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.