Karnataka Chess

Girish bags bronze in National Subjunior!

2008-12-04T04:35:00.000-08:00

Karnataka's wonderboy and former World Under 10
Champion Girish Koushik added one more feather
in his cap by finishing third in the National
Subjunior Chess Championship which concluded at
Mangalore today. In an exciting finish, Girish needed
just a draw in the last round to emerge as Champion
but somehow lost his final encounter. He nevertheless
will be part of the Indian team to play in the next
World Under 16 Olympiad in Turkey and that will give
him some valuable experience.

Girish finished on eight and a half points
just a shade behind winner Aditya Udeshi of
Maharashtra and K. Priyadarshan (T.N.) who finished
with 9 points and were first and second respectively.
Girish, who is the current Asian Under 12 Champion
and National Under 11 Champion, will be gaining a
whopping 33 points from this tournament alone!

Other Karnataka boys to have done well were M.G. Gahan
and Antonio Viani D'Cunha who finished 9th and 10th
respectively. They both ended with eight points each
in their kitty. As in the National Under 13, Karnataka
had three boys in the top 10 and this reflects the trend
in the youngsters' performances and the determined efforts
of their coaches.

In the Girls section, Shrishti J. Shetty finished fifth
with 7.5 points. She will be gaining 16 points from
this event. Shrishti had earlier won the Silver medal in
the Commonwealth Chess Championships in New Delhi in
the Girls Under 14 section in 2007. Vanessa D'Souza,
who still has some more years to participate in this
category finished a creditable 18th with 6.5 points
with a gain of 24 elo rating points!

Inauguration of National Subjunior, Mangalore

2008-12-03T20:47:00.000-08:00

The 34th National Sub-junior and 25th Sub-junior girls' chess championship, jointly organized by the South Kanara District Chess Association (SKDCA) and the United Karnataka Chess Association (UKCA) under the auspices of the All India Chess Federation, was inaugurated at Subrahmanya Sabha on Wednesday November 26.

Earlier, addressing the large gathering after inaugurating the event, Sameer Salgaocar (Vice President, All India Chess Federation) said that a chess revolution is taking place in Karnataka as many tournaments, camps and chess related events have been organised in the state in a relatively short span of two years. 'At the same time, we have to support emerging players to achieve new heights', he added.

Four budding champions from the state - Girish Kaushik (Current Asian Under 12 Champion and National Under 11 Champion), Arjun Bharat (World Schools Under 9 Champion), K. Manasa (Nationals Girls Under 17 Bronze medallist) and Nihal Manjunath (Under 13 Bronze Medallist) were felicitated and presented momentoes and cash awards on this occasion. Shrikrishna Udupa of Shimoga, who won the Gold Medal for the Fourth Board in the 13th Olympiad for the Visually Impaired in Greece last month was also honoured at this ceremony.

R. Hanumantha (Secretary UKCA) thanked AICF for allocating this prestigious tournament to Karnataka and promised many more initiatives on the behalf of UKCA. He praised the efforts of the SKDCA team and its President M.S. Gururaj and singled them out for their 'dedication and total devotion to the sport'.
Thirunavakkarasu, Principal General Manager BSNL, and Sucharitha Shetty, President, Zilla Panchayat, played the inaugural chess moves. The diaries of SKDCA were released by Harikrishna Punaroor, former president, Kannada Sahitya Parishad. Atchutananda Reddy, President - United Karnataka Chess Association, released the calendar of SKDCA. M R Vasudeva, Director, Mangalore International Airport, presided over the function.

M.S. Gururaj (President SKDCA) welcomed the gathering and Mrs. Lydia D'Cunha (Secretary SKDCA) proposed the vote of thanks.

(Report prepared by R. Hanumantha (Secretary UKCA))

Manasa bags bronze in Under 17 Nationals!

2008-10-19T21:07:00.000-07:00

K Manasa of Mangalore representing Karnataka,
won the bronze medal in the National Under 17
age group girls Chess Champoinships held at
Kalash Mangal Hall Aurangabad in Maharashtra
from 8th to 16th October 2008. She will be
gaining 9 ELO rating points for her efforts.

This is the selection event for the next year's
Indian Team for the Asian Youth Chess Championships
in the Boys and Girls sections was conducted
by the Marathwada Chess Association on behalf
of All India Chess Federation (AICF).

Pon. N. Krithika of Tamil Nadu was the winner
whereas reigning National Junior Girls Champion
Bhakti Kulkarni of Goa finished runner up.
K. Shruthi, Manasa's teammate, finished a creditable
9th.

The complete results can be found at

http://chess-results.com/tnr16554.aspx?lan=1

Girish wins Telegraph Chess!

2008-09-12T20:52:00.000-07:00

The 20th edition of The Telegraph Schools' Chess
Championship was held at Gorky Sadan, Kolkata
between 2nd and 8th September 2008. Karnataka's
Girish Koushik won the event with a round to spare.
He made 9 Points out of 10 rounds.

Following him closely was Sayantan Das. The local
lad who is a student of Alekhine Chess Academy also
has a bright future. The event which is known as the
Talent Spotting Event of the country has even featured
bright foreign stars such as Rustam Kasimdzhanov and
Antoaneta Stefanova who went on to become World Champions.

Let us hope that young Girish can follow in their
footsteps ...

Girish wins Gold in Asian Youth!

2008-07-25T22:21:00.000-07:00

Karnataka wonderkid Girish Kaushik won
the Asian Youth Chess Championships
Boys Under 12 section in grand style by
a margin of one and a half points to get
his second Asian youth Gold medal.

Although Girish had lost to topseeded
Shiven Khosla of Maharshtra in the third
round, the young FIDE Master subsequently
recovered to win 5 games in a row. In the last
round, he completed the formality of a draw
with Vietnamese Tran Truan Minh to register
an ELO rating performance of 2258. Girish's
next big test will be the World Youth Chess
Championships to be played in Vietnam in the
month of October.

Shardul Gagare who lost to Girish in the seventh
round finished third in the same section. K. Manasa,
the other player from Karnataka, finished eighth
in the Girls Under 18 section with a fifty percent
score in seven rounds. P. Uthra of Tamil Nadu won
the Gold medal in this section.

Girish Kaushik's Gold medal was one of the six won
by India, and the contingent finished with a whopping
tally of 21 medals which is indeed a remarkable feat.

Viani gains twelve ELO points in Benasque

2008-07-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

Name ANTONIO Viani D'cunha
Starting rank 193
Rating national 0
Rating international 2114
Ratingperformance 2192
FIDE rtg +/- 12,0
Points 5,5
Rank 160
Federation IND
Ident-Number 0
Fide-ID 5027330

Rd. SNo Name RtgI RtgN FED Club/City Pts. Res. we w-we K rtg+/-
1 466 AGÜES MONTOLIU Maria 0 1890 ESP Val 3,5 w 1
2 45 GM DE LA VILLA GARCIA Jesus Maria 2458 2468 ESP Nav 6,5 s 0 0,12 -0,12 25 -3,00
3 344 ALONSO IGUAL Ignacio 1906 1880 ESP Val 3,5 w ½ 0,77 -0,27 25 -6,75
4 330 PLO PALACIAN Sandra 1925 1909 ESP Ara 4,0 s 1 0,75 0,25 25 6,25
5 73 FM RECUERO GUERRA David 2417 2400 ESP Ast 6,5 w 1 0,14 0,86 25 21,50
6 57 IM COLLAS Didier 2439 0 FRA 7,0 s 0 0,13 -0,13 25 -3,25
7 56 FM ANTOLI ROYO Joaquin Miguel 2441 2410 ESP Ara 6,0 w 0 0,13 -0,13 25 -3,25
8 306 SANMARTIN AGUSTIN Alvaro 1951 1974 ESP Ara 5,0 s 1 0,72 0,28 25 7,00
9 117 FM PRIYADHARSHAN K 2297 0 IND 6,5 w 0 0,26 -0,26 25 -6,50
10 324 MAZA BROTO Pablo 1934 1903 ESP Ara 4,5 s 1K

Thej gets his third GM norm!

2008-05-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

Thejkumar now needs just a few more
ELO rating points to become Karnataka's
first Grandmaster. He completed his
third and final GM norm in the Mayor's
Cup in Mumbai when he drew with Abhijit
Kunte in the penultimate round.

His performance including two wins over
foreign Grandmasters -

Name Thejkumar M S
Starting rank 23
Rating 2414
Rating national 0
Rating international 2414
Ratingperformance 2531
FIDE rtg +/- 21,7
Points 8
Rank 10
Federation IND
Club/City KAR

Rd. SNo Name Rtg FED Pts. Res.
1 249 Lakshmanan Veeraraghavan 1798 IND 4,0 w 1
2 136 Aravind Subramanian N 2099 IND 7,0 s 1
3 87 Nimmy A G 2217 IND 6,5 w 1
4 108 Neelakantan Narayanan 2160 IND 7,0 s 1
5 8 GM Rahman Ziaur 2511 BAN 9,0 w 1
6 1 GM Krasenkow Michal 2624 POL 9,0 s 0
7 66 Arun Karthik R 2281 IND 7,5 w 1
8 14 GM Safin Shukhrat 2481 UZB 7,5 s 1
9 3 GM Macieja Bartlomiej 2599 POL 8,5 w ½
10 6 GM Kunte Abhijit 2547 IND 9,0 w ½
11 2 GM Koneru Humpy 2603 IND 9,0 s 0

Karnataka's G. A. Stany also went unbeaten
in this tournament and gained 26 ELO points for
his efforts.

Thej Kumar becomes an IM

2008-04-03T09:24:00.000-07:00

State Champion and National 'A' Player M.S.Thej Kumar
completed his third and final IM norm to become the
third International Master from Karnataka (after Ravi
Hegde and D.V.Prasad) when he drew against Swapnil
Dhopade in the 9th round of the 3rd Kolkata Grandmaster
tournament.

Born on the 1st of January, 1981, Thej Kumar hails
from Mysore and was recently employed with Southern
Railways on Sports Quota. He gained 5 precious ELO
rating points in Kolkata to take his provisional rating
to 2419.

April FIDE List

2008-03-23T00:18:00.000-07:00

These are some of Karnataka's outstanding
players. Almost all the players have
done well again, especially among the
kids. Thejkumar needs just one more norm
to become an International Master!

If you want your name added,
please write me an email at

sasalgaocar@gmail.com

M.S. Thejkumar 2414 (+32)
D.V. Prasad 2391 (-18)
N. Sanjay 2355 (+1)
Arvind Shastry 2275

Kids :-
G.A. Stany 2213 (+58)
Viani D'cunha 2128 (+67)
Girish Kaushik 2108 (+6)
M.G. Gahan 2087 (+80)
Niranjan Navalgund 2085 (+20)

Thej makes second GM norm!

2008-02-12T07:39:00.000-08:00

It was another proud day for Karnataka chess as
M.S. Thejkumar made his second 9 round GM norm in
the National 'A' Championship being played
in Chennai.

He needed just a draw in the last round and
proposed it to his opponent GM Barua before the
game. Barua refused but had to sign the peace
treaty later after 46 moves of a hard fought game.
Earlier Thej had beaten B. Adhiban in the eighth
round to bring himself within striking distance
of the norm.

Through 10 rounds, he has given a performance of
2560 and is gaining 24 ELO points for his efforts.
He stands sixth in the current rankings and a strong
finish may see him in the top 3.

Adhiban,B (2401) - Thejkumar,M S (2382) [B04]
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 dxe5 5.Nxe5 c6 6.c4 Nb4
7.Be3 Bf5 8.Nd3 e5 9.Nxb4 Bxb4+ 10.Nc3 Qa5 11.Qb3 exd4
12.Bxd4 Na6 13.Be2 0-0-0 14.Be3 Nc5 15.Bxc5 Bxc5 16.0-0 Rd2
17.Rac1 Re8 18.Bf3 Qb6 19.Qxb6 axb6 20.Na4 Bd4 21.g3 Bh3
22.Bg2 Bxg2 23.Kxg2 Ree2 24.Rcd1 Rxf2+ 25.Rxf2 Rxf2+
26.Kh1 Bc5 27.a3 Rc2 28.Rf1 f6 29.Re1 Kd7 30.Rd1+ Kc7
31.Re1 Bd6 32.Re8 Rxc4 33.Rc8+ Kxc8 34.Nxb6+ Kc7
35.Nxc4 b5 36.Nd2 Kb6 37.Kg2 Ka5 38.Kf3 Ka4 39.Ne4 Be7
40.Nd2 f5 41.Kf4 Bf6 42.b3+ Kxa3 43.Kxf5 Bc3 44.Ne4 Kxb3
45.Ke6 Kc4 46.Kd6 b4 47.Nc5 Bd4 48.Ne4 Kd3 0-1

Thej's wins

2008-02-07T09:53:00.000-08:00

2nd round - IM Ashwin,Jayaram (2478) - Thejkumar,M S (2382) [D61]

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7
7.Qc2 c5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 Bxg5 10.h4 Bh6 11.Nc3 cxd4
12.Nxd4 Nb6 13.g4 g6 14.0-0-0 Qe7 15.h5 Bg7 16.f3 e5
17.Ndb5 Be6 18.hxg6 hxg6 19.Rd2 Rfd8 20.Rdh2 a6
21.Na3 Rac8 22.Nab1 Nd5 23.Qe4 Nb4 24.a3 Bb3
25.Nd2 Na2+ 26.Kb1 Nxc3+ 27.bxc3 Qxa3 0-1

3rd round - Thejkumar,M S (2382) - IM Sriram,Jha (2457) [A48]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.e3 0-0 5.Be2 c5
6.c3 d5 7.Nbd2 Qb6 8.Qb3 Nc6 9.0-0 c4 10.Qxb6 axb6
11.h3 b5 12.a3 Bf5 13.g4 Be6 14.Ne5 Nd7 15.Nxd7 Bxd7
16.Bf3 e6 17.Bd6 Rfd8 18.e4 Bh6 19.Rad1 Be8
20.Bg3 f6 21.Rfe1 Bf7 22.Nf1 Re8 23.Bg2 dxe4
24.Bxe4 f5 25.Bxc6 bxc6 26.Be5 Red8 27.h4 Bf8
28.Ne3 c5 29.Bf6 Rdc8 30.dxc5 Bxc5 31.g5 Be8
32.Nc2 Kf7 33.Nd4 Bxd4 34.Rxd4 Ra6 35.Kh2 h5
36.Kg3 Rc7 37.Red1 Raa7 38.Rd6 Bd7 39.Bd8 Rcb7
40.Bb6 Rxb6 41.Rxb6 e5 42.f4 exf4+ 43.Kxf4 Be8
44.Rdd6 Kg7 45.Ke5 Bf7 46.Rxb5 Re7+ 47.Kf4 Re4+
48.Kf3 Be8 49.Rb8 Kf7 50.Rd4 Re1 51.Rxc4 1-0

Thej starts well in 'A'

2008-02-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

State Champion Thejkumar started well in
the National 'A' with victories over two
International Masters in the first three
rounds. Statemate and former State champ
N. Sanjay is also doing well with draws
against two grandmasters - Neelotpal Das
and R.B. Ramesh.

Name Thejkumar M S
Starting rank 24
Rating 2382
Rating national 0
Rating international 2382
Ratingperformance 2667
FIDE rtg +/- 19,0
Points 3,5
Rank 3
Federation IND
Club/City KAR
Ident-Number 0

Rd. SNo Name Rtg FED Club/City Pts. Res.
1 2 GM Kunte Abhijit 2550 IND PSPB 3,5 w ½
2 8 IM Ashwin Jayaram 2478 IND T.N. 1,0 s 1
3 12 IM Sriram Jha 2457 IND LIC 2,5 w 1
4 1 GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar 2579 IND PSPB 4,0 w ½
5 3 GM Gopal G N 2528 IND PSPB 3,5 s ½

Thejkumar wins State Championship

2008-01-10T00:47:00.000-08:00

Top seed M.S. Thejkumar (2382) won the Mangalore FIDE-rated State Open chess championship which concluded here on Wednesday.

Thej, who finished on the same score of 7.5 points with G.A. Stany (2155), claimed the title on a better progressive score.

Both Thej and Stany had to be content with draws in their final round games against P. Gopalkrishna (7) and M.G. Gahan (7) respectively.

The results: Open: 1. M.S. Thej Kumar, 2. G.A. Stany; Youngest player: Sudhanva Bharadwaj (2).

Boys: U-7: 1. J. Ashwin (4), 2. S. Vasishta (2); U-9: 1. Sharan Rao (5), 2. R.U. Ananthram (5). U-11: 1. Naren N. Kumar (5.5), 2. H.A. Amogha (5.5). U-13: 1. S. Shreeshan (6), 2. Antonio Viani D’ Cunha (6); U-15: D. Benadikar Shashank (5.5), 2. Rammohan Bhandary (5.5)

Girls: U-9: 1. M. Tulsi (3), 2. R. Akshatha (3); U-11: 1. L. Andria D’ Souza (5.5), 2. Shalon Joanne Pais (4); U-13: Seema Melita Crasta (4); U-15: 1. Pavitra Jagtap (6), 2. Bhargavi Alva (4).

Best unrated player: D. Abhijith (6); Best South Kanara player: Prakash V. Rao (6); Best woman player: Anitha D’ Souza (1); Best veteran player: N.R. Raghuraman (5.5).

Thej catching up with DVP; kids shine!

2007-12-28T00:30:00.000-08:00

In the latest FIDE Ranking list to be released
on January 1st 2008, Grandmaster norm holder
M.S. Thejkumar will be within striking distance
of over taking International Master D.V. Prasad
at the top of the Karnataka rankings.

The former National Under 25 champion will be
gaining 27 points from a sterling display in the
Chakradharpur, Jharkhand Open tournament
to go upto 2382 whereas the former National Champion
and veteran IM will remain at 2409. This distance
will be still less once the Commonwealth ratings
are taken into account.

Some of the youngsters are also gaining impressively
in the list. Among them is Belgaum lad Niranjan
Navalgund who will be gaining 53 points courtesy an
excellent effort in the SPIC tourney in Tuticorin. Also,
G.A. Stany will be adding 58 points after a superb
display in the National Junior Championship in
Aurangabad. With a spectacular display in the National
Subjunior Championships, the largest gainer will be Antonio Viani
D'Cunha whose rating will shoot up a whopping 73 points
in the January list. The kids stand to gain even further after
the National Under 13 performances are taken into
account in the April 2008 list!

Some important ratings are

IM D.V. Prasad 2409
M.S. Thejkumar 2382 (+27)
N. Sanjay 2354
Arvind Shastry 2275
G.A. Stany 2155 (+58)
FM Girish A. Kaushik 2102 (+16)
Niranjan Navalgund 2068 (+53)
Antonio Viani D'Cunha 2061 (+73)
M.G. Gahan 2007 (+2)
R. Hanumantha 1963
Sushrutha Reddy 1957 (-22)
Vijay Bharat 1931
Shrishti J. Shetty 1923 (+7)
Arjun Bharat 1811 (-14)

5 Karnataka kids in top 20, all gaining ELO!

2007-12-23T01:50:00.000-08:00

(Photo - Girish Kaushik receiving his prize from
Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi with Asian Women's
Champion Tania Sachdev and AICF Treasurer Bharat
Singh Chauhan also present)

Karnataka lads did well in the Parsvanath
National Under 13 Chess tournament which
concluded at the Bapu Samaj Seva Kendra,
New Delhi. In fact, three of the kids finished
in the top 10 and there were 5 in the top 20
which reflects the ever increasing strength of the
coaching prowess in the State led by the veteran
IM D.V. Prasad, State Secretary Hanumantha,
Arvind Shastry, N. Sanjay, M.S. Thejkumar
and the other mentors.

Niranjan Navalgund, of Belgaum, finished 6th. The
lad is surely going places. Having beaten strong IM S.P.
Sethuraman and eventual winner in the National Subjunior,
he consolidated his presence in his own age group with a fine showing
here. He finished with 8.5 points and will gain 4 ELO points
from this event.

M.G. Gahan of Mangalore and FIDE Master Girish Kaushik
of Mysore finished with 8 points and were awarded 7th and 8th place
respectively. Gahan, who is largely self taught, will be gaining
a whopping 56 points, whereas Girish who learns from his
father Arun Kaushik will be benefiting by 5 ELO.

D. Yashas will another significant gainer with 27 ELO points and
13th place. He notched 8 points as well. Antonio Viani D' Cunha,
also of Mangalore, was the fifth kid in the top 20 with 7.5 points
and 18th place. He will be gaining 7 ELO points for his efforts.

The Karnataka contingent will be happy to know that AICF has
decided to hold the 2008 version of the National Subjunior in
their home state. Perhaps with favourable conditions, one of them
can make it to the National squad and represent the country in
the World and Asian Youth Championships in 2009.

Karnataka bags 2 silver and a GM norm!

2007-12-12T06:52:00.000-08:00

Karnataka players struck it rich in the
Commonwealth Chess Championships
which concluded in New Delhi with its
players bagging two silver medals and a
Grandmaster norm in the tournament.

In the Girls Under 14 section, Shristi Shetty
won the silver medal ahead of National Subjunior
Champion Shalmali Gagare of Maharashtra who had
incidentally just come back after bagging the bronze
in the World Youth Chess Championships in the
same section in Antalya, Turkey. Shristi's performance
is the first outstanding performance by a Karnataka lass
in a long time and we hope that she will build on it.

Last year's World Under 10 Boys Champion Girish Kaushik
finished second in the same section in the Commonwealth.
This is his second silver this year, the first coming in the
Asian Youth in Al Ain, U.A.E.

The best performance though was from none other than
M.S. Thejkumar who bagged a Grandmaster norm for his
efforts. This former National Under 25 Champion had incidentally
never made an IM Norm so this will really boost his morale. He also
finished 15th in the overall standings. All in all, it was a rich booty
for the Karnataka contingent and credit goes to Mr. Hanumantha and
his team in the UKCA for spurring on the players!

Thejkumar continues to impress

2007-12-06T07:55:00.000-08:00

After drawing with two Grandmasters earlier,
former Under 25 National Champion
M.S. Thejkumar (ELO 2355) of Karnataka kept his
hopes alive for an International Master Norm when he
drew with 15th seed Grandmaster elect Abhijeet Gupta (ELO 2470)
of Bharat Petroleum in the sixth round of the Commonwealth
Chess Championships being played in New Delhi.

Abhijeet needed a win to get to 2500 ELO and thus
become India's 17th Grandmaster. Thejkumar had other ideas
and effectively paried all his threats to garner half a point
after 29 moves of the Queen's Gambit Declined opening.
Considered one of the upcoming youngsters of
Karnataka, Thejkumar had equality throughout the game
and when down to their final minutes on the clock,
both the players agreed for a truce in a Rook and
pawn ending. Both Thejkumar and Gupta are on 4.5 points,
just one point behind the leaders.

Antonio Viani D'Cunha (ELO 1988) of Mangalore was not
so lucky when he went down fighting to IM K. Rathnakaran
(ELO 2433) in 43 moves of a King's Indian Attack. The Keralite
International Master, who had won the Ranjit Patkar tournament
in Karwar, used his spatial advantage on the Queenside well to
gradually wear out the youngster. Earlier, in the fourth and fifth rounds,
the 12 year old had beaten Aditya Udeshi (ELO 2355) and Sohan
Phadke (ELO 2259) both of Maharashtra in exciting games.
Antonio has justification to be elated as he will be gaining
tremendous number of valuable ELO points
from this tournament if he continues in this vein.

In other important results, M.G.Gahan (ELO 2005) defeated
P. Phoobalan (ELO 2250) and G.A. Stany held P. Karthikeyan
(ELO 2340) to a draw. Veteran IM D.V. Prasad also had no
difficulty in putting it across Laisram Imocha (ELO 2272).

Thejkumar leads the charge for Karnataka

2007-12-06T06:41:00.000-08:00

After drawing with 5th seed Grandmaster Abdulla
Al Rakib (ELO 2506) of Bangladesh in the third
round, former Under 25 National Champion
M.S. Thejkumar (ELO 2355) of Karnataka kept himself in the
hunt for an International Master Norm when he
drew with another Grandmaster - Deepan
Chakravarty (ELO 2492) of Madurai - in the fourth round
of the Commonwealth Chess Championships
being played in New Delhi.

Thejkumar is one of the promising youngsters of
Karnataka. Today he showed that by holding his
fancied opponent to a draw in a Queen's Indian Defence
Opening after 19 moves. 6th seeded Deepan's Kingside position
had weakened a bit and and Thejkumar had control
of the open 'C' file when the peace treaty was signed so
the Grandmaster has to consider himself to be a trifle
lucky to salvage a half point from this encounter.

G. A. Stany (ELO 2097) also did well to hold Pakistani
Tanvir Gilani (ELO 2300) to a draw in the third round.
Finally Antonio Viani D'Cunha (ELO 1988) upset the
applecart of Gujarati Praful Mehta (ELO 2207) by beating
him in a nice game to notch his second point in three
encounters.

Karnataka kids start off with victories

2007-11-18T20:15:00.000-08:00

All three Karnataka kids - World Under 10 Champion Girish
Kaushik, M. Satvik and Arjun Bharat - started with
victories in the World Youth Chess Championships
which got underway in Antalya, Turkey.

FIDE Master Girish Kaushik (ELO 2086),
who is starting as the 3rd seed in the Under 10
section, defeated unrated Onat Kantarli of Turkey
with the white pieces. He will next be playing Ayan
Akhmetov of Kazhakastan in the second round.

M. Satvik (ELO 1907), a former Asian bronze medallist,
defeated unrated De-Dao Linson Lim of Singapore.
The 17th seeded Satvik will next play Christophe Gelas
of France in the next round. Both Girish and Satvik
will be fancying their chances of winning a medal
now as the top seed Candidate Master Joshua Ruiz (ELO 2048)
of Colombia was held to a draw in the first round.

Arjun Bharat (ELO 1825), starting as the fourth seed in the
Under 8 section, defeated unrated Jordan Kuzmanovic in the
first round and next plays unrated De Li Derek Lim of
Singapore. This opponent has to be taken seriously
as he has beaten Asian Gold Medallist G.V. Revanth
Reddy (ELO 1625) in the earlier round.

In the Boys Under 14 Section, topseeded
IM S.P. Sethuraman (ELO 2427) had no
problems whatsoever in disposing off
Jonathan Tordeur (ELO 1988) of Switzerland
in just 29 moves of an English Attack
in a Sicilian Defence Opening. However, in the
Boys Under 12 section, National Champion
Fenil Shah was (ELO 2124) shocked by unrated
Iskandar Aripov of Uzbekistan in what can be considered
a major blow to the Indian contingent's chances!

Girish finishes 3rd

2007-10-31T10:57:00.000-07:00

World Under 10 Champion FIDE Master
Girish Arun Kaushik had to remain
content with the third place at the conclusion
of the National Under 11 Championships
organised in Kozhikode, Kerala.

Girish finished with 8.5 points in the 11 round
tournament. The winner was Shiven Khosla
of Maharashtra who finished with 9 points. He
edged out Sayantan Das of West Bengal by
virtue of a better progressive tiebreak score.
Top seeded G.V. Sai Krishna performed much
below expectations and finished 12th.

Girish's next tournament is the World Youth
Chess Championships in Antalya, Turkey
next month. Karnataka chess lovers will hope
that he will bring greater laurels for the state
and the country in this event.

Girish in joint second after 7 rounds

2007-10-28T20:05:00.000-07:00

World Under 10 Champion Girish Kaushik
was in joint second place at the end of the
seventh round in the National Under 11
Chess Championships being played at
Kozhikode.

Shiven Khosla of Maharashtra is in the lead
by a clear point. Girish and 7 others will
try to catch up with him in the remaining four
rounds of the event.

Important results (seventh round):

Boys: Shiven Khosla 6.5 bt P.V.S.M. Praveen Kumar 5; Sayantan Das 5.5 drew with R. Eswar 5.5; Ayush Jugle 4.5 lost to Girish A. Kaushik 5.5; Shardul Gagre 5.5 bt Prabhu Anand 4.5; S. Kaushik 5.5 bt Utkal Ranjan Sahu 4.5; Chandrashish Majumdar 5 drew with J. Nishin 5; Sheikh Nubair Shah 5.5 bt G. Akash 4.5; Vasatha Ruba Varman 4.5 lost to Prince Bajaj 5.5; Ragesh Kumar Naikr 4.5 lost to Vaibhav Suri 5.5; Aubhropratim Manna 5.5 bt Osama Saleem 4.5.

Girls: Michelle Catherina 5 lost to P.V. Nanditha 6.5; G. Aiswarya 6 bt G. Lasya 5; Akanksha Gupta 4.5 lost to Navya Vyshnavi 6; P. Balakannamma 4 lost to Sweety Patel 5; Sonakshi Rathore 5 bt Sreeja Seshadri 4; Sunyasakata Satpathy 5 bt Nisha Patkar 4; Parnali Dharia 4 lost to Shweta Gole 5; S.E. Meenu Priya 4.5 drew with T. Navya 4; N. Akshaya 5 bt T.R. Nandini 4; R. Maduravani 4 drew with Soumy Mukherjee 4.

Satvik, Arjun in the top 10

2007-10-20T05:06:00.000-07:00

2006 Asian Under 8 Bronze medallist
M. Satvik (ELO 1907) and Arjun Bharat
(ELO 1825) finished 5th and 9th respectively
to keep Karnataka's flag flying high in the
National Under 9 Championship which
concluded at Bangalore.

Arjun Bharat defeated tough customer 2007 Asian
Under 8 Gold Medallist G.V. Revanth Reddy (ELO 1625)
of Andhra Pradesh in the last round encounter.
Had it not been for Arjun's shock first round defeat,
he would have had a better tiebreak and finished
even higher in the prize list. Nevertheless, he
should his recuperative powers and fighting
qualities to finish 9th in this extremely
competitive field.

M. Satvik also did well to stand 5th in the prize
list. Akshay Bharadwaj (ELO 1923) and
R. Parthasarthy stood 24th and 38th respectively.
In the Girls section, it was Andria D'Souza who was
the pick of the lot and she stood 12th in the prize
list. T.C. Meghana and M. Tulsi stood 21st and 22nd
respectively.

Coming on the back of a good display in the National
Subjunior championship in Chennai, this was also an
excellent display by the Karnataka youngsters. Credit
must be given to the coaching team which includes
IM D.V. Prasad, Arvind Shastry, M.S. Thejkumar,
Hanumantha, N. Sanjay and others.

Both Satvik and Arjun will be off to play in the World
Youth Chess Championships to be held in Antalya,
Turkey next month and all the good wishes of the
Karnataka chess lovers will be with them in their efforts!

Boys (final round): Diptayan Ghosh (9.5) drew with Sidhanth Mohapatra (9); Ch Mohineesh (8.5) drew with Sardara Preet (8.5); M. Satvik (8.5) bt Ashwath P. Hari (7.5); Arjun Bharat (8.5) bt Gv. Revanth Reddy (7.5); M. Karthikeyan (7.5) lost to Harikrishnan Mohanan (8.5); Adarsh P. Yeshwanth (8.5) bt Maniar Thirth (7.5).

Girls: Sunya Sakta Satpathy (8) lost to GK Monisha (9.5); Sweety Patel (8.5) bt M. Mahalakshmi (8); Shoumi Mukherjee (9) bt Akhankya Kabi (7); C.H. Meghana (8) bt Divya Garg (7); Ivana Maria Furtado (8) bt Gauri Keshav Hadondkar (7).

Diptiyan and Monnisha lead

2007-10-18T22:23:00.000-07:00

Diptiyan Ghosh (ELO 2006) of West Bengal remains the only undefeated player in the boys' section. He scored a crushing win today against Adarsh Yeshwant (ELO 1717) of Tamil Nadu to remain in sole lead at the end of 10th round. The game followed irregular Queen Pawn opening and Diptiyan achieved a dominating position on 28th move. Black's King was pushed in a compromising position and thereafter Diptiyan checkmated his opponent on 39th move.

Sidhanth Mohapatra (ELO 1996) of Orissa played brilliantly to outplay Ashwath Hari (ELO 1704) of Tamil Nadu. The game followed Scotch opening and by 18th move Black's rook proved too menacing for white's 2 minor pieces and Sidhanth won by checkmating his opponent on 58 th move.

Mohineesh C H (ELO 1925) of Andhra Pradesh scored a perfect win against Athul Krishna (ELO 1560) of Kerala on the third board. Mohineesh opted for Queen Pawn opening and by the start of endgame; Mohineesh achieved winning position to checkmate his opponent in 66 moves.

M. Satvik (ELO 1907) and Arjun Bharat (ELO 1825) of Karnataka drew their respective games against their opponents whereas Akshay Bharadwaj (ELO 1923) lost his game against unrated Karthikeyan M of Tamil Nadu.

Diptiyan is being closely followed on the second spot by Sidhanth Mahapatra. One more round remains to be played in this prestigious event.

In the girls' section, G K Monnisha (ELO 1705) of Tamilnadu defeated top seed Sweety Patel (ELO 1983) of Gujarat in an interesting game arising out of Sicilian Pelikan defence. Monnisha checkmated her opponent in 48 moves. On the second board, M. Mahalakshmi (ELO 1710) of Tamil Nadu defeated her compatriot unrated R. Abirami.
Monnisha is in the sole lead with 8.5 points and she is being closely followed by Mahalakshmi and Shoumi on 8 points.

Smooth start to National Under Nine

2007-10-14T00:22:00.002-07:00

The twentyfirst edition of the prestigious National Under 9 Chess Championship for Boys and Girls respectively got off to a smooth start on Friday at St. Joseph's PU College campus in Bangalore. 212 boys and 93 girls are playing in this event.

In the Boys section, the seeded players had a no difficulties. However, the seventh board saw a minor upset when Hemant Kumar (ELO 1886) of AP was held to draw by unrated M. Karthikeyan of Tamil Nadu in the second round. On the top board in third round, top seed Diptayan Ghosh (ELO 2006) of West Bengal had an easy outing against Ashwath of AP in an Italian game opening. White blundered a piece on 16th move to lose easily against highly rated Diptayan. Ghosh next plays Aswath P. Hari (ELO 1704) of Tamil Nadu in the fourth round.

On the second board, Chetan Basu played an inaccurate Marshall Attack variation with black pieces to lose 2 pawns by just move 19. White only had to open up Black's kingside to post a crushing win. Chinmay Routray won easily against S. Kumar in an irregular Sicilian defence. Kumar lost an exchange on move 25 to hand over the win to Chinmay.

Karnataka's top rated players in this category - Akshay Bharadwaj (ELO 1923), M. Satvik (ELO 1914), Shabdik Verma and R.V. Anantharam are playing according to the expectations. Akshay Bharadwaj posted an impressive win against Daniel Rajan of TN on the fifth board. Satwik also finished the game in style on board 6 against Hetul Shah of Gujarat. Totally 18 players are sharing the lead in Boys' section with 3 points.

In the girls section second seeded Shoumi Mukherjee (ELO 1766) of West Bengal played a wonderful game against Bansi Prathima of AP to post a win on the top board In a major upset, Dharani sree of TN defeated FIDE rated and National Under 7 Champion Meghana C H (ELO 1716) of Kerala on the second board. M. Mahalakshmi (ELO 1710) of TN also had an easy win on the third board. She defeated Kavya SS of Tamil Nadu. Amongst the Karnataka girls, Andrea D'souza drew her game against Sunya Sakta Satpathy of Orissa. Totally, 8 players are in the lead with 3 points each before the start of the 4th round.

Nice finish by the kids from Karnataka

2007-10-10T20:35:00.000-07:00

All the leading participants from Karnataka won their
last round games to finish well in the
National Subjunior Chess Championships
which concluded here at Chennai today.

Pick of the lot was Antonio Viani D'Cunha (ELO 1988) who
beat Under 11 National Champion Fenil Shah (ELO 2124)
in a Closed Sicilian game. Although D'Cunha was seeded
43rd at the start of the event he finished 8th which is a
tremendous performance from him.

World Under 10 Champion and FIDE Master Girish Kaushik
(ELO 2086) beat Ajay Srikanth (ELO 2028) of Tamil Nadu
to finish on 7.5 points and in 14th place after having been seeded
25th initially.

G.A. Stany (ELO 2097) and Niranjan Navalgund (ELO 2012)
won their last round games as well and finished 25th and
53rd respectively. A speical mention must also be made of
Shristi J. Shetty (ELO 1916) who beat J. Sahari (ELO 1836)
of Andhra Pradesh to finish with 7 points and in 13th place
in the Girls section.

To conclude, this was a wonderful performance by the
Karnataka youngsters and more bright performances
can be expected from them in the days to come!

Antonio Viani D'cunha (1988) - Fenil Shah (2124)
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.f4 d5 4.Bb5+ Bd7 5.Bxd7+ Qxd7 6.d3 Nf6 7.e5 Ng8
8.Nf3 Nc6 9.0-0 Be7 10.Ne2 h5 11.c3 Nh6 12.Bd2 Nf5 13.a3 c4 14.Ng3
Nxg3 15.hxg3 Bc5+ 16.d4 Be7 17.Nh2 g6 18.g4 hxg4 19.Nxg4 Na5 20.Kf2
0-0-0 21.Be3 Rh5 22.g3 Rdh8 23.Kg2 Nb3 24.Rb1 Qd8 25.Qf3 Qg8 26.Rh1
Qh7 27.Nf2 Rh2+ 28.Rxh2 Qxh2+ 29.Kf1 Rg8 30.Ke2 Qh7 31.Rh1 Qg7 32.g4
Rh8 33.Rh3 Rh4 34.Rxh4 Bxh4 35.Qh3 Bd8 36.g5 Kd7 37.Qh6 Qg8 38.Ng4 Na5
39.Nf6+ Bxf6 40.gxf6 Nc6 41.Qg7 Qe8 42.Kf3 Nd8 43.Kg4 Kc6 44.Kg5 a6
45.Kh6 Kd7 46.Kh7 Nc6 47.Qh6 Nd8 48.Kg7 Nc6 49.Qh8 Kd8 50.f5 gxf5
51.Qh5 Ne7 52.fxe7+ Kxe7 53.Bg5+ 1-0

Girish A Koushik (2086) - Srikanth Ajay (2028)
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 dxc4 4.Nc3 a6 5.e4 b5 6.e5 Nd5 7.a4 e6 8.axb5
Nb6 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Be3 Qd7 11.bxa6 Rxa6 12.Rxa6 Nxa6 13.Be2 Nb4 14.Qb1
N4d5 15.0-0 Be7 16.Ne4 h6 17.Nfd2 Nxe3 18.fxe3 Bd5 19.Rc1 Qc6 20.Bf3
Qb7 21.Nxc4 Nxc4 22.Rxc4 0-0 23.Qc2 Qa6 24.Rxc7 Bd8 25.Rc3 Bxe4
26.Bxe4 Bg5 27.g3 h5 28.Kg2 Bh6 29.Bf3 g6 30.Be4 Kg7 31.Qf2 Bg5 32.Rc7
Qb6 33.Rb7 Qa5 34.h4 Bd8 35.b4 Qa4 36.b5 Kg8 37.Qc2 Qa5 38.Bxg6 Qe1
Lost On Time. 1-0

Raju S (1872) - Stany G A (2097)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6
8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5 11.c3 Bg7 12.exf5 Bxf5 13.Qf3 Be6
14.Nf4 d5 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.Qh5+ Ke7 17.Nc2 e4 18.a3 Qe8 19.Qh3 Qg6
20.Be2 Qg5 21.Rd1 Raf8 22.0-0 Ne5 23.Kh1 Ng6 24.Qg3 Qxg3 25.hxg3 h5
26.Rde1 h4 27.g4 Nf4 28.Nb4 Ra8 29.a4 bxa4 30.Bxa6 a3 31.Bb7 Raf8
32.bxa3 Bxc3 33.Nc6+ Kd6 34.Rb1 Nd3 35.Kg1 Nc5 36.Rfc1 d4 37.Rxc3 dxc3
38.Na5 Rb8 39.Rb6+ Ke7 40.Nc6+ Kf6 41.g5+ Kg7 0-1

Shristi J Shetty (1916) - Sahari J (1836)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d3 Nc6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.0-0 e5 7.Nbd2 Nge7 8.c3
0-0 9.h3 h6 10.Nh2 Kh7 11.Nc4 Be6 12.Ne3 Qd7 13.g4 g5 14.Nf5 Ng6
15.Nf3 Nce7 16.d4 Rad8 17.Nxg7 Bc4 18.Nh5 f6 19.Re1 Qe8 20.Ng3 Be6
21.Nf5 Bxf5 22.exf5 Nf4 23.Bxf4 gxf4 24.Nh4 Rg8 25.Ng6 Nxg6 26.fxg6+
Kh8 27.Be4 Rg7 28.Qd2 Re7 29.Bf5 Kg7 30.Rad1 b6 31.dxc5 bxc5 32.b4
cxb4 33.cxb4 Qa4 34.Rc1 Qa3 35.Kg2 d5 36.Rc5 Qa4 37.Rxd5 Rxd5 38.Qxd5
Qxb4 39.Rc1 Qb7 40.Qxb7 Rxb7 41.a4 Re7 42.a5 e4 43.a6 e3 44.fxe3 fxe3
45.Kf1 Kg8 46.Rc8+ Kg7 47.Rb8 e2+ 48.Ke1 Re3 49.Rb7+ Kg8 50.Rxa7 Rxh3
51.Kxe2 white won in 84 moves 1-0

Viani D'Cunha continues to surprise

2007-10-08T02:20:00.001-07:00

Karnataka's Antonio Viani D'Cunha (ELO 1988)
continued his fine run by holding highly
rated International Master B. Adhiban (ELO 2422)
to a draw in the 8th round and defeating Praveen
Kumar (ELO 2064) in the 9th round of the National
Subjunior Chess Championships being played in
Chennai.

D'Cunha of Mangalore now has 7 points and is in
joint second along with two others - IM Adhiban and
Ramnath Bhuvanesh both of Tamil Nadu. He next plays
leader and top seed IM S.P. Sethuraman (ELO 2427)
of Tamil Nadu in the 10th round. A satisfactory performance
in the remaining two rounds may get him a spot in the
Indian team for the Under 16 Olympiad next year.

Also doing well is G.A. Stany (ELO 2097) who held
FIDE Master Prasanna Rao (ELO 2228) of Maharashtra
to a draw. Stany, with 6 points, could try to finish in
the top ten with a strong finish

Antonio Viani D'cunha (1988) - Praveen Kumar (2064)
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bb5 Nd4 6.0-0 Nxb5 7.Nxb5 d5
8.e5 a6 9.Nc3 Bg4 10.d4 cxd4 11.Qxd4 e6 12.Be3 Ne7 13.Qd2 Bxf3 14.Rxf3
b5 15.Bc5 Nc6 16.Ne2 Bf8 17.Bxf8 Kxf8 18.a4 Qb6+ 19.Kh1 b4 20.Raf1 Kg7
21.Rg3 Rhe8 22.Rh3 Rh8 23.f5 h5 24.fxg6 fxg6 25.Qg5 Qd8 26.Rf6 Nxe5
27.Rhf3 Rf8 28.Ng3 Qc7 29.Nxh5+ Kg8 30.Rxg6+ Nxg6 31.Qxg6+ Kh8 32.Nf6
1-0

Stany G A (2097) - Prasanna Rao (2228)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.d3 Nd7 7.Nbd2 g6
8.h4 h5 9.Nc4 Bg7 10.Bg5 f6 11.Be3 c5 12.Qd2 b6 13.0-0-0 Bb7 14.Nh2
Qe7 15.f4 exf4 16.Bxf4 0-0-0 17.Nf3 Nf8 18.Kb1 Ne6 19.Rhe1 Nxf4
20.Qxf4 Rhe8 21.g4 Qd7 22.gxh5 gxh5 23.Ne3 Kb8 24.Nf5 Bf8 25.Ne3 Bd6
26.Qf5 Qf7 27.Rf1 Qe7 28.Qxh5 Rh8 29.Qg4 Rdg8 30.Qh3 Rg3 31.Qh1 Bc8
32.Rg1 Rh3 33.Qg2 Qf7 34.Qf2 Be6 35.a3 Qh5 36.Rdf1 Bf4 37.Rh1 Rxh1
38.Rxh1 Rg8 39.Rg1 Rxg1+ 40.Nxg1 Bxe3 41.Qxe3 Qxh4 42.b3 Qg4 43.Ne2 a5
44.a4 Qh5 45.Nf4 Qe5 46.Qf2 Bc8 47.Ng6 Qe6 48.Nf4 Qe5 49.Ng6 Qe6
50.Nf4 Qe5 51.Qf3 Qg5 52.Ng2 f5 53.Ne3 fxe4 54.Qxe4 Qg1+ 55.Kb2 Qg7+
1/2-1/2

Adhiban B (2422) - Antonio Viani D'cunha (1988) [B43]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bd3 b5 7.0-0 Bb7 8.Qe2
Nd7 9.f4 Ngf6 10.Kh1 Qc7 11.Bd2 Be7 12.b4 0-0 13.a4 bxa4 14.Rxa4 Qb6
15.Nb3 d5 16.e5 Ne4 17.Nxe4 dxe4 18.Bxe4 Bxe4 19.Qxe4 Qb5 20.Raa1 Nb6
21.Na5 Rac8 22.c3 Rfd8 23.Rfd1 Rd7 24.Qe1 Nc4 25.Nxc4 Qxc4 26.Rdc1 Rd3
27.h3 Rcd8 28.Be3 h6 29.Kg1 Rc8 30.Ra3 Rxe3 31.Qxe3 Bxb4 32.cxb4 Qxc1+
33.Qxc1 Rxc1+ 34.Kf2 Rc4 35.Kf3 Rxb4 36.Rxa6 g5 37.g3 gxf4 38.gxf4 Kg7
39.Ra8 Kg6 40.Ra7 1/2-1/2

D'Cunha moves into joint third

2007-10-07T01:51:00.000-07:00

Karnataka's Antonio Viani D'cunha (ELO 1988) beat
Ritwan Sauntra (ELO 1929) of Jammu and Kashmir to
move into joint 3rd place at the end of the 7th round
of the National Subjunior Chess Championships.

D' Cunha has 5.5 points and next plays second seed
IM B. Adhiban (ELO 2422) of Tamil Nadu. Viani's teammate
G.A. Stany (ELO 2097)is in joint 10th with
5 points. FIDE Master Girish Kaushik and Belgaum's Niranjan
Navalgund are on 4.5 points after having lost their morning games.

Antonio Viani D'cunha (1988) - Ritwan Sauntra (1929)
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Bc4 c6 6.Nf3 Bf5 7.0-0 e6
8.Ne5 Nbd7 9.Re1 Qc7 10.Qf3 Nb6 11.Bb3 0-0-0 12.Be3 Bg6 13.a4 Bd6
14.a5 Nbd5 15.Bg5 Bh5 16.Qh3 h6 17.Nxd5 cxd5 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.Qxh5 fxe5
20.dxe5 Bb4 21.Re3 Bxa5 22.Rf3 Rd7 23.Ra4 Kb8 24.Raf4 Rh7 25.Ba4 b5
26.Bxb5 Qxc2 27.g3 Rc7 28.Kg2 Qxb2 29.Be8 Bc3 30.Bxf7 Bxe5 31.Bxe6
Bxf4 32.Qe8+ Kb7 33.Bxd5+ Kb6 34.Qb8+ Rb7 35.Qxf4 Kc5 36.Qc4+ Kd6
37.Qc6+ Ke5 38.Re3+ Kf5 39.Qe6+ 1-0

Girish A Koushik (2086) - Prasanna Rao (2228)
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 0-0 7.Bd3 c5 8.0-0 cxd4 9.exd4 dxc4 10.Bxc4 Bxc3 11.bxc3 b6 12.Qe2 Qc7 13.Rac1 Bb7 14.Bd3 Ng4 15.Be4 Rac8 16.c4 Bxe4 17.Qxe4 Ndf6 18.Qe2 Qb7 19.Bxf6 Nxf6 20.Ne5 Rfd8 21.Rfd1 Qa6 22.Rc3 Rd6 23.h3 Ne8 24.Qf3 f6 25.Ra3 Qxa3 26.Qxa3 fxe5 27.Qxa7 exd4 28.Qe7 Rcd8 29.Rd3 Nf6 30.Qb7 R8d7 31.Qa8+ Rd8 32.Qb7 R8d7 33.Qa8+ Rd8 34.Qa3 e5 35.c5 bxc5 36.Qxc5 e4 37.Rd1 d3 38.a4 Kh8 39.a5 Rd5 40.Qc7 R5d7 41.Qc3 Nd5 42.Qe1 Nf4 43.Qxe4 Ne2+ 0-1

Battle of the World Champions drawn

2007-10-06T00:16:00.000-07:00

Karnataka boys continued to give their higher rated opponents a tough time in the 5th round of the National Subjunior Chess Championships being played at Mount Chess Academy, Chennai. Former World Under 12 Champion Srinath of Tamil Nadu drew the 'Battle of World Champions' with Under 10 Champ Girish Kaushik of Karnataka in the National Subjunior -

N. Srinath (2201) - Girish Koushik (2086)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0-0-0 d5 10.Kb1 Nxd4 11.e5 Nf5 12.exf6 Bxf6 13.Nxd5 Qxd5 14.Qxd5 Nxe3 15.Qd2 Nxd1 16.Qxd1 Be6 17.Bb5 a6 18.Ba4 b5 19.Bb3 Bxb3 20.axb3 Rad8 21.Qe2 Rd6 22.Rd1 Re6 23.Qf2 Rc8 24.c3 Kg7 25.g4 h6 26.h4 g5 27.hxg5 hxg5 28.Rh1 Rd8 29.f4 gxf4 30.Qxf4 Re5 31.Rh2 Rd1+ 32.Kc2 Rde1 33.Qh6+ Kg8 34.g5 Rc1+ 35.Kd3 Rd1+ 36.Kc2 Rc1+ 37.Kd3 Rd1+ 1/2-1/2

Giantkiller Nirananjan Navalgund of Belgaum bagged the scalp of the Delhi number one Hemant Sharma in a Closed Sicilian -

Hemant Sharma (2193) - Navalgund Niranjan (2012) [B25]
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 6.Nge2 e6 7.0-0 Nge7 8.Bg5
0-0 9.Qd2 Nd4 10.Nc1 Rb8 11.a4 b6 12.Nd1 e5 13.c3 Ne6 14.Bh6 Bb7
15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.f4 exf4 17.gxf4 f5 18.Ne2 fxe4 19.dxe4 d5 20.e5 Ba6
21.Ne3 d4 22.Nxd4 Nxd4 23.cxd4 cxd4 24.Ng4 Bxf1 25.Rxf1 d3 26.Kh1 Qd4
27.Rf3 Qxa4 28.Rxd3 Qxf4 29.Qxf4 Rxf4 30.Nf6 Rc8 31.h3 Rf2 32.Rd7 Rc1+
33.Kh2 Rcc2 34.Rxe7+ Kf8 35.Rxa7 Rxg2+ 36.Kh1 Rgd2 37.Nxh7+ Ke8
38.Nf6+ Kd8 39.Ra1 Rxb2 40.Ng4 Rd3 41.e6 Rxh3+ 42.Kg1 Rg3+ 43.Kh1 Rb4
44.Nh2 Re4 45.Rd1+ Ke7 46.Rf1 Rxe6 47.Nf3 Re2 48.Nd4 Re4 49.Kh2 Rd3
50.Nf3 Re2+ 51.Kg1 Kd6 52.Ne1 Rd1 53.Nf3 Rxf1+ 54.Kxf1 Ra2 55.Nd4 Kc5
56.Ne6+ Kc4 57.Ng5 b5 58.Nf3 b4 59.Ne5+ Kc3 60.Nxg6 b3 0-1

Mangalore's Antonio Viani D'Cunha also had a good result when he drew highly rated
FIDE Master K. Priyadarshan of Tamil Nadu -

Priyadharshan K (2298) - Antonio Viani D'cunha (1988)
1.e4 c5 2.Na3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.c3 Bg7 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Qe2 0-0 7.0-0 d6 8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 Bg4 10.Bxc6 bxc6 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Qxf3 Nd7 13.Rd1 c5 14.Be3 cxd4 15.Bxd4 Bxd4 16.Rxd4 Qb6 17.Rd2 Rac8 18.Qe2 Rc6 19.Kh2 Rfc8 20.Rad1 Ne5 21.Rd4 Rc1 22.f4 Rxd1 23.Rxd1 Nd7 24.e5 Qb4 25.Qd2 Qxd2 26.Rxd2 Rc6 27.exd6 Rxd6 28.Rxd6 exd6 29.Nb5 a6 30.Nxd6 Nc5 31.Nc4 f5 32.Ne5 Kf8 33.g4 Ke7 34.gxf5 gxf5 35.Kg3 Ke6 36.Kf3 Kd5 37.Ke3 a5 38.b3 a4 39.b4 Na6 40.b5 Nb4 41.b6 Kd6 42.Nc4+ Kc6 43.Nb2 Nd5+ 44.Kd4 Nxf4 45.h4 Kxb6 46.Nxa4+ Kc6 47.Nc3 h6 48.a4 Ng6 49.h5 Nf4 50.Ke5 Nxh5 51.Kxf5 1/2-1/2

Girish leads the charge

2007-10-05T19:56:00.000-07:00

World Under 10 Champion and FIDE Master Girish
Kaushik (ELO 2086) kept Karnataka's hopes alive
by beating P. Lokesh (ELO 2012) of Tamil Nadu and
then drawing with his statemate FM K. Priyadarshan
(ELO 2298) in the 4th and 5th rounds of the
National Subjunior Championships being conducted at
the Mount Chess Academy, Chennai. Girish next faces
another former World Champion N. Srinath (ELO 2201)
of Tamil Nadu in the 6th round.

There are three leaders with 4.5 points each. On their
hot pursuit are a bunch of others including three from
Karnataka - Girish Kaushik, G.A. Stany (ELO 2097) and
Antonio Viani D'Cunha (ELO 1988) - all with 4 points.
Niranjan Navalgund (ELO 2012) of Belgaum with 3.5 points
also has an outside chance at a top 10 finish.

Lokesh P (2012) - Girish A Koushik (2086)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Nd7 10.Nd5 Nce5 11.Bb3 Nc5 12.Bh6 e6 13.Bxg7 Kxg7 14.Ne3 Qh4+ 15.g3 Qf6 16.Rf1 Ned3+ 17.cxd3 Qxd4 18.Ke2 b6 19.Qc3 Qf6 20.Qxf6+ Kxf6 21.Bc4 b5 22.Bb3 a5 23.Bc2 Ba6 24.Rfc1 Rfc8 25.d4 Nd7 26.Bd3 Nb6 27.Rxc8 Rxc8 28.a4 Nxa4 29.Rxa4 bxa4 30.Bxa6 Rb8 31.Nd1 d5 32.Bd3 Rb4 33.Ke3 Ke7 34.Bc2 f5 35.exd5 exd5 36.Kd3 Kd6 37.Kc3 Rc4+ 38.Kd3 Rb4 39.h3 h5 40.g4 fxg4 41.hxg4 hxg4 42.fxg4 g5 43.Ke3 Ke6 44.Bf5+ Kd6 45.Bd3 Ke6 46.Bc2 Kd6 47.Kd3 Ke6 48.Kc3 Rc4+ 49.Kd3 Rb4 50.Nc3 Rxb2 51.Nxa4 Rb4 52.Nc3 Kd6 53.Bd1 Rb2 54.Bc2 Rb4 55.Bd1 Rb2 56.Bc2 Rb4 57.Bb1 Rb2 58.Ba2 Rg2 59.Bxd5 Rg3+ 60.Ke4 Rxc3 61.Bg8 Rc8 62.Bb3 Rf8 63.Bd1 Rf1 64.Bc2 Rf4+ 65.Ke3 Rxg4 66.Ba4 Rf4 67.Bb3 Rf8 68.Bd1 Rf6 69.Ke4 Rf1 70.Bc2 g4 71.Ke3 g3 72.Be4 Re1+ 73.Kf3 Rxe4 0-1

Girish A Koushik (2086) - Priyadharshan K (2298)
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 Nc6 4.a3 d6 5.Nc3 g6 6.e4 Bg7 7.Be2 0-0 8.0-0 Re8 9.Re1 e5 10.d5 Nd4 11.Be3 Nxe2+ 12.Rxe2 Ng4 13.Bg5 f6 14.Bh4 g5 15.Bg3 h5 16.h3 Nh6 17.Ne1 h4 18.Bh2 g4 19.hxg4 Nxg4 20.Nd3 Kf7 21.f3 Nxh2 22.Kxh2 Bh6 23.Rf2 Be3 24.Re2 Bg5 25.Rf2 Be3 26.Re2 Bg5 27.Rf2 1/2-1/2

Viani D'Cunha marches on!

2007-10-04T07:12:00.000-07:00

Karnataka's Viani D'Cunha (ELO 1988) demolished the
defences of highly rated Ramnath Bhuvanesh (ELO 2115)
to continue his fine showing in the National
Sub Junior Chess Championship being played at
the Mount Chess Academy, Chennai. Another tough
opponent in the shape of FM Prasanna Rao (ELO 2228)
awaits the Mangalore boy in the 4th round.

His statemate and World Under 10 Champion
FIDE Master Girish Kaushik (ELO 2086) was held to a draw
by Atishay Ajmera (ELO 1903) of Rajasthan. His next test
will be coming from P. Lokesh (ELO 2012) of Tamil Nadu.

Belgaum's Niranjan Navalgund (ELO 2012) who has upset the applecart
of topseeded IM S.P. Sethuraman (ELO 2427) had no answer
for National Under 11 Champion Fenil Shah (ELO 2124) of
Gujarat. He next plays Keegan Furtado (ELO 1870) of Goa.

Karnataka boys create havoc in National Subjunior!

2007-10-03T01:49:00.000-07:00

Karnataka boys created major upsets in
the second round of the National Subjunior
Chess Championship being played at
Mount Chess Academy, Chennai.

First it was Belgaum boy Niranjan Navalgund (ELO 2012)
who upset the topseeded International Master
S.P. Sethuraman (ELO 2427) in a London System.
Sethuraman grabbed the 'h' pawn onthe 17th move and
this seemed to open up the game completely for a vicious
attack by the Belgaum lad. Niranjan made light of the 415
point ELO difference and crushed his opponent in 56 moves.

On the third board, it was Antonio Viani D' Cunha (ELO 1988)
who shocked the 4th seeded National Under 17 Champion
M.R. Lalith Babu of Andhra Pradesh. Lalith Babu, who made an
International Master norm in Kolkatta earlier this year had no
answer for the controlled aggression of the Mangalore lad in
an English Opening game and finally threw in the towel on the
62nd move.

Meanwhile, Karnataka team got another boost when FIDE Master and World Under 10 Champion Girish Kaushik (ELO 2086) of Mysore beat G. Jaswant (ELO 1872) of Tamil Nadu to set up a clash with Atishay Ajmera (ELO 1903) in the third round.

In other results, Maharashtra's IM Norm holder Aditya Udeshi
(ELO 2355) had no problem in disposing off Kaushalendra
Kumar (ELO 1993) and FIDE Master S. Nitin (ELO 2321) beat Sayantan
Das (ELO 1982) of West Bengal to notch their second consecutive points.

Nine more rounds remain in this prestigious tournament and
the top 5 players will represent India in the Under 16 Olympiad
to be played in Ankara, Turkey in August next year.

The games -

Navalgund Niranjan (2012) - Sethuraman S P (2427) [A47]
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 b6 4.Bf4 Bb7 5.e3 d5 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.h3 0-0 8.Bd3 c5 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Qe2 Bd6 11.Ne5 Qc7 12.Ndf3 Ne4 13.Bxe4 dxe4 14.Ng5 Nxe5 15.dxe5 Be7 16.h4 h6 17.Nh3 Bxh4 18.Qh5 Be7 19.g4 Rfd8 20.Kg2 Ba6 21.Rh1 Bf8 22.Qh4 Be2 23.Ng1 Bd1 24.g5 Be7 25.Qh3 Rd2 26.gxh6 g6 27.h7+ Kh8 28.Qg3 Qd8 29.Bh6 Qd5 30.Qf4 Bf3+ 31.Nxf3 exf3+ 32.Kg3 Rd8 33.e4 Qd7 34.Qxd2 Qxd2 35.Bxd2 Rxd2 36.Rad1 Rxd1 37.Rxd1 Kxh7 38.Rd7 Bg5 39.Rxf7+ Kh6 40.Rxa7 Bc1 41.b3 Bb2 42.c4 Bxe5+ 43.Kxf3 Bc3 44.Re7 e5 45.Re6 Kh5 46.Rxb6 g5 47.Kg3 g4 48.f3 Be1+ 49.Kg2 Kg5 50.Kf1 Bh4 51.fxg4 Kf4 52.a4 Kxe4 53.Ke2 Bd8 54.Rb5 Kd4 55.a5 e4 56.a6 1-0
Lalith Babu M R (2350) - Antonio Viani D'cunha (1988) [D97]
1.Nf3 g6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Qa4+ Bd7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 Bg7 7.e4 a6 8.d4 b5 9.Qb3 0-0 10.Be2 c5 11.dxc5 Bc6 12.0-0 Nxe4 13.Nxe4 Bxe4 14.Be3 Bd5 15.Qc2 Nd7 16.Rfd1 e6 17.Rac1 Qa5 18.Qb1 Ne5 19.Nd2 Bxa2 20.Qa1 Nc6 21.Ne4 Bb3 22.Qxa5 Nxa5 23.Rd2 Bd5 24.Nc3 Nb3 25.Nxd5 exd5 26.Rcc2 Nxd2 27.Bxd2 Be5 28.Bf3 a5 29.Bxd5 Ra7 30.c6 Rc8 31.Be3 Ra6 32.Re2 Rd8 33.Rd2 Kg7 34.f4 Bc7 35.Kf1 Bb6 36.Bxb6 Rxb6 37.Rc2 Rc8 38.Ke2 Kf6 39.Kd3 Ke7 40.Kd4 Kd6 41.Bf3 a4 42.Rd2 Rbxc6 43.Bxc6 Rxc6 44.g3 Rc4+ 45.Kd3 Kc5 46.Re2 Kb4 47.Re5 Rc5 48.Re3 Rc7 49.Kd2 Ka5 50.Re5 Kb6 51.Re4 Rc4 52.Re7 b4 53.Kd3 Rc7 54.Re8 a3 55.bxa3 bxa3 56.Ra8 Ra7 57.Rb8+ Kc5 58.Rb1 a2 59.Ra1 Kb4 60.Kc2 Ka3 61.Re1 Rc7+ 62.Kd3 Kb2 0-1

Girish finishes with Silver

2007-08-29T18:11:00.000-07:00

World Under 10 Champion Girish Kaushik (ELO 2085)
finished with a Silver medal after beating Sultan
Ibrahim of the U.A.E. in the last round of the
Asian Youth Chess Championships which
concluded in Al Ain, U.A.E. today.

Girish scored 7 out of possible 9 points to land in
a three way tie for the first place in the Boys Under
10 category. By virtue of a better progressive
score, compatriot Shardul Gagare (ELO 1995) was
adjudged the winner whereas unrated Le Huu Thai of
Vietnam had to remain content with the Bronze medal.
Girish's successive defeats in the 5th and 6th rounds at the
hands of Gagare and Oleg Artemenko of Uzbekistan prevented
him from dominating his category as he was expected to.

The other Karnataka lad M. Satvik did not fare so well
in the Boys Under 10 section and scored 4.5 points to
finish in 11th place. Last year, Satvik (ELO 1924) had finished with
a Bronze medal in the Asian Youth Championships which
were held in Tehran, Iran. Girish and Satvik were accompanied
by their coaches N. Sanjay and M.S. Thejkumar respectively
who are also from Karnataka.

India garnered four more Gold medals (besides Gagare's)
when Ivana Furtado in the Girls Under 8, B. Pratyusha
in the Girls Under 10, Priyanka Kumari in the Girls Under 12
and Revanth Reddy in the Boys Under 10 section all finished
top in their respective categories. India's tally of 10 medals
(5 Golds, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze) is in stark contrast to the 21
medals that they won in Tehran, Iran which included 8 Gold medals
in all the 8 categories.

Another feather in Niri’s cap

2007-08-29T05:47:00.000-07:00

Niranjan C. Navalgund of M V Herwadkar English Medium School, Belgaum, has been recently awarded with ‘Krida Ratna’ for the outstanding performance in chess in a span of three years, by the State Sports Organisation, Bijapur.

Niranjan has many accomplishments under his belt till date. He completed the FIDE International Chess Rating at the Fide International Chess Tournament ‘Rochess’ held in Thane (Maharashtra). He has played with top class players and finished the rating in a single tournament.

Niranjan's initial rating was of 1977 as per the list published by the International Chess Federation/FIDE, and he went on to represent North Karnataka for two consecutive years. There he won bronze medal in 2005 and under his leadership, his school bagged 4th place at the National-level School Games. He has qualified for the National Sub-junior 2007 from Karnataka state to be held in Chennai in the first week of October.

This young champ has won the Ist prize in the District-level Inter-school Tournament organised by the Belgaum District Chess Association and Belgaum Lions Midtown held at Mahila Vidyalaya. In 2003 he bagged IInd prize at the National-level Chess Tournament held in Sangli (Maharashtra).

He secured 10th place in under-15 years group in Karnataka State Tournament held in Mysore. He has created chess blogs which claimed appreciation from chess lovers, International Masters and India’s youngest Grand Master Parimarjan Negi.

The Board of management (especially the Headmistress) of M V Herwadkar English Medium School, Belgaum has always supported Niranjan. They even assisted him to participate in the Asian Chess Championship 2005.

Apart from being a chess champ, Niranjan is an excellent poet. He has penned many poems in English and Kanadda. He has also participated in various drawing competitions and won many prizes.

Due to lack of sponsors, he had missed many Asian and other international tournaments in the past. Definitely with financial assistance, Niranjan will add many more feathers to his already crowded cap.

Girish headed for Al Ain!

2007-08-03T06:50:00.000-07:00

World Under 10 Champion Girish Kaushik and Asian Under 8 Bronze
medallist M. Satvik are part of the Indian team which will be
participating in the Asian Youth Championships to be played in
Al Ain, U.A.E. from the 23rd to the 31st of August.

They will be attending a training camp prior to this camp in
New Delhi which will be arranged by the All India Chess Federation.
Let us hope that these boys bring more laurels for the state and
the Nation!

Thipsay triumphs!

2007-07-09T06:53:00.001-07:00

Top-seeded Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay justified his top billing by winning the Corporation Bank/MRPL-ONGC/Karnataka Bank sponsored Mangalore FIDE Rated All India Open Chess Tournament, which concluded here today at the Radhakrishna Temple Hall, Mangalore.

In the crucial 10th and last round, Thipsay needed a win over his opponent, M.S. Thejkumar of Karnataka, the overnight leader with a score of 8 points. Thejkumar needed only a draw to clinch the title. However, Thipsay, playing white, used his vast experience to prevail over his opponent in

With this win Thipsay pocketed the first prize of Rs.30000/- and the champion’s trophy while Thejkumar had to contended with the 2nd prize of Rs. 20000/-

On the 2nd board, B.S. Sivanandan, after a loss to Thipsay in the penultimate round, took no further risk in his game against IM Atanu Lahiri and both players agreed for a truce. Sivanandan secured 3rd place and a cash prize of Rs.15000/-

The event was contested by 254 players including 1 Grandmaster, 8 International Masters and 2 Fide Masters from across 16-states of the country. Nearly 44 un-rated players their partial rating performance in this tournament, which is nearly 33% of the total unrated players.

The prizes for the local South Kanara was won by Gahan M G while Nihal Manjunath and Prakash V Rao took the 2nd and 3rd place.

The Chief Guest for the prize distribution ceremony was Shri Ananthakrishna, Chairman of the Karnataka Bank Limited. The other dignitaries present were Mohan Alva, President of Alva’s Education Foundation, N.R. Shet, DGM of Corporation Bank, MLA, Shri Krishna Palemar and Ravindra Shetty, President, Working Journalist Union, South Kanara

Adith, Satvik in India's Gold medal winning team!

2007-05-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

The team from India consisting of Adith Jagadish, a student of Derek’s chess school here, won the overall title in the 3rd World School Chess Championship organized at Halkidiki in Greece from Friday April 27 to Saturday May 5.

Abhimanyu Puranik from Mumbai, Ivana Furtado from Goa, Sweety Patel from Gujarat, Meghna C H from Kochi and Satvik M from Bangalore were the other members of the team.

Adith scored 6.5 points in 9 rounds and was placed 6th in Under-13 open category. Nikologorskiy Konstantin of Russia won the title in his category with 7 points, a press note stated.

According to a press release, Adith was in a 6-way-tie for 3rd place; his progressive points could reach him only till 6th. It may be recollected that in Asian School Chess Championship at Singapore in 2006 he obtained 5th position in Under 13.

Another student of DCS Nihal Manjunath scored 5 points in 9 rounds and was placed 28th in the same category. Adith and Nihal were accompanied by their coach Prasanna Rao.

World Under 10 Champion Girish Kaushik felicitated!

2007-05-10T10:08:00.000-07:00

Reigning World Under 10 Champion Girish Kaushik was felicitated at the Mir Sultan Khan Academy, Sanvordem in the presence of numerous chess fans and young players amidst great fanfare. The exceptionally talented Girish, who has also won the Asian Under 8 and National Under 9 Championship, was presented a Laptop, Software, and a Cash award of Rs. 10,000/- by AICF Vice President and GSCA President Sameer Salgaocar on this occasion.

Also felicitated at the Academy was Commonwealth Under 18 Champion and Asian Under 14 Champion Bhakti Kulkarni. She was honoured as Goa's first Titled Player. The young Woman FIDE Master was felicitated and presented a cheque of Rs. 15,000/- by reputed Chartered Accountant Bhagwathi Bhat.

Finally, the Coach and father of Girish - Arun Kaushik was honoured
with a Shawl and Momento by reputed businessman Raman Saripalli. The elated Arun Kaushik mentioned that a 'great future' awaited the Goan chess fraternity as there was a 'huge upsurge of talented Goan chess players who were making their presence felt across the national scene'.

The felicitation ceremony was preceded by a Simultaneous Display wherein Girish Kaushik and emerging star Niraj Saripalli took on the young members of the Academy. This was a great treat for the kids and the parents alike though the final score was 24-0 as the duo proved much too strong for the students.

Sanjay Kavlekar, SAG coach, gave the Vote of thanks and everyone went home thoroughly satisfied!

Girish Kaushik wins National Under 9

2006-12-14T18:18:00.000-08:00

Having brought laurels of a rare kind by
winning the Under-10 world chess title at the championship conducted
in Georgia, Russia, recently, city's chess wizard Girish A. Koushik
has annexed the National Under-9 Chess title at the National
championships just concluded at Solapur in Maharashtra.

Studying in fourth standard at St. Thomas School, Vishweswaranagar
here, Girish competed along with 180 players from across the country.
He is the son of Arun V. Koushik, who is also his coach and Lakshmi,
residents of Vidyaranyapuram. The latest crown adorning the young
chess prodigy from our city is one among the innumerable titles in his
bag earned in championships at district State and national levels.

Shantha Giri, grandmother of Girish, has recalled with gratefulness
the generous help from many philanthropists extended to him for
meeting expenses of travel to distant venues of tournaments. She also
thanked Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji for helping him with funds
at the time of his participation in the latest championship at
Sholapur, apart from Dr. R. Sridhar, Dr. Narendra, Dr. Sowjanya,
Ramachandra of Gopika Agarbathis and engineers of Mysore Urban
Development Authority.

She is however worried about how to raise money for enabling Girish to
meet the expenses of travel to Haryana for taking part in the ensuing
national-level chess championship on Dec. 25. Girish is also in need
of a laptop for raising the level of his play in order to be
competitive and to stay at world class level.

Girish Kaushik continues fine run

2006-10-21T05:49:00.000-07:00

Karnataka's Girish Kaushik (ELO 1990) notched up his third consecutive victory against Burduli Guga of Georgia to lead in the Boys Under 10 section. He next plays Bulgarian Berbatov Kiprian who had earlier upset second seed Beradze Irakli (2080) of Georgia in the fourth round.

In the Under 8 section, top seed M. Satvik (1924) was held to a draw by Georgian Iarajuli Tornike. He is joined on 2.5 points by Bangalore's Arjun Bharat who won his game against Gulashvili Tornike of Georgia. Arjun now plays Georgian Iarajuli Tornike in the 4th round tomorrow whereas Satvik has compatriot Mohineesh Ch to deal with.

Adith Jagadish (2162) of Mangalore also took his tally to 2.5 points after he drew with American Daniel Naroditsky (2040)in the Boys Under 12 section. He plays Armenian Gabuzyan Hovhannes (2051) tomorrow.

World Youth - Karnataka kids excel in early rounds!

2006-10-21T01:47:00.000-07:00

Karnataka's M. Satvik (ELO 1924) justified his top seeding by winning both his
games in the first two rounds in the Under 8 section of the World Youth Championships being held in Batumi, Georgia. He beat Khizanishvili Levan and Jishkaiani Davit (both of Georgia) to log 2/2 points. He now meets another Georgian Iarajuli Tornike in the third round.

Another Karnataka lad Arjun Bharat, also in the Under 8 section, won against Oniani Alexandre of Georgia in the first round but was subsequently held to a draw by compatriot G.H.Jarshavardhan Reddy in the second round. He now plays Georgian Gulashvili Tornike later today.

Mangalore's Adith Jagadish (2162) is doing well so far in the Boys Under 12 section with 2/2 points. He plays American Daniel Naroditsky (2040) in the third round. Asian Gold medallist 2005 Girish Koushik of Mysore is also on 2/2 in the Boys Under 10 section and he plays against Burduli Guga of Georgia in the third round.

Antonio Viani D’ Cunha

2006-09-11T06:31:00.000-07:00

The Mangalorean Wonder-kid, the Rising Star, the Pride of the D’Cunha family and the Chess Grandmaster in making is none other than Antonio Viani D’Cunha affectionately called as Viani.

Born on 12-03-1995 in Dubai to a devout, God-fearing couple Mr Harold D’Cunha and Mrs. Lydia D’Cunha, spent his infancy in Derebail Viani was gazing at the chess game from the lap of his mother at the age of 4 while Harold and Lydia were playing. He began moving pawns at the age of 5, started displaying his genius when he was 6 and entered the portals of incredibles of chess at the age of 7. He joined Derrick’s Chess School in Mangalore at the age of 6 ½ to hone his skills on chessboard. Viani’s 2 elder sisters Viona (14) and Mariona (13) are schooling at Victoria Girls High School, Lady Hill Urwa are also known for their chess game.

This young prodigy shows amazing sharpness in the game. The statements made by his trainers at the Derek’s Chess School amply testify this. “I have found an immense quality of a good fighter in him. He is always total when he is on the board”. Mr Derrick Pinto, FIDE Rated player, Mangalore. In the words of Mr Prasanna Rao, National Arbiter, “Viani is a very good player. But more than his game, I appreciate his approach. He is committed, creative and composed. I feel a Grandmaster in making in him.”

Viani lives with his mother Mrs. Lydia and 2 sisters at Anveeth Apartments, near Urwa Marigudi, Mangalore. St. Aloysius College Primary School is lucky to have this prodigy in its portals. His father Mr Harold is working in Dubai.

The constant and consistent efforts of Viani were rewarded in the state level Competitions thus bringing him to the limelight. He was the Runner Up under 13 category in the State Championship held at Hassan in 2006. He secured 8th place in the State Open Federated Chess Championship held at Bangalore in 2006. He was the State Champion in State Under 11 Boys Chess Championship – 2005 held at Mangalore. He was the State Champion in State Under 9 Boys Chess Championship – 2004 held at Shimoga. He was the Runner Up in State Under 9 Boys Chess Championship – 2003 held at Shimoga. He was the State Champion in Under 7 Boys Chess Championship – 2002 held at Sirsi. He was the 4th in the State Under 7 Boys Chess Championship – 2001 held at Bangalore.

Viani earned name and fame in the national level too. He was the Bronze Medallist in National School Team Chess Championship in Under 14 Category held at Vizag during 2006. He was the Runner Up in the National Under 9 Boys Chess Championship – 2004 held at Ahmedabad, thereby qualified to represent India in Asian Youth Chess Championship 2005. He was in 5th position in the National Under 9 Boys Chess Championship – 2003 held at Calicut. He secured ‘Best Under 8 Player’ in ‘B.C. Cochin All India FIDE Rated Tournament’ held at Cochin during 2003. He obtained 17th position in the National Under 7 Boys Chess Championship – 2002 held at Lucknow. He secured 5th position in the National Under 7 Boys Chess Championship –2001 held at Chennai.

Viani’s chess achievements in the international level at a tender age are amazing. He has an international FIDE Rating 1946. He represented India in under 10 Asian Championship at New Delhi, secured 9th place in the under 10 category in Asian Youth Chess Championship-2004 and obtained 5th position in the under 10 category in Asian Youth Chess Championship 2003 held at Calicut.

Viani’s basic chess teacher, inspirer and caretaker mother Mrs. Lydia deserves a lion’s share in the glory of her son. Her support enabled Viani’s chess skill to bloom winning him numerous prizes and certificates in District, Inter-District and Academic level tournaments. But for her constant encouragement this infant genius would have not seen the light of the day.

Konkaniworld.com salutes this young chess champion cum wonder-boy of Mangalore and wishes to see him shining in the international level as a Grand Master. All the best Viani.

Thejkumar qualifies, N. Sanjay narrowly misses out.

2006-09-10T23:51:00.000-07:00

Karnataka's M.S. Thejkumar drew with West Bengal's International Master Roktim Bandyopadhyay to qualify once again for the National A to be held in Rajkot in December. State Champion N. Sanjay narrowly missed out when he could not force a win against C.S. Unni.

The list of qualifiers with their point totals are as under : 1.Lanka Ravi 10; 2. Himanshu Sharma 9.5; 3-29: Suvrajit Saha, Vikramaditya Kamble; Aswin Jayaram; M S Thej Kumar; K Ratnakaran; Prathamesh Mokal; Valay Parikh; Somak Palit; S Poobesh Anand; D Harika; Roktim Bandyopadhyay; R R Laxman; P D S Girinath; Swapnil Dhopade; V Koshy; Sudhir K Sinha; Abhishek Das; Deep Sengupta; B T Murali Krishnan; N S Babu; Syed Anwar Shazuli; Swati Ghate; D K Sharma; T S Ravi; V Saravanan; G Rohit; G B Prakash 9 each; 30. Eesha Karavade 8.5.

There will be 13 new faces in the National `A' to be played at Rajkot from December 18. The debutants are, Aswin Jayaram, K. Ratnakaran, Valay Parikh, Poobesh Anand, Somak Palit, R. R. Laxman, Swapnil Dhopade, Sudhir Sinha, Abhishek Das, Deep Sengupta, Syed Shazuli, G. Rohit and Eesha Karavade.

Thejkumar, N. Sanjay remain in contention.

2006-09-08T23:06:00.000-07:00

Karnataka's M.S. Thejkumar and N. Sanjay remained in contention for qualification with only two rounds to go in the National "B" Chess Championship being played at the Karnavati Club in Ahmedabad.

In the 11th round, Thejkumar (2347) drew with WGM Dronavalli Harika (2359) to notch 8 points out of the 11 possible. He will next play triple GM Norm holder G.B. Prakash (2403). His compatriot, Karnataka State Champion N. Sanjay (2324) beat M. Vinaykumar (2231) to take his tally to 7.5 points. He will play Gurpreetpal Singh (2264)in the twelfth round.

In some other results, World Under 12 Champion N. Srinath (2166) shocked IM Rahul Shetty (2304) and Prasanna Rao (2104) beat another upcoming youngster Debashish Das (2205). They have no chance of qualifying however as do the other players from Karnataka - Sriram Sarja, Aniket Pawse and Naveen Hegde (6 pts) and Girish Kaushik (5.5 pts). Fenil Shah (2064) gave the home crowd something to cheer about when he held veteran Nasir Ali (2214) to a draw.

Thejkumar slips to 5th place

2006-09-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

Karnataka's National 'A' player M.S.Thejkumar (2347) slipped to joint 5th spot along with nine other players when he drew with Kerala's K. Ratnakaran (2439) in the sixth round of the National 'B'. Thejkumar had beaten Abhishek Das (2283) of Jharkhand in the 5th round. He plays IM Poobesh Anand (2416) in the seventh round. IM Suvrajit Saha (2350) is in the sole lead with 6 points, whereas three others - IM Lanka Ravi, Vikramaditya Kamble and P. Shyam Nikhil are on 5.5 points.

The other players from the state did not fare that well either. State Champion N. Sanjay (2324) was beaten by talented youngster Swapnil Dhopade (2071) of Maharashtra. He remained on 4 points by virtue of the defeat and plays Sudhir Sinha (2191) in the next round. Asian 2005 Gold Medallist Girish Kaushik (2008) on 3 points still seems to show some hope as he had beaten higher rated Gajendra Singh (2168) in an earlier round. He plays unrated Abdul Sadique in the seventh round.

Other players from Karnataka, their points position and tomorrow's opponents - Sriram Sarja (2257) 3.5 pts versus Prasanna Rao (2104), Naveen Hegde (2116) 3 pts versus Saurav Roop (1995), Aniket Pawse (2060) 3 pts versus unrated Manohar Lal, Sushruta Reddy (2018) 2 pts versus unrated Riyaz Khan.

GM Neelotpal Das comments on Karwar tmt ...

2006-09-03T21:34:00.000-07:00

GM Neelotpal Das has published his comments on the Karwar tournament which was held in May, 2006. Some extracts from the same which are available on the CPAI website are published below with some of the games -

"A special thanks should go to Sameer Salgaocar for sponsoring this event wholeheartedly. It is highly appreciable that when they are mainly known for sponsoring soccer clubs in India, at the same time they are also trying to promote such unpopular games like Chess."

"I would also like to mention the involvement of two good players N.Sanjay and Arvind Shastri in the tournament which helped the organisers in various ways. The other volunteers were friendly, helpful and with full of enthusiasm and did their best to full fill if there were any problem."

"In all it was a very enjoyable and memorable tournament."

Games of the “All India Open tournament at Karwar, North Karnataka.”

(1) Sharma,U (1938) - Shivanandan,B (2429) [D91]
Karwar, 08.05.2006
[Neelotpal Das]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Bh4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.e3 c5 8.Nf3 Nc6 9.cxd5 Qxd5 10.Be2 cxd4 11.cxd4 e5 [11...b6; 11...0–0] 12.dxe5 Qa5+ 13.Qd2 Qxd2+ 14.Kxd2 Nxe5 15.Rab1 Nc6 16.Bc4 0–0 17.Rhc1 h6 18.Ke2 Bf5 19.Rxb7 Na5 20.Bxf7+ Rxf7 21.Rxf7 Kxf7 22.Rc5 Rb8 23.e4 Bxe4 24.Rxa5 Rb7 25.a4 Bc6 [25...g5 26.Bg3 g4 27.Nh4 (27.Ne5+ Bxe5 28.Bxe5 Bxg2) 27...Bc3 28.Rc5 Bd4 29.Rc4 Rb2+=] 26.Bg3 Ke6?! 27.Ra6± Kd5 28.Bf4 g5 29.Bd2 Bf6 30.Ne1 Bd8 31.Nc2 Bb6 32.Nb4+ Kc5 33.Nxc6 Kxc6 34.Be3 Re7 35.a5 Kb7 36.axb6 Kxa6 37.bxa7 Kb7 38.h3 Re6 39.g3 Ra6 40.f4 gxf4 41.gxf4 Kc6 42.f5 Kd5 43.f6 Ke6 44.Kd3 Kxf6 45.Kc4 Ra3 46.Kb4 Rxe3 47.a8Q Rxh3 48.Qd5 Rh4+ 49.Kc5 Kg6 50.Kd6 Rf4 51.Ke7 h5 52.Qe5 Rf5 53.Qd6+ Kg5 54.Qg3+ Kh6 55.Ke6 Rf8 56.Qd6 Rf3 57.Qd2+ Kh7 58.Qd5 Rf8 59.Qg5 h4 60.Ke7 Rg8 61.Qh5+ Kg7 62.Qg5+ Kh7 63.Qh5+ Kg7 64.Qf7+ Kh8 65.Kf6 Rg1 66.Qe8+ Kh7 67.Qd7+ Kg8 68.Qc8+ Kh7 69.Qc7+ Kg8 70.Qb8+ Kh7 71.Qa7+ Kh6 72.Qxg1 1–0

(2) Sharma,U - Girinath,P [A90]
Karwar, 07.05.2006
[Neelotpal Das]

1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 d5 5.c4 c6 6.0–0 Bd6 7.b3 Qe7 8.Bb2 b6 9.Nbd2 [other alternatives are 9.Ne5 ; 9.Qc1] 9...Bb7 10.Ne5 0–0 11.Rc1 a5 [11...c5 seems more logical] 12.e3 Na6 13.Qe2 Rfc8 14.Rfd1 a4 15.bxa4 Nb8 16.Qd3 Rxa4 17.Qb3 b5 18.cxb5 Rb4 19.Qc2 Rxb5 [19...cxb5 20.Qxc8+ Bxc8 21.Rxc8+ Ne8 22.Ba3±] 20.Nb3 Na6 21.a4 Nb4 22.Qb1 Rb6 23.a5 Ra6 24.Bf1 Ra7 25.Ba3 Na6 26.Bxd6 Qxd6 27.Nd2 Rca8 28.Bxa6 Bxa6 29.Rxc6 Qa3 30.Qb6 Rb7 31.Rc8+! 1–0

(3) Sharma,D - Rathnakaran [E95]
Karwar, 2006
[Neelotpal Das]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 0–0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 Nbd7 7.0–0 e5 8.Re1 [8.Be3] 8...exd4 9.Nxd4 Re8 10.Bf1 c6 11.Nb3 Qc7 12.Bf4 Ne5 13.Rc1 Nh5 14.Bg5 h6 15.Bd2 Be6 16.Nd5 Qd8 17.Ne3 Nf4 18.Bc3 Qg5 19.Kh1 Bg4! a very strong and unexpected move 20.f3? [20.Qxd6 Rad8 21.Qc7 Ned3; 20.Qc2 Rad8 21.Nd4 would have been a better choice] 20...Nh3!–+ 21.Qd2 Bxf3 22.Nc2 Ng4 0–1

Thekjumar leads with facile victories.

2006-09-03T01:10:00.000-07:00

Karantaka's National "A" player M.S. Thejkumar (ELO 2336) was one of the leaders after the third round in the National "B" after beating Rajesh Diwan (2142) in the second round and veteran V. Hariharan (2205) in the third round here at the Karnavati Club, Ahmedabad. Thejkumar, who finished fourth in the extremely strong field of the Smt. Hirabai Salgaocar Memorial in Goa, will now be fancying his chances to finish in the top 30 and qualify for the National "A" to be held later this year in Rajkot.

His statemate Naveen Hegde (2116) was not so lucky as he went down fighting to Praveen Kumar (2323) in the second round. Hegde had given a good account of himself in Malleshwaram where he had finished fifth in the Karnataka State Championship. Karnataka youngster Sriram Sarja (2257) lost to IM Lanka Ravi (2390) after a bitter struggle in the third round.

There were major upsets as well as IM Deep Sengupta (2420), G. Rohit (2399) and IM R.R. Laxman (2390) seeded three, seven and ten respectively were beaten by Vikas Sharma (2180), Moti Ram (2173) and Virender Singh Negi (2175) in that order, on the leading boards in the second round. In the third round the shocks continued as International Masters V. Saravanan (2383), R. Balasubramanium (2354) and Himanshu Sharma (2386) lost to Laltu Chatterjee (2242), Aswin Jayaram (2078) and Akshat Khamparia (2242) respectively.

IM Satyapragyan shocked by Aniket

2006-09-03T00:54:00.000-07:00

Aniket Pawashe (ELO 2060) of Belgaum shocked second seed IM S. Satyapragyan (ELO 2431) in the opening round of the National B Chess Championship being held at the Karnavati Club in Ahmedabad.

Satyapragyan, who holds a GM norm, was unlucky to run into an inform Pawashe who had given a sterling display in the Karnataka State Championship in Bangalore and had finished sixth.

Another major upset witnessed 12 year old WFM Rucha Pujari (ELO 1957) of Maharashtra beat noted coach Gurpreet Pal Singh (ELO 2264) of New Delhi. Singh, who coaches among others World Under 10 Champion Sahaj Grover of New Delhi, found this lass a bit too tough to handle and succumbed eventually.

Mangalore's Adith Jagadish excels in Chennai

2006-08-31T05:06:00.000-07:00

12 year old Mangalore lad Adith Jagadish excelled in the recent tournament at Chennai. Of the teams, Lourdes School and Sharada Vidyalaya of Mangalore performed creditably but fell just narrowly short of qualification requirements for the CBSE Nationals.

The full details can be obtained at the following link - http://mangalorecity.blogspot.com/2006/08/mangalore-adith-jagadish-shines-at.html

N. Sanjay wins State Championship

2006-08-15T03:44:00.000-07:00

32 year old N. Sanjay (ELO 2324) won the FIDE Rated Karnataka State Chess Championship by scoring 8.5 points in the 10 rounds. In the last round he drew with Karnatka Junior Champion G.A. Stany (1971) to finish clear first ahead of Aravind Shastry (2259) and Sriram Sarja (2257) who drew their encounter. Aravind and Sriram both finished with 8 points. However, Shastry finished in second place due to a superior tiebreak.

N. Sanjay will also be going as the coach for the Indian team in the World Youth Championships to be held in Batumi, Georgia in the month of October.

The final placings were as follows - 1. N. Sanjay 8.5 points 2. Aravind Shastry 8 points 3. Sriram Sarja 8 points 4. M.S. Thejkumar 7.5 points 5. Naveen S. Hegde 7.5 points 6. Aniketh Pawshe 7.5 points.

In the age group category prizes, following were the winners :-
1) Under 8 M. Satvik
2) Under 10 Girish Kaushik
3) Under 14 P.P. Prachura
4) Best Women player Pavithra Jagtap
5) Best Veteran player Raghuraman