subjunior category!

For the stastically inclined, Bhakti's performance of 9 points
against 10 rated players of an average ELO rating of 2119 points
will translate into a rating performance of 2219 in the event
wherein she will gain 61 points.

Dronacharya awardee, Raghunandan Gokhale, who is
also Bhakti's coach attributes her 'dream run' to the
Blessings of the Almighty.

Main results (final round) - 1. R. Preethi drew with Bhakti Kulkarni
2. Mary Ann Gomes drew with P. Lakshmi Sahiti 3. Pon. N. Krithika
beat Kiran Manisha Mohanty 4. Kruttika Nadig beat Padmini Rout
5. Sitalatchumi lost to Soumya Swaminathan 6. S. Harini lost to
P. Uthra 7. Mohana Sengupta lost to P. Sivasankari 8. N. Raghavi
drew with Shrushti Shetty 9. Ch. Divyasri lost to P. Anusha 10. Priyanka
Kumari drew with Ketaki Kulkarni

Final standings : 1. WFM Bhakti Kulkarni (10 points), 2-6. WIM Mary Ann
Gomes, R. Preethi, WIM Soumya Swaminathan, WFM Pon. N. Krithika,
WIM Kruttika Nadig (8 points), 7-8. WIM P. Lakshmi Sahiti, P. Uthra (7.5
points) 9-10. Padmini Rout, P. Sivasankari (7 points).

Goa's first National Championship - Bhakti beats reigning champ Soumya to claim the title!

In a fitting finale, Goa's Bhakti Kulkarni (ELO 2112) defeated
WIM and reigning National Junior Champion
Soumya Swaminathan (ELO 2178) of Maharashtra
to clinch the National Junior Girls Championship
which is being played in Nagpur.

Soumya had won the last two editions of this
event and was aiming for a hat trick. She had the
advantage of home state and also she was in terrific
form having accomplished three Women International
Norms in Spain in three consecutive tournaments. Besides,
she had beaten Bhakti convincingly in their only encounter in
the National 'A' in 2006. With all these factors in her favour and
the pressure of clinching the title squarely resting on Bhakti's
young shoulders, it was always going to be an uphill struggle.

As usual, it was the Coach and Dronacharya Awardee Raghunandan
Gokhale who came to the rescue with a subtle change in Bhakti's
opening. She essayed the Ruy Lopez once again with a slight
variation from her earlier game against S. Harini (ELO 2087). Soumya was caught
unaware as the game drifted into dynamic equality. In desperation,
the reigning champ lashed out and in the overstretch, Bhakti
capitalised to pocket the full point. Incidentally, the first ever National Juniors
Girls Champion was Gokhale 's student - WIM Anupama Gokhale.

This is the first National Championship for Goa coming in the 40th year of
existence of Goa State Chess Association. In a field of 5 Women International
Masters (including the Asian Junior Champion and the 2 time National
Junior Champion), to record a triumph with a round to spare speaks volumes
of Bhakti's improved play, dedication and hardwork. Bhakti will play nothing
less than 6 international tournaments next year as a result of this
victory including the World Junior and Asian Junior Championships.
All the office bearers of Goa State Chess Association including
the President Sameer A. Salgaocar and the Secretary Suhas Asnodkar are in jubilant
mood. A grand reception awaits Bhakti when she returns to Goa
following her stupendous victory in Nagpur!

Bhakti fights back to win crucial encounter

In the ninth round of the National Junior
Girls Chess Championship being played
at Nagpur, Bhakti Kulkarni (ELO 2112) fought back from
a dead lost position to win her game against
fancied P. Uthra (ELO 2060) of Tamil Nadu to take a 1.5 point
lead with two rounds to go in the event.

Former National Under 17 Girls Champion
P. Uthra had obviously prepared well for this game as she
gained superiority right from the opening itself
and won a pawn. However, Goa's Commonwealth
Under 18 Girls Champion Bhakti was given a lifeline
through sheer Divine Intervention when her opponent
grabbed another pawn and opened a file for her rook.
Bhakti counterattacked and in the ensuing time scramble
held her nerves to win the crucial encounter.

Bhakti on 8.5 points has the sole lead and is followed
by two time National Junior Champion WIM Elect
Soumya Swaminathan (ELO 2178) and Asian Junior Girls Champion
WIM Mary Ann Gomes (ELO 2274) who are on 7 points each.
Bhakti needs just half a point from her remaining two games to
win the Championship. She next plays reigning Champion
Soumya in the 10th round to try and seal her victory in the event.

Even the worst case scenario sees Bhakti finishing no worse than
third and she has thus ensured her place in both the National Junior
team and the World and Asian Junior events next year. Coach
Raghunandan Gokhale, India's first Dronacharya awardee in chess,
has expressed confidence that Bhakti will get the half point
and emerge victorious in the Championship!

Bhakti beats Harini to take a one point lead

Goa's Commonwealth Under 18 Girls Champion
Bhakti Kulkarni (ELO 2112) beat Tamil Nadu's 11th seeded
S. Harini (ELO 2087) to establish a clear one point lead
in the Eighth round of the National Junior Girls
Championship being played at Nagpur today. Bhakti,
not given a chance by too many of the pundits at the
start of the tournament, had participated in
the event primarily for experience. This performance,
especially her wins in the last two rounds against
S. Harini and P. Sivasankari (ELO 2101) has
surprised all the chess faithful and perhaps Bhakti herself.

S. Harini is an extremely experienced player
(having played in the National Women's 'A') and
had the advantage of playing with the White pieces.
She had beaten Bhakti in the National Women's 'B'
in 2006 and although Bhakti had reversed the score in
the National 'A' later in the same year, this encounter was expected to be
closely fought. The expectations were rightly justified and
what decidedly turned the match in Bhakti's favour was the
superior opening preparation imparted to her by
her Coach - Dronacharya awardee Raghunandan Gokhale.
She played a new line from the Ruy Lopez which she had
never employed before and this caught her opponent
offguard. Harini could not cope with the surprise and
eventually resigned after an enthralling middlegame.
Bhakti next plays P. Uthra (ELO 2060) of Tamil Nadu in the
ninth round later today.

On the second board, the game between top seeded Asian Junior Champion
WIM Mary Ann Gomes (ELO 2274) of West Bengal
and highly rated Padmini Rout (ELO 2246) of Orissa
ended peacefully in a draw. This means that Bhakti with 7.5 points has a clear lead
of one point over her nearest rival. However, with three rounds to go, anything
is possible and Goa's wondergirl Bhakti will be aiming
to finish in the top 3 and book herself a spot in the
World Junior Championships to be played in Ankara, Turkey
in August, 2008.

Bhakti held to a draw by Padmini

Goa's Bhakti Kulkarni (ELO 2112), who is the reigning
Commonwealth Under 18 Girls Champion, was
held to a draw by National Under 13 Girls
Champion Padmini Rout (ELO 2246) in the 6th round of the
National Junior Girls Chess Championship
being played at Nagpur.

Bhakti had beaten Padmini twice this year in
Calicut in the Under 17 Nationals and in Tashkent,
Uzbekistan in the Asian Under 16 Girls tournament.
However, she was lucky to get off with a draw
as the third seeded Padmini missed several winning
chances in a Pirc Defence opening. However, her coach
Dronacharya awardee Raghunandan Gokhale was satisfied
with the result and said that Bhakti will have to 'maintain' the momentum
to make it to the medals tally.

8th seeded Bhakti had beaten National Sub Junior Champion
and the 7th seed WIM P. Lakshmi Sahiti (ELO 2142) in the morning
in the 5th round. She now has 5.5 points and stands a bright chance
to make it to the top 6 for a spot in the National
Junior team. She next plays P. Sivasankari (ELO 2101) of Tamil Nadu in
the seventh round.

Goa's only other entry Nandini Saripalli (ELO 1876) accounted for
Sonakshi Rathore (ELO 1963) of Rajasthan to notch her 4th point
and keep up her impressive showing in this event. Next up for her
is N. Raghavi (ELO 2069). There are 5 more rounds to go
and everything is still up for grabs in this prestigious event!

Top seeded Gomes upset by Bhakti

Asian Junior Champion WIM Mary Ann Gomes (ELO 2274) was
upset by Commonwealth Girls Under 18 Champion
Bhakti Kulkarni (ELO 2112) in the fourth round of the National
Junior Girls Championship being conducted at
Nagpur, Maharashtra.

Bhakti, who is also the three time Goa state Seniors Champion,
had beaten Mary Ann in the Commonwealth
Championships in Mumbai last year. She proved that
the victory was no fluke when she convincingly
beat the Woman International Master for the second
time in their two meetings. Opening with her pet Colle
System, she gradually built up an advantage and
even sacrificed an exchange to develop a crushing attack.
When faced with queening pawns, the World Under 18
Bronze Medallist Mary Ann had no option but to resign.
Mary Ann, who is also a Woman Grandmaster Norm holder,
is coming back to chess after a long layoff, and perhaps was
a tad rusty in this particular encounter.

Also losing in the 4th round is WIM Kiran Manisha Mohanty (ELO 2247)
of Orissa. Kiran, who lost to Ch. Divyasri (ELO 2063) in the third round,
suffered another setback when R. Preethi (ELO 2109) of Tamil Nadu
beat her convincingly. Mohanty is the current National Women's 'B'
Champion and will have to score heavily in the last seven rounds
to have any chance of finishing in the medals list.

Bhakti beat S. Athirai (ELO 2005) of Tamil Nadu and K. Shruthi(ELO 1993)
of Karnataka in the previous two rounds. She next plays WIM P. Lakshmi Sahiti (ELO 2142) who is the two time and current National Subjunior Girls Champion. If she can
make it to the top 6 in this tournament, Bhakti will be part
of the National Junior team which will play in prestigious
international tournaments next year. Her coach Dronacharya awardee
Raghunandan Gokhale is in daily contact with her from Mumbai and
is guiding her in opening selection and game strategies.

Bhakti starts as Eighth Seed

Commonwealth Girls Under 18 Gold Medallist Bhakti Kulkarni (ELO 2112)
started off as the eighth seed in the National Under 19
(Juniors) Girls Championship which got underway today at
Nagpur. Nandini Saripalli is the other Goan in the tough field
which will determine the top 6 to make it to the Indian Junior
team to represent the country in many international tournaments
next year.

The top seed is WIM Mary Ann Gomes (ELO 2274) of West Bengal who has previously
won the Asian Junior Girls Championship in New Delhi and the Bronze medal in
the World Under 18 Girls Championship in Batumi, Georgia.
National 'B' Womens Champion WIM Kiran Manisha Mohanty (ELO 2247) and
last years Asian Under 12 Girls Gold Medallist Padmini Rout (ELO 2246)
both from Orissa start as the 2nd and 3rd seeds. WIM Kruttika
Nadig (ELO 2238) and two time winner WIM Soumya Swaminathan (ELO 2178)
both from Maharashtra will give everyone a hard time in this tournament
as the 4th and 5th seeds. Two time National Subjunior Champion
WIM P. Lakshmi Sahiti (ELO 2142) from Andhra Pradesh is the 6th seed and
WFM Pon. N. Krithika (ELO 2122) from Tamil Nadu will be
rounding out this extremely competitive field.

Bhakti's coach Dronacharya Awardee Raghunandan Gokhale has expressed
confidence that she will give a good account of herself and keep the
Goan flag flying high.

Anurag receives Geno award for Best Sportsperson

Goa State Champion Anurag Mhammal received the Geno award
for Best Sportsperson from the Chief Minister Digamber Kamat
at a function organised by the Sports Journalists Association
of Goa at Hotel Fidalgo, Panjim.

The Geno award is the highest of its kind for any of Goa's
sportspersons. Chess in Goa has suddenly picked up in popularity
and the conferring of this award will put the sport even more in
the spotlight. Youngsters across Goa are taking to the 64 squares and
the maximum requests for coaching camps from schools are for the
enlightening mind game.

Young Anurag thoroughly deserves this award as his feats in the
preceding year defy description. He will gain a staggering 222 points
in ELO rating which is expected to touch 2100 in the October list.
He has had strong performances in various open tournaments in Sangli,
Mangalore and Rochess Thane.

Besides, he won the State Seniors Championship in fine style brushing
aside a strong field to triumph with a round to spare. His coach
Akash Thakur of Nagpur predicts 'greater laurels' for this youngster
and a possible medal at the upcoming Commonwealth Championships to
take place in New Delhi in December.

In the same function, GSCA President and AICF Vice President Sameer A.
Salgaocar was presented the 'Best Organiser' award by the Chief Minister.
Also World and Asian Under 8 Girls Champion Ivana Furtado received a cheque
of Rs. 25,000/- from Mr. Dilip Salgaocar, the head of the Geno Sports
Foundation.

Ivana finishes off in style

World Under 8 Girls Champion Ivana Furtado
finished off her campaign in grand style by
disposing off Ali Alia of U.A.E. in less than one
hour in the last round of the Asian Youth Chess
Championships which concluded in Al Ain, U.A.E.
today.

With this victory, Ivana notched 8 out of possible
9 points to record her first Gold Medal in the Asian
Youth Championships. She becomes thus the
youngest Indian to have bagged both the World and
the Asian Championships - another feat for the
Limca Book of records! She will look to make it three
in a row when she participates in the Commonwealth
Championships to be held in New Delhi in December
this year.

Unfortunately, India could not get any more medals
as Ivana's compatriot C.H. Meghna who is also the
National Under 7 Champion lost in the last round to
Iran's Kimya Ghaziolsharif and finished 5th with 5.5 points.
P.Preethy, also of India, finished with 5 points on 7th place.

Ivana's coach Raghunandan Gokhale gave more cheer
for the Indian camp when his student Shardul Gagare
finished with a victory over Enkhnar Enkhbataar of Mongolia
to win the Gold in Boys Under 10 section. World Champion
Girish Kaushik had to remain content with the Silver here
after beating Sultan Ibrahim of the U.A.E.

India garnered three more Gold medals when B. Pratyusha
in the Girls Under 10, Priyanka Kumari in the Girls Under 12
and Revanth Reddy in the Boys Under 10 section all finished
top in their respective categories. India's tally of 10 medals
(5 Golds, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze) is in stark contrast to the 21
medals that they won in Teheran which included 8 Gold medals
in all the 8 categories.

Finally, the home crowd had great reason to celebrate when
local boy and double IM Norm holder Saleh Salem won the boys
Under 14 section ahead of India's International Master S.P. Sethuraman
who finished with the Silver. Salem, the only Gold medal winner from the
U.A.E. was rewarded with a Nissan car by the sponsors!

Ivana creates history!

World Under 8 Girls Champion Ivana Furtado created history by winning the Asian Youth Under 8 Girls section with a round to spare after beating Vietnam's
Vu Thi Dieu Uyen in the penultimate round of the Championships
being played at Al Ain, U.A.E. After notching her seventh victory in eight rounds, Ivana has an unsurmountable 1.5 point lead over her
nearest rivals - Vu Thi Dieu Uyen of Vietnam and C.H. Meghna of India
and thus her last round matchup against Ali Alia of U.A.E. is of academic
interest only.

With this feat, Ivana has won all the three medals in the Girls
Under 8 section in successive years and this in itself is an unprecedented
feat! She won the Bronze in the New Delhi edition in 2005, the Silver in
the Teheran edition in 2006 and now the Gold in Al Ain in 2007. Interestingly,
the organisers have announced that the Gold medals presented to the winners
will be of pure gold so she could not have picked a better time
to have accomplished this stupendous feat.

Coach Raghunandan Gokhale speaking from Al Ain mentioned Ivana's 'remarkable
fighting qualities' which helped her to win the Gold medal. She suffered a
setback in the second round when she lost to unfancied Mongolian girl
Tegshduren Uranderdene, but bounced back to win 6 in a row including a crucial
win over her arch rival C.H. Meghna of India who also happens to be the
National Under 7 Champion of India. Ivana had beaten Meghna in their 5 previous
battles and the encounter in Al Ain proved to be no different in the vital
7th round.

Ivana and her parents Eli and Jennifer Furtado will be returning to Goa on the
30th of September where they will be given a rousing reception by the Goan
chess community and sports afficianados. Ivana's upcoming tournaments include
the National Under 9 tournament in Bangalore in October, the World Youth Championships where she will try to defend her crown in Antalya, Turkey in
November and the Commonwealth Championships in New Delhi in December 2007.

Goa's Chief Minister announces Rs. 2 lakh for Bhakti!

Commonwealth Under 18 Girls Champion
Bhakti Kulkarni's consistent efforts in the
field of international chess were rewarded
when Goa's Chief Minister Digamber Kamat
announced a special grant of Rs. 2 lakh for her
at his residence in Margao recently. Mr. Kamat, who is
a keen sportsman himself and has consistently supported
the cause of Goan chess, decided without any hesitation whatsoever
when he was approached by Bhakti's father Pradip Kulkarni
for financial assistance.

Bhakti, who is Goa's only titled player and is a 10th standard
student of Mahila Nutan English High School (Margao), has long
been considered as one of the leading sportspersons
in Goa. The Woman FIDE Master has been successful
in winning 4 International Medals and had recently
won the Silver medal in the Asian Youth Girls Under 16
Championships which concluded in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
She is coached by India's only Dronacharya awardee in the field
of chess Raghunandan Gokhale who praised the
generous grant of the Goan Chief Minister and added that many
more 'laurels' awaited Bhakti and Goa in the arena of chess!

Mr. Kamat lauded the efforts of Bhakti and said that
the State would support her efforts financially allowing her to
totally focus on the game. Later on the floor of the Goa Assembly,
he also made a mention of the efforts of AICF Vice President and
GSCA President Sameer A. Salgaocar, who had contributed
towards the new found success of the Goan players in the
international level in a large way.

Ivana in the Limca Book of Records

World Under 8 Girls Champion Ivana Furtado has
made it to the Limca Book of Records as India's
youngest World Champion in any sport.

She accomplished this feat in Batumi, Georgia when
she won the title in a thrilling finish and edging
out compatriot Manepalli Navya Vaishnavi on a cut
progressive tiebreak score. By being the best in
the world at 7 years and 226 days, Ivana broke the
record previously held by Sahaj Grover of Delhi.

Ivana is a third standard student of Our Lady of Rosary
High School, Dona Paula. Ivana will next represent
Goa and India in the Asian Youth Chess Championships
in August in Al Ain, U.A.E. She so far has 5 Gold medals,
1 Silver and 1 Bronze in her International medals tally.

Ivana felicitated at Nagpur!

World Under 8 Girls Chess Champion and Goa's Wondergirl
Ivana Furtado was felicitated at her arrival in Nagpur for
the Raisoni Memorial All India FIDE Rating tournament.
Ivana and her mother Mrs. Jannifer Furtado were received
by Advocate A.A. Bade, who is the Chief Organiser of the
tournament, and International Master Anup Deshmukh.

A large contingent of the press also interviewed her and asked
her a variety of questions to which the little genius gave
befitting answers! Ivana went on later to complete her FIDE rating
in the very same tournament after holding Anuprita Patil (ELO 2106)
to a draw in the first round. Incidentally, Anuprita had qualified for
the National Women's 'A' tournament earlier this year. In Nagpur,
Ivana won three trophies and will get an initial rating of approximately
1859 ELO points.

Ivana completed the first part of her rating in Mangalore where
she beat Samrat Ghorai of the Goodricke Chess Academy, Kolkata
and scored 1.5/4 points against rated opposition.

Bhakti bags Silver in Tashkent, three medals in three Asians!!

Goa's Woman FIDE Master Bhakti Kulkarni (ELO 2112)
added yet another feather in her cap by
winning the Silver medal in the Asian Girls
Under 16 Chess Championships which concluded in
Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Bhakti registered a performace rating of
2087 and should be earning herself 16 ELO Rating points
as well as a bonus!

Last year's Commonwealth Girls Under 18 Gold medallist
Bhakti started off the tournament terribly by losing
in the first and third rounds. However, she recovered
superbly thereafter winning the next six on the trot
and beating the top seed and hot favourite WIM Padmini
Rout (ELO 2246) as well as strong contender WFM Pon.
N. Krithika (ELO 2122) in the process. The first place was bagged by
Nakhbayeva Guliskhan (ELO 2024) of Kazakhstan whereas
Padmini had to remain content with the Bronze medal.

Bhakti thus gets the unique distinction of having won three
medals in three consecutive Asian Championships. She won the
Bronze in New Delhi in 2005, the Gold in Teheran in 2006 before
completing her treble in Tashkent this year. Bhakti also has won the
Commonwealth Under 18 Girls Gold medal in Mumbai in 2006
to cement her place as flagbearer of Goan chess.

She will be received in New Delhi on her return by her parents and
AICF Vice President and GSCA President Sameer A. Salgaocar.
The last mentioned stated that this was a proud day in the history of Goan
sports and that Bhakti, her coach Dronacharya Awardee Raghunandan
Gokhale and parents should be lauded for their efforts!

Round 1 - lost to Gulruhsor Esonboeva of Uzbekistan
Round 2 - beat Hulkar Tohirjanova (ELO 1923) of Uzbekistan
Round 3 - lost to Guliskhan Nakhbayeva (ELO 2024) of Kazakhstan
Round 4 - beat Maftuna Khidirova of Uzbekistan
Round 5 - beat Mekhrangez Rakhmatova of Tajikistan
Round 6 - beat Thamina Turdialieva (ELO 1931) of Uzbekistan
Round 7 - beat Padmini Rout (ELO 2246) of India
Round 8 - beat Krithika Pon (ELO 2122) of India
Round 9 - beat Maftuna Orzikulova of Uzbekistan

Final Ranking - Second among 19 contestants. A full report on the tournament
is available at the following link - http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3995

'Lend me your ears'

Posted by GSCA Vice President Augusto Pinto -

Friends Goans Countrymen
Lend me your eyes
If you can take your attention off the elections and the pigs for just a moment, here are the results of this year's (senior) state chess championships. I'd like you to note the ages of the players that I put alongside:
1. Anurag Mhamal - 12 years 1 month
2. Shubham Pinge- 15 years
3. Niraj Saripalli- 12 years
4. Standryk Colaco- 34 years
5. Bhakti Kulkarni- 15 years
6. Avinash Malvankar- 35years
7. Pranav Zantye- 11 years
8. Umang Kaisare- 13 years
9. Kelvin De Lima- 17 years
10. Suhas Asnodkar- 46years

The new champion, Anurag Mhamal equals the record set by Bhakti Kulkarni when she first won the state championship at the age of 12. No other sport, so resembles a children's tournament or has this kind of final result where youth so outclasses experience . Not in Goa, at least. And these youngsters not only have fresher, faster brains they have a fierce desire to win, and a few of them sometimes will resort to all sorts of gamesmanship to get their way. ( Not Anu or the others in the top 10 however; they don't need to)

On a personal note I thought I'd play in the championships this year. I knew of course that I'd little chance of winning, but I hoped I could get in a few good games. I started reasonably well with 2.5/ 3, then lost to one of the strong contenders, 23 year old Wilson Cruz.

In the next round I met Goa under - 9 champ, Harikrishnan. I had some important work that morning and decided to play fast, either win or lose quickly, and go for my appointment. I started with the King's Gambit, a risky opening. My young opponent sensing my impatience, took half an hour to play his second move, and then another half an hour for the third .By this time I was boiling with impatience, but there was nothing I could do, as we were playing with clocks ( for those who don't know, each player gets 2 hours to finish the game) and he was thinking in his own time.He took 1and a half hour to make 8 moves, while I was blitzing out my replies. In his last half hour he began to play faster, and I was still playing at lightning chess speed, hoping to make the appointment. Then I blundered, and lost. I missed the appointment.

In the evening round I met 8 year old Riya Sawant. There has been a rule change recently, whereby one has to first play one's move and then note it down, but used as I was to the old practice I couldn't help but write first and then play. She drew my attention to it, but old habits die hard.So she called the arbiter and complained . The arbiter said I wasn't doing anything intentionally, and asked her to continue, but by then i was so distracted, that I blundered again and lost.

Rather than suffer more torture from these young terrors, I withdrew from the tournament

Anurag wins Goa State Championship!

12 year old Anurag Mhamal won the Goa State Senior Chess Championship conducted by Cortalim Chess Club in association with Goa State Chess Association at Fr Agnel College, Pilar. He remained unbeaten, scoring 8 out of 9 points to bag the Hirabai Salgaocar Rolling trophy and Rs 5000/- first prize sponsored by Bank of Baroda. Shubam Pinge came 2nd with 7 points which is incidentally the third time that he has finished as runner up in this premier event. Commonwealth Under 18 Champion WFM Bhakti Kulkarni seemed to be out of form and had to be contented with the 5th spot after having won the top spot on the three previous occasions. There was a total of Rs. 30,000/- prize money for this event and a total of 94 players took part.

Anurag continued his recent run of good form which he had exhibited in the Sangli Open chess tournament. There he had beaten IM Ravi Hegde, S.S. Soman and Navin S. Hegde among others and drawn with upcoming star Vidit Gujarathi. Anurag left the Sangli tournament with a round remaining to return to Goa to participate in the State Championship and his sacrifice paid huge dividends. In this tournament he faced no serious opposition and actually won the title with a round to spare which showed his superiority in no uncertain manner. He is presently being coached by Akash Thakur and a lot more is expected from this talented phenom!

Meanwhile, Anurag, Shubam, Niraj Saripalli and coach Standrik Colaco have been selected to represent Goa at National 'B' event in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu. The age-group prize winners were Riya Sawant, Ivana Furtado, Chinmay Patil, Rakshit Rai with Sahil Chopdekar and Akshay Devalkar emerging as best local players.

Harikrishnan wins Sangli Under 10 Championship

Harikrishnan Mohanan of Bambolim Chess Club and Third Standard student of Ezekiel Methodist School, Bambolim, won the Under 10 Late Smt L R Deshpande Memorial Open Chess championship organised by Nutan Buddhibal Mandal Sangli, Maharashtra.

He scored 7 points out of a possible 8 and defeated Vishwesh Koranne of Aurangabad in the crucial final round to win the title in a fiercely competitive group of 94 participants.

Harikrishnan is the younger brother of National player Shraddha Mohanan and coincidentally the fourth Goan boy continuously winning this prestigious event at Sangli. The earlier winners were Shubham Pinge (2004), Anurag Mhamal (2005) and Cyrus Pereira (2006).

Since all these Champions were trained at Bambolim Chess Academy, a lot of the credit should undoubtedly go to the ever devoted Mr and Mrs Swamy.

Shubam Pinge tops Colva chess tourney

Seventy-two participants braved the heat and sun to give their best at the all-Goa chess tournament organized by Junior Chamber International (JCI), Colva, in association with Goa State Chess Association (GSCA) at Colva.

Shubam Pinge secured top spot and was closely followed by Standrick Colaco and Bhakti Kulkarni.

Cash prizes were also awarded to Sahil Chopdekar, Pradeep Kulkarni, Purshottam Kanthak, Girish Kaushik, Avinash Malvankar and Vipul Kulkarni. Vidula Dempo won a special prize for being the youngest competitor.

Mr Sameer A. Salgaocar, GSCA president was the chief guest and praised the efforts of Dr Peter Carvalho in promoting the event. He had a special word of praise for the Colva Jaycees, celebrating their silver jubilee year.

Earlier, host president Mr Darren D’Costa welcomed. Project Manager Mr Delzin Furtado welcomed. Ms Brenda Rodrigues proposed the vote of thanks.

World Under 10 Champion Girish Kaushik felicitated!

Reigning World Under 10 Champion Girish Kaushik was felicitated at the Mir Sultan Khan Academy, Sanvordem in the presence of numerous chess fans and young players amidst great fanfare. The exceptionally talented Girish, who has also won the Asian Under 8 and National Under 9 Championship, was presented a Laptop, Software, and a Cash award of Rs. 10,000/- by AICF Vice President and GSCA President Sameer Salgaocar on this occasion.

Also felicitated at the Academy was Commonwealth Under 18 Champion and Asian Under 14 Champion Bhakti Kulkarni. She was honoured as Goa's first Titled Player. The young Woman FIDE Master was felicitated and presented a cheque of Rs. 15,000/- by reputed Chartered Accountant Bhagwathi Bhat.

Finally, the Coach and father of Girish - Arun Kaushik was honoured
with a Shawl and Momento by reputed businessman Raman Saripalli. The elated Arun Kaushik mentioned that a 'great future' awaited the Goan chess fraternity as there was a 'huge upsurge of talented Goan chess players who were making their presence felt across the national scene'.

The felicitation ceremony was preceded by a Simultaneous Display wherein Girish Kaushik and emerging star Niraj Saripalli took on the young members of the Academy. This was a great treat for the kids and the parents alike though the final score was 24-0 as the duo proved much too strong for the students.

Sanjay Kavlekar, SAG coach, gave the Vote of thanks and everyone went home thoroughly satisfied!

Ivana's success continues

posted by Dronacharya Awardee Raghunandan Gokhale

Ivana Furtado, the World Under 8 Girls' Champion added another laurel to her increasing booty by winning the World Under 8 School Chess Championship at Halkidiki,Greece on Saturday 5 th May,2007.

Ivana's attempts to win the higher (Under 9 years) category however could not succeed after her loss to Russian Aleksandra Golechkina in the final round.

As Ivana's coach Raghunandan Gokhale pointed out, the gap of one year is too great for the children to make up as they mature very fast each year. So the Organisers had decided to award Gold Medal to the highest scoring participant in the even- year age group. So while the organizers distributed three medals in Under 7,9,11,13,15 and 17 categories, they honoured the highest rank player in Under 6,8,10,12,14 and 16 categories.

Ivana's 6/9 score was important for her team too as India edged out mighty Russians by 35.5-35 points for the team title.Indian players (including Ivana) were awarded Gold Medals while Indian Head of Delegation Mr.Raghunandan Gokhale received the Team Championship Trophy.

So Ivana has scored a grand double winning both Under 8 World Chess Championship and Under 8 World School Championship! Now it is upto her to make Golden Hat-trick by winning Asian Under 8 Championship(Dubai) and World Under 8 Championship(Turkey)later this year.

World School Champion Ivana is expected to arrive at Panjim on 8th morning via Mumbai.

Ivana Furtado wins two more Golds at the World level!

World Under 8 Girls Champion and Goan Wondergirl Ivana Furtado
added two more feathers in her already crowded
cap when she won both the Individual Gold and
the Team Gold in the World Schools Chess Championships
that concluded in Halkidiki, Greece today. Abhimanyu Puranik
won the Gold in the Boys Under 7 Section and Sweety Patel (ELO 1993)
won the Gold in the Girls Under 9 Section to continue the
Indian dominance in the World Chess Events.

Ivana finished with 6 out of a possible 9 points and thereby
edged out arch rival C.H. Meghna of Kerala (ELO 1720) who finished
with 5.5 points. Meghna, who is the reigning National Under 7
Girls Champion, was beaten by Ivana in the crucial head
to head encounter in the 7th round and had to settle for
the Silver medal. Interestingly, Ivana has played Meghna 5 times
in various competitions and has come up trumps every time!

India's only Dronacharya Awardee and Ivana's coach Raghunandan Gokhale
mentioned that this could be because of a 'huge pyschological edge' that
Ivana enjoys against Meghna. Ivana's father Eli Furtado, who accompanied
Ivana to Greece, added that Meghna is 'visibly distressed' every time
that she notices that she has been paired opposite Ivana in an
upcoming round and the first time this was evident was during the
Asian Championship in New Delhi in December, 2005. Eli also remarked that
this tournament was far more 'competitive, tougher and demanding' than the competition in Batumi as this field included the dominant Russians who had
boycotted the Georgian event due to certain political reasons.

In the Team Championship, Ivana and Meghna teamed up to
win the Gold Medal for India. With this victory, Ivana has taken
her personal tally to 5 International Gold medals and Goa's tally
to a stupendous Seven. 'Surely a case can now be made to make Chess the
State sport of Goa?', asked AICF Vice President and GSCA
President Sameer A. Salgaocar, adding that 'in no other sport are we even
remotely as successful!'

Pranav wins Assolna chess title

Eleven-year-old Pranav Zantye was crowned champion at all-Goa Assolna chess championship at Regina Martyrum HS, Assolna. P M Kantak finished 2nd, Shubam Pinge 3rd, Swapnil Hoble 4th and Vasant Naik 5th.

Mohinesh Naik (U-13), Amod Kolwalkar (U-11), Rakshith Rai (U-7) bagged prizes in their respective sections. Vidula Dempo, Shawn Dias bagged prizes for youngest girl and boy respectively.

Meanwhile, coaches Avinash Malvankar, Sanjay Kalekar, Prabhakar Insulkar, Augusto Pinto, Peter Carvalho, Shrikant Barve, Purshottam Kantak, Wilson Cruz, Ashok Kadam, Amog Namshikar, Swapnil Hoble and Standrik Colaco were felicitated. Fr Francis D’Mello gave away the prizes. Fr Lin Fernandes was the chief guest. Mr Sameer Salgaocar, president of GSCA, Mr Benjamin Silva, Ms Noreen Dias, Ms Gorethy D’Costa, Ms Jenice Cardoso, Ms Zhenya Ferreira were amnong those present.

Cyrus, Ivana champions U-11 State Chess

Cyrus Pereira of Our Lady of Rosary High School, Miramar and top seed Ivana Furtado of Our Lady of Rosary High School, Dona Paula finished champions in the under-11 State chess selection tournament. Cyrus garnered 7.5 points out of a possible 8 to finish champion. In the penultimate round, Cyrus defeated top seed Niraj Saripalli in a scintillating end game.

Chinmay Patil (Sharada Madir) finished second and qualified to represent Goa at the Nationals. M Harikrishna (Ezekeil Methododist High School, Bambolim) and Pranav Zantye (Sharada Mandir) finished third and fourth respectively.

World under-8 champion and top seed Ivana Furtado (5 points) lived up to her top billing.,She defeated Gauri Hadkonkar in the final game and remained unbeaten, winning all her games. Vaishakhi Pilankar (4 points) of Saraswat Vidyalaya, Mapusa finished second while Krupa Shirodkar (Saraswat Vidyalaya) and Varshitha Reddy (Sharada Mandir) finished third and fourth respectively.