Bhakti finishes fourth

(Photo - Current national Junior Girls Champion Bhakti
Kulkarni being felicitated by Goa Chief Minister Digamber
Kamat in presence of AICF Vice President Sameer A.
Salgaocar)

Monginis Brand Ambassador and current National
Junior Girls Champion Bhakti Kulkarni finished
4th in the National Women's 'B' Championship
which concluded in Calicut. By virtue of this performance,
she qualified for the prestigious National 'A' Championship
for the second time in her career and this event will be
held in New Delhi in September this year.

Bhakti drew her last round game with WIM Padmini
Rout of Orissa and they both finished with 8 out of
a possible 11 points. First place was bagged by
WGM Eesha Karavade who drew her last round game
with Pon. Krithika of Tamil Nadu. This was the most hotly
contested National 'B' ever with as many as 5 Women
Grandmasters competing in a field of 113 players.

Bhakti will be gaining 27 ELO rating points for her efforts
and her performance is at the 2282 level which shows
that she can try to complete her Woman International
Master title during the latter course of the year.
AICF Vice President Salgaocar praised her performance
noting that 'Bhakti has come back to chess with a bang
after a 6 month hiatus in which she appeared for her
10th standard exams'. 'We, in the Goan chess fraternity,
are all very proud of her', he added.

Bhakti's coach, Dronacharya awardee Raghunandan Gokhale
stated that this performance will instill in her 'tremendous
confidence for her upcoming tournaments'. The Woman
FIDE Master will next be playing in Spain in the 24th Sort
Open and in the "Villa de Benasque" tournaments before
she heads off to Teheran for the Asian Youth Chess
Championships.