Cyrus, Anurag to be felicitated

Goa State Champion Anurag Mhamal and Asian Schools
Under 11 Gold Medallist Cyrus Perreira will be
felicitated during the upcoming Goa State
Subjunior (Under 15) Chess Championship
which will be organised at the Mir Sultan Khan Chess
Academy, Sanvordem in the near future.

In January, Anurag (ELO 2106) registered Goa's best ever
rating performance at the Parsvanath Open Chess
Championships where he managed to draw with 4
International Masters besides beating a couple of
top rated players. He was also awarded the 'Outstanding
Player Award' by GENO and the Sports Journalists
Association of Goa in 2007. Anurag's next tournaments include
the FIDE Open Rating tournament in Thrissur in April
and the very strong International Grandmaster tournament
in Mumbai in the month of May. His Goan statemates Umang
Kaisary and Niraj Saripalle will join him in participating
in both these events.

The first Goan boy to win an international medal Cyrus
Perreira will also be felicitated simultaneously. Cyrus
(ELO 1870) won the Gold Medal at the Under 11
section of the Asian Schools Chess Championships
held in Sri Lanka in January this year. Both the kids
are coached by Akash Thakur of Nagpur, widely
considered one of the outstanding coaches in India.
When contacted, Akash mentioned that both the
players would 'go on to win greater laurels for both
Goa and the country'.

AICF Vice President Sameer A. Salgaocar mentioned that
there has been renewed interest among corporates to sponsor
upcoming chess players in Goa such as Cyrus and Anurag.
Presently, Woman FIDE Master and reigning National Junior
Girls Champion is the Brand Ambassador for Monginis,
a leading confectionary manufacturer in India. 'We have also
received tremendous support from the Sports Authority of
Goa and hopefully this trend will continue', Salgaocar
stated.