Seshadri is Chief Arbiter for the Monginis 'B'

International Arbiter and reputed chess
author Shri. K. R. Seshadri will be the Chief
Arbiter at the Monginis 46th National 'B'
Chess Championships which will be held
in Goa from the 15th of September.

Seshadri, who is also a Russian scholar,
has written numerous books on chess
including

1. Sicilian Defence 1001 Games
2. Decoying
3. Giuoco Piano
4. Lessons In Chess Strategy
5. Grunfeld Defence
6. Back Rank Weakness

He is also the founder of the Times Chess
Academy which is located at Number 3,
M K Bharathi Street, H L Colony
Pammal, Chennai 600075.

Shri. Balaraman and Shri. R. Srivatsan
will be the deputy arbiters in the same
tournament which is expected to attract
a record number of participants. This year's
edition will be part of the 30th Anniversary
celebrations of the Goa State Chess
Association.

AICF Gives Boost For Training

In a big boost for training our young Indian chess stars, the All India Chess Federation announced prominent names led by Grand Master Krishnan Sasikiran of Chennai as coaches during the AICF Meeting that took place here at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on March 27.

Other players who have agreed to train our players for a week to ten days in a year include GM Dibyendu Barua (Ben), GM R.B. Ramesh, GM J. Deepan Chakkaravarthy, IM Manuel Aaron (all TN), IM Vishal Sareen (Del), IM Lanka Ravi (AP), IM Chandrashekar Gokhale (Mah), IM Neeraj Mishra (Jha), Raghunandan Gokhale (Mah), V. Kameswaran, WGM Aarthie Ramaswamy (both TN), WIM Mrunalini Kunte (Mah), FM K.Visweswaran (TN), Praful Zaveri (Mah), Kashinath Mangal (Mah), T. Purushotaman (AP), S.S. Gaikwad (Mah), Nitin (Cha).

FIDE Master K.Visweswaran, 33, of Chennai has been appointed AICF's Coaching Co-Ordinator. Double IM Norm holder, Visweswaran shot into limelight when he trained the Indian Youth Team to a Gold Medal triumph in the World Youth Olympiad at Singapore last year.

Pocket Expenses Offered

In another significant move, the AICF offered to pay Pocket Expenses of USD 10 (about Rs.400) per player per day for official players when they represent India in Asian and World Championships. However, this will not be applicable for players who get allowances from other sources or their employers

Ban Partially Lifted

The AICF Meetings decided to partially lift the ban on Y.V.K. Chakravarthy of Andhra Pradesh. He can now play in all "Open" tournaments. However, his ban on "all" age group events will continue. He will not be eligible for age group prizes offered in Open tournaments.


The AICF also decided to strip the medals of all players who have found overage in the National Chess Championship and also in the Commonwealth chess championship.

In future, M. Satvik of Karnataka would not be considered for overseas events as a "donor entry".

Shrikant Barve of Goa has been suspended by the AICF from all chess activities pending inquiry.

The AICF Meeting with its President N.Srinivasan in chair was well attended.

Cyrus to play in Singapore

Under 11 Asian Schools Gold Medallist Cyrus Perreira
will be participating in the 4th World Schools Chess
Championships to be held in Singapore from 22nd to
31st July, 2008. These competitions will be organized
by FIDE, International School Chess Union, Singapore
Chess Federation and Asean Chess Academy. The
tournaments will be in the OPEN U7 U9, U11, U13,
U15, U17 /GIRLS U7 U9, U11, U13, U17 categories.

Cyrus is the first (and only) Goan boy to win a
medal in the sphere of International chess. He
also won the first place in the Under 9 section
of the Ranjit Patkar Memorial FIDE All India
Tournament which was held in Karwar in May, 2006.
He later stood first in the Under 9 section of the
Sangli Open in November the same year. His best
finish in the Nationals was 5th in the National
Under 9 Championships in Solapur in December, 2006.

Cyrus will also be participating in Thrissur next
month as a part of his preparations. If he can win
a medal in Singapore, it will be the 'icing on the
cake' as far as the AICF Vice President Salgaocar
is concerned. A grand felicitation of Cyrus is
also planned during the State Subjunior Championship
to be held at Mir Sultan Khan Academy, Sanvordem,
in the middle of next month.


Cyrus' favourite players are Bobby Fischer and
Larry Christiansen, both of the United States of
America. He is an accomplished piano player as well
and is presently undergoing training with reputed
coach Akash Thakur of Nagpur.

For other kids interested in participating the
website address is the following -

http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1613

GSCA Website launched by Chief Minister

The official Goa State Chess Association website
was inaugurated by the Chief Minister Shri Digamber
Kamat today in the presence of AICF Vice President
Sameer A. Salgaocar and GSCA Press Officer Raman
Saripalle. This was part of the 30th Anniversary
celebrations of the GSCA.The internet address is
www.goachess.com and the designer is Dinesh Purohit
who is an accomplished web designer and
has created several sites before this one. He was ably
assisted in his efforts by Tanay Kaisary and M.R. Narasapur
who helped in compilation of the data.

The Chief Minister complimented the Association for
the 'rapid strides of the Goan players in national
and international competitions'. He also wished the
GSCA success for the upcoming events including the
prestigious Monginis National 'B' Championship to be
held in the month of September. He assured the
Association that the Goa Government will continue the
support extended to it during the recent past so that
Goan players will 'extend their victory march and bring
more laurels to their state and the country'.

AICF Secretary Shri D.V. Sundar also congratulated the
Association for the website and said that 'this would
go a long way in effective communication'. AICF Vice
President Salgaocar added that this would be a 'nice way
for the world to keep in touch with Goan chess'. The
website will be updated continuously to reflect the
efforts of the Goan players as they participate in National
and International tournaments.

Any comments/suggestions as regarding the website
can be addressed by email to the either the GSCA Press
Officer Raman Saripalle at gsca.press@gmail.com or the
Website Development Officer Tanay Kaisary (9422443396)
and the same will be incorporated after due discussion.

Gautam Tari latest Goan entrant in FIDE List, Bhakti and Anurag gain

Indian chess fans have reason to cheer as
World Champion Viswanathan Anand is all
set to regain the sole numero uno spot
atop the FIDE rankings when the list is
released on April 1st. Anand was tied with
arch rival Kramnik at 2799 in the January list.
However, his performances have boosted him
back over the 2800 mark to 2803, Kramnik's
indifferent performance has seen him lose 11
Elo points and he will now be rated at 2788.

Among the Goans, National Junior Girls Champion
Bhakti Kulkarni will gain 2 Elo points to reach
2166.The Monginis Brand Ambassador and Women
FIDE Master remains Goa's highest rated active player
and is closely followed by Anurag Mhamal at 2126.
Anurag's gains have been largely due to his superb
performance at the Parsvanath Open tournament
where he narrowly missed his first International
Master norm but nevertheless gained valuable rating
points in that tournament. He will try to gain some
more points in the upcoming period when he plays
in the Thrissur FIDE Open and the Mumbai GM Open
along with statemates Umang Kaisary (Elo 1882) and
Mohanan Harikrishnan (Elo 1744).

Gautam Tari is the latest Goan entrant into the FIDE list
and should have an initial FIDE rating of 1717 based on
his performances in the Mangalore FIDE Open and
the Suraj Rating tournament in December 2007. Riya Sawant
and Rishubh Naik have also completed successfully
their ratings and join him in the April rating list.

Happy Birthday Kooka!

We wish that you complete a grand hattrick at
the World Youth Chess Championships in
Vietnam this year!! -

from the entire Goan chess fraternity.

AICF recommends Goan chess stars for Cash awards

Two time World Under 8 Girls Champion Ivana
Maria Furtado and National Junior Girls Champion
Bhakti Kulkarni have been recommended for
cash awards totalling Rs. 190,000/- to the
Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs for performances
in the year 2007 by the All India Chess Federation as
per the press release on the official AICF website.

Monginis Brand Ambassador Bhakti Kulkarni
will be eligible for Rs. 40,000/- for the silver medal
which she won in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Ivana will
be richer by Rs. 100,000/- for the Gold medal in the
World Youth in Turkey and Rs. 50,000/- for the Gold
medal in the Asian Youth in Al Ain, U.A.E. Their coach
Raghunandan Gokhale, India's first Dronacharya awardee,
will also get coaching awards for their performances as well
as for the two Bronze medals of Shalmali Gagare (in Asian
and World) and Gold Medal of Shardul Gagare in the Asian
Youth Championships.

This run of success started after both the girls stood
third in the national championships in their respective
categories in 2005. As per the new AICF dispensation
and thanks to the confidence they enjoyed with the Ministry,
there were three entries sent officially for both the Asian Youth
and the World Youth and that is where the Goan kids managed
to capitalise. The previous AICF body would generally send
only the first placed player in the Nationals to the World Youth
and only the second to the Asian Youth. In this method,
the third place never figured in the teams for official
participation.

'This year, we will apply for even more spots,' said the
AICF Vice President Sameer A. Salgaocar and that way
'there is a chance that 4th placed Harikrishnan can participate
as a selected player in the World Youth and Asian Youth in
the year 2008 itself'. The previous performance of the Indian
kids should stand them in good stead when the proposal is
put up to the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs and we
should all cross our fingers for young Harikrishnan!

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.

Monginis to sponsor National 'B' Chess Championships

M/s Monginis Limited has come forward to sponsor the
National 'B' Chess Championships to be held in Goa
in the month of September this year. Besides this, the
firm has shown keen interest to support one national
tournament in chess every year, disclosed Goa State
Chess Association President Sameer A. Salgaocar.
Chess, havingbrought many laurels to Goa and India,
is now attracting tremendous interest both among the
sponsors and corporates in the state.

Salgaocar praised Monginis for having been generous
in their support. He mentioned that Bhakti Kulkarni, who
is the current National Junior girls champion, has also
been selected as the brand ambassador by the company.
Bhakti, has a busy schedule this year after her 10th standard
exams and will play 10 international tournaments subsequently.
'As young chessplayers find more financial support, it frees
them to focus on the game and bring even more glory
to the state and the nation', Salgaocar added.

The National 'B' Championships is also receiving tremendous
response from chessplayers all over the country. This year's
edition will see top class Grandmasters, International Masters
and Women Grandmasters (many for the very first time)
playing in Goa. Having been declared as a norm event by the
AICF, this tournament will attract a record number of entries.
Most of the games will be covered live on the internet and this
will generate more publicity and hype for this prestigious event.
'Our children will get tremendous exposure by testing their wits
against India's strongest players and many will get a chance to
get their FIDE international ratings', Salgaocar mentioned.