Anurag notches best ever Goan rating performance!

Goa State Champion Anurag Mhamal
gave a sterling display at the Parsvanath
Chess Championships which concluded today
at the Modern School, New Delhi. In the process
he notched up his best ever rating performance
of 2342 and also increased his FIDE rating by
a whopping 35 points. With this performance Anurag
also eclipsed the best ever Goan performance of 2328
posted by National Junior Champion Bhakti Kulkarni
in the Commonwealth Chess Championships in Mumbai
in 2006.

Anurag finished with 6 out of a possible 10 points
and averaged a 50 percent score against rated
players with 4 out of 8. What is indeed significant
was that he could manage to hold FOUR International
Masters to a draw - Roktim Bandyopadhyay (ELO 2373),
P. Konguvel (ELO 2394), Saptarshi Roy (ELO 2404)
and Asian Junior Champion P. Karthikeyan (ELO 2327).
Anurag also beat P. Sarvanakrishnan (ELO 2243) and
reputed coach Gurpreet Pal Singh (ELO 2292).

GSCA President Salgaocar hailed the efforts of Anurag
stating that this shows that Mhamal is truly an "International
Master in the making". All the efforts of his parents and coach
Akash Thakur have borne rich dividends he mentioned in his
congratulatory message to the young Champion.

The best ever Goan performances now stand as follows -

1. Parsvanath Open, January 2008 - 2342 Anurag Mhamal (8 games)
2. Commonwealth, November 2006 - 2328 Bhakti Kulkarni (9 games)
3. National Junior Girls 2007 - 2220 Bhakti Kulkarni (10 games)
4. National B 2006 - 2203 Anurag Mhamal (12 games)
5. Sangli, May 2007 - 2176 Anurag Mhamal (8 games)
6. Sangli, May 2005- 2175 Bhakti Kulkarni (7 games)
7. Rochess, December 2006 - 2162 Anurag Mhamal (7 games)
8. Sangli, December 2006 - 2157 Anurag Mhamal (8 games)
9. Mangalore 2007 - 2093 Umang Kaisary (7 games)

Cyrus' and Ivana's return

(Photo of the two Gold medallists Ivana Furtado and Cyrus Perreira on their return to Goa with the GSCA Officials)

2008 - Golden start for Goa!

It was a Golden start for the Goan chess
fraternity in 2008, as not one but two Goans
were declared joint winners and awarded Gold
medals in their respective sections in the Asian
Schools Chess Championships which concluded
in Kandy, Sri Lanka today.

In the Boys Under 11 section, Cyrus Perreira created
history by becoming the first Goan boy to win a medal
at the International level. Cyrus finished with 6.5 out
of a possible 8 points and was tied with Iran's Saleh Mirza.
Cyrus, by virtue of his rating, started as the second seed,
and Saleh Mirza was clearly the hot favourite as he had
beaten former World Champion Sahej Grover in the World
Youth Championships which were conducted last year in
Turkey. Nevertheless, Cyrus fought hard to get a draw in the
last round with Mirza and thus he got a Gold medal in his
very first attempt at the Asian Schools Championships.

In the Girls Under 9 section, double World Under 8 Girls
Champion Ivana Furtado tied with Sri Lanka's J. Jayaranthna
with 6.5 points each out of a possible 7 points. As they
had drawn their individual encounter and were tied on tiebreak
as well, both the girls were declared joint winners and given a
Gold medal each.

Both the winners - Cyrus and Ivana - will now be invited to the
World Schools tournament to be held later this year at a venue
to be decided as yet by FIDE, the apex body in chess. Interestingly,
AICF will be bidding for the event so there is a chance that both the
players will be getting the benefit of playing closer to home while
they aspire for still greater heights in their chess careers!

Bhakti presented cheque of 2.30 lakhs

(Photo - Bhakti being presented a cheque by the Hon'ble Sports
Minister in presence of Executive Director, S.A.G. and G.S.C.A.
President)


National Junior Girls Champion and Woman FIDE Master
Bhakti Kulkarni was presented a cheque of Rs. 2.30
lakhs by the Sports Minister Manohar Azgaonkar
in a function in Margao, today.

Bhakti received the amount towards various performances
in the past at the International and National level. She
enjoys the distinction of being Goa's first titled player
as well as the youngest three time consecutive winner of
the Goa State Championship.

President of Goa State Chess Association Salgaocar praised the role
of the Goa Chief Minister, Sports Minister, Sports Authority of Goa
and especially Executive Director (S.A.G.) V.M. Prabhudesai in getting
the amount released in time. 'Bhakti is at a critical point in
her chess career', he stated adding that this amount
'will go a long way in securing her financial security
while she pursues her chess career further'.

In the latest FIDE rating list, Bhakti's rating has shot up considerably.
A spate of international tournaments await her, especially after she
completes her tenth standard exams in April. She is being coached
presently by India's first Dronacharya awardee Raghunandan Gokhale.
Let us hope that in 2008, she can continue to earn more laurels for
both Goa and India!