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