Donor Entry fee reduced for Goan players

In the Executive Body Meeting of the GSCA
which was held at Sant Gadge Maharaj Hall
at Alto Porvorim on the 24th of August, it was
decided to reduce the donor entry fee for
Goan players to Rs. 4000 from Rs. 6000 for
the forthcoming 46th Monginis National 'B'
Chess Championship. AICF Vice President
GSCA President Sameer A. Salgaocar stated
that 'this was a golden opportunity for the young
upcoming Goan players to participate against
top quality opposition as well as to get a FIDE
rating for themselves'.

Along with Double World Under 8 Girls Champion Ivana
Furtado and National Junior Girls Champion
Bhakti Kulkarni, six Goans qualify for the
National 'B' Chess Championship with the
regular entry fee of Rs. 1000. The rest of the
Goans who want to play have to participate
under the Donor Entry category. A record number
of 134 players are participating in the State
Championship presently underway at Porvorim
and many players and parents requested GSCA
to reduce the fee for the Donor entries.

Of the fee of Six thousand rupees, three thousand
has to be remitted to All India Chess Federation. Of the
balance three thousand, one thousand has been retained
for the adminstrative expenses of the GSCA
to organise the tournament and the rest will be
relinquished with an idea to get record Goan
participation for this prestigious event. 'We are
expecting not less than 50-60 entries from Goa
itself and more than 250 from all over India', Salgaocar
stated adding that already '2 Grandmasters,
10 International Masters and 3 Women Grandmasters
have been confirmed for the tournament'.

Bhakti in the Limca Book of Records

Reigning National Junior Girls Champion Bhakti
Kukarni made it to the Limca Book of Records
in the 2008 edition (on page 413) when she was
mentioned in the record breaking haul of eight
Gold medals by the Indian contingent participating
in the Asian Youth Chess Championships in
Teheran, Iran in 2006.

Monginis brand Ambassador Bhakti had won the
Gold in the Under 14 Girls Section. The other 7
Indians to win the Gold and thus sweep all the
competitive categories in Iran included Sweety Patel,
Sahajasri, Padmini Rout, Prince Bajaj, S. Nitin,
G.V. Sai Krishna and Vidit Gujarathi. The last two
mentioned will be seen in action in Goa during the
upcoming National 'B' Chess Championships which
get underway next month in Zambaulim.

Bhakti's coach Dronacharya awardee Raghunandan
Gokhale expressed delight at the Woman FIDE Master's
accomplishment and predicted that she would add her
name in more categories in the years to come. GSCA
President Sameer A. Salgaocar hoped that 'many more Goans
inspired by Bhakti and Ivana will make it to the Limca Book of
Records in the future'.

Double World Under 8 Girls Champion and Asian Under 10 Girls
Runner-up Ivana Furtado had made it to the Limca Book of Records
in 2007 as India's youngest World Champion in any sport.
The Dempo Goodwill Ambassador had won the crown in
Batumi in 2006 when she was just 7 years and 226 days old.

Anurag wins Santa Cruz chess tourney

Goa State Champion and wonderboy Anurag Mhamal
won the Under 15 chess tournament conducted
by Alto Santa Cruz Residents Association and
Bambolim Chess Club at the Shree Shantadurga
Devasthan, St Cruz in fine style with a perfect
score of 8 points from 8 rounds. Enroute to his
triumph, Anurag beat Umang Kaisare, Pranav Zantye,
Asian Schools gold medallist Cyrus Pereira,
Suyan Belurkar and Anand Prabhu Desai among others.

Anurag took home a trophy and a cash prize of rupees
2500 for his efforts. World Schools medallist Pranav
Zantye was the runner-up to continue his fine showing
from Singapore.

Other placings: 3 - Nandini Saripalli, 4 - Cyrus Pereira,
5 - Vipul Kulkarni (all 6.5 points each), 6 - Umang Kaisare,
7 - Alfredo Menezes, 8 - Kochrkar Avinash, 9 - Pawase Kapil,
10 - Shanbag Supryia (all 6 points each).

Yeshitesh Shirodkar emerged as the best local player
and won the best ASCRA player trophy. Sampada Barve,
Asian Under 8 fourth placed Riya Sawant and
Gauri Hadkonkar were awarded promising players
trophies.

Elgar Noronha was the chief guest. Sameer Salgaocar,
Dr Ajit Shirodkar, Subhash Dempo and Mohan Pai were the
Guests of honour.

Goan Chess League

Plans for a 'Goan Chess League' are
underway and this is expected to
commence shortly after the National
'B' Chess Championship in September and
the World Youth Chess Championship
in October. Members suggestions and
inputs were asked for in the last Executive
Body Meeting of the GSCA which took place
on the 10th of August.

There will be approximately 6-8 teams which
will participate in this event. Sponsors are
being approached with a target of 15th
November as the kickoff date. Each team
will have between 5-7 players of which four
can participate in a given encounter. The
teams will play on both home and away basis
and the top three teams will be given certificates
and prizes.

Dr. Peter Carvalho, the President of Cortalim
Chess Club, will be the Commissioner of the
first edition of the league. Interested participants
can contact him at peter_carvalho1962@rediffmail.com.

Candidate Master Title for Ivana

Double World Under 8 Champion Ivana
Furtado became Goa's second titled
player when she was awarded the Woman
Candidate Master Title after winning the
World Schools Girls Under 9 Gold medal
in Singapore.

Goa's other titled player is Woman FIDE
Master Bhakti Kulkarni. Dempo Goodwill
Brand Ambassador Ivana will be now
attempting a hattrick of World Championships
when she participates in the Under 10 Girls
Section of the World Youth Chess
Championships in Vietnam in October.
Ivana's earlier two Gold medals had
been won in Batumi, Georgia and in
Antalya, Turkey.

Her coach Dronacharya awardee Raghunandan
Gokhale has hailed Ivana's accomplishment and
stated that 'Ivana has all the potential to become
a World Women's Champion in the future'.