2013 Women's Grandmaster Tournament (Chennai)

November 6 - 14, 2013.

Final Standings - from Chess-Results dot com (some comments below):

Final Ranking after 11 Rounds

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	3	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	IND	2414	AAI	8.5	74.0	67.5	60.25
2	2	WGM	Batsiashvili Nino	GEO	2425		8.5	72.5	66.5	60.00
3	4	IM	Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman	IND	2399	TN	8.5	72.5	66.5	57.75
4	11	WGM	Tsatsalashvili Keti	GEO	2266		8.0	71.0	65.5	53.50
5	6	WGM	Soumya Swaminathan	IND	2348	MAH	8.0	66.5	61.5	51.25
6	13	WGM	Swathi Ghate	IND	2242	MAH	7.5	70.5	65.5	47.25
7	7	WGM	Ivakhinova Inna	RUS	2315		7.5	70.5	64.5	50.50
8	14	WGM	Meenakshi Subbaraman	IND	2240	TN	7.5	70.0	64.5	47.75
9	20	WFM	Gevorgyan Maria	ARM	2147		7.5	68.0	63.0	47.25
10	1	IM	Guramishvili Sopiko	GEO	2441		7.5	67.5	62.0	46.00
11	12	IM	Mohota Nisha	IND	2260	WB	7.5	65.5	60.0	47.00
12	8	WGM	Ambartsumova Karina	RUS	2310		7.0	71.0	65.5	43.75
13	10	WGM	Muminova Nafisa	UZB	2280		7.0	70.0	64.0	45.75
14	9	WGM	Kulkarni Bhakti	IND	2288	GOA	7.0	66.5	61.0	43.25
15	23		Azimova Karina	RUS	2094		7.0	63.0	58.0	40.25
16	17		Pratyusha Bodda	IND	2159	AP	7.0	63.0	57.5	40.50
17	16	WIM	Drljevic Ljilja	SRB	2181		7.0	63.0	57.5	40.25
18	45		Meghna C H	IND	1847	KER	7.0	61.0	56.5	38.50
19	27		Harini S.	IND	2023	TN	6.5	72.5	67.5	42.25
20	15	WGM	Kiran Manisha Mohanty	IND	2237	ODI	6.5	71.0	65.0	42.25
21	5	IM	Purtseladze Maka	GEO	2374		6.5	68.0	62.5	41.75
22	25	WFM	Swati Mohota	IND	2067	WB	6.5	66.5	61.5	38.00
23	22	WFM	Mahalakshmi M	IND	2107	TN	6.5	65.5	60.5	38.00
24	18	WIM	Kharmunova Nadezhda	RUS	2152		6.5	64.5	59.0	36.75
25	21	WFM	Tokhirjonova Gulrukhbegim	UZB	2111		6.5	64.0	59.0	37.50
26	28	WFM	Vaishali R	IND	2019	TN	6.5	63.5	58.5	36.00
27	39	WCM	Tejaswini Sagar	IND	1898	MAH	6.5	58.5	54.0	33.75
28	37		Ashwini U	IND	1918	TN	6.5	58.0	54.0	32.50
29	24	WFM	Saranya J	IND	2081	TN	6.5	57.5	53.5	32.00
30	40		Anjana Krishna S	IND	1897	KER	6.5	55.0	50.5	32.25
31	19	WFM	Monnisha Gk	IND	2150	TN	6.0	67.0	62.0	36.75
32	26		Lasya.G	IND	2065	AP	6.0	66.5	61.5	35.50
33	34		Tan Li Ting	MAS	1936		6.0	65.0	60.5	34.00
34	31	WFM	Sultana Zakia	BAN	1976		6.0	63.0	58.0	34.25
35	47		Aparajita Gochhikar	IND	1801	ODI	6.0	63.0	58.0	33.25
36	52	WFM	Bidhar Rutumbara	IND	1749	ODI	6.0	61.0	56.0	32.00
37	29	WIM	Hamid Rani	BAN	1994		6.0	60.0	55.0	32.75
38	33	WIM	Jennitha Anto K.	IND	1961	TN	6.0	59.5	54.5	31.00
39	57		Priyanka K	IND	1717	TN	6.0	58.5	54.0	30.25
40	30	WFM	Srija Seshadri	IND	1991	TN	6.0	58.0	54.0	29.50
41	42		Supriya Joshi	IND	1888	MAH	6.0	58.0	53.5	30.25
42	59	WFM	Lakshmi C	IND	1697	TN	6.0	57.0	53.0	29.50
43	53		Potluri Saye Srreezza	IND	1746	AP	6.0	54.5	50.0	28.75
44	65		Saughanthika As	IND	1639	TN	6.0	53.5	49.5	26.75
45	61		Harivardhini I	IND	1678	TN	6.0	53.0	49.0	26.75
46	41		Sunyasakta Satpathy	IND	1893	ODI	5.5	65.0	60.0	31.25
47	54		Priyanka Nutakki	IND	1736	AP	5.5	61.5	57.0	27.75
48	46		Anigani Kavya	IND	1836	AP	5.5	60.0	55.5	29.75
49	56		Harshita Guddanti	IND	1723	AP	5.5	57.5	53.0	28.25
50	55		Vantika Agrawal	IND	1728	DEL	5.5	57.0	54.0	26.25
51	36		Parnali S Dharia	IND	1924	MAH	5.5	57.0	53.0	25.50
52	38		Shweta Gole	IND	1907	MAH	5.5	57.0	52.5	28.25
53	49		Sandhya G	IND	1774	AP	5.5	56.0	52.0	22.25
54	79		Raga Jyothsna R	IND	1378	AP	5.5	55.0	51.5	25.00
55	67		Tulsi M	IND	1549	KAR	5.5	55.0	51.0	25.25
56	62		Sunyuktha C M N	IND	1677	TN	5.5	55.0	51.0	25.00
57	60		Toshali V	IND	1683	AP	5.5	48.0	45.0	22.00
58	48		Divya Garg	IND	1774	MAH	5.0	60.0	56.0	23.25
59	50		Pushpalata Mangal	IND	1767	MAH	5.0	56.5	52.5	21.75
60	43		Begum Masuda	BAN	1862		5.0	55.0	51.5	22.75
61	88		Khandelwal Khushi	IND	1218	MAH	5.0	55.0	50.5	24.00
62	78		Sneha G P S	IND	1384	TN	5.0	54.0	50.5	22.00
63	66		Harshini A	IND	1635	TN	5.0	53.5	50.0	20.00
64	73		Tejasvi M	IND	1490	TN	5.0	51.0	47.5	20.50
65	75		Kavya Srishti K	IND	1456	AP	5.0	47.5	44.0	18.75
66	71	WCM	Fernandes Krystal	IND	1509	GOA	5.0	47.0	44.0	17.75
67	44	WCM	Ananya Suresh	IND	1860	KAR	4.5	57.5	53.5	20.00
68	70		Kavya. S	IND	1516	TN	4.5	54.5	51.5	20.25
69	64		Sowmia A	IND	1650	TN	4.5	53.5	50.0	19.75
70	74		Jasper Jothi P	IND	1468	TN	4.5	52.5	49.0	21.00
71	63		Jahanara Haque	BAN	1669		4.5	52.5	48.5	21.00
72	68		Akshita D	IND	1546	TN	4.5	51.5	48.0	17.00
73	77		Thorat Aishwarya	IND	1431	GOA	4.5	50.5	47.5	13.50
74	90		Lasani H Kothari	IND	1211	GUJ	4.5	50.5	47.0	17.75
75	72		Ahmed Simran	IND	1509	ASSM	4.5	50.0	46.5	18.00
76	83		Kowshika S	IND	1321	TN	4.5	49.5	46.0	15.75
77	85		Pooja S (2002)	IND	1306	TN	4.5	49.0	45.5	16.50
78	97		Ngangom Nongleima Chanu	IND	0	MANI	4.5	40.0	37.0	14.00
79	96		Krishnaa Jahagirdar Sudhakar	IND	0	TN	4.0	56.0	51.5	18.75
80	51		Chowdhury Mahmuda Hoque	BAN	1766		4.0	54.0	50.0	13.25
81	69		Srinidhi Sridharan	IND	1522	TN	4.0	52.0	48.0	14.50
82	82		Supriya Shanbhaga	IND	1328	GOA	4.0	50.5	46.5	15.75
83	92		Vinotha S	IND	1111	TN	4.0	47.0	44.0	14.50
84	87		Priyadarshini B	IND	1254	TN	4.0	44.0	42.5	9.25
85	84		Abirami B S	IND	1315	TN	4.0	44.0	41.0	13.50
86	89		Malleswari P	IND	1217	TN	4.0	42.0	40.5	8.00
87	91		Yuti Mayur Patel	IND	1193	MAH	4.0	41.0	39.5	9.25
88	93		Shivani S	IND	1012	TN	4.0	35.5	34.0	8.00
89	86		Akshayaa M	IND	1303	TN	3.5	47.0	44.0	9.50
90	100		Swathi Priyadharshini S	IND	0	TN	3.5	46.5	42.5	13.50
91	95		Devi Shree	BRN	0		3.5	44.5	41.5	11.25
92	94		Arivukkarasi Loganathan	IND	0	TN	3.0	38.5	37.0	4.50
93	32		Varshini V	IND	1966	TN	2.5	52.5	48.5	11.75
94	80		Srimathi R	IND	1349	TN	2.5	46.0	42.5	9.25
95	58		Meera D	IND	1710	TN	2.0	49.5	46.0	9.00
96	98		Panjammal N	IND	0	TN	2.0	37.5	35.0	2.00
97	99		Smrithika S	IND	0	TN	1.0	40.0	37.5	0.50
98	35		Radha S. R.	IND	1929	TN	0.0	37.5	36.0	0.00
	76		Niveditha K	IND	1439	TN	0.0	37.5	36.0	0.00
	81		Adishree Krishnan	IND	1345	MAH	0.0	37.5	36.0	0.00

Annotation:
Tie Break1: Buchholz Tie-Breaks (variabel with parameter)
Tie Break2: Buchholz Tie-Breaks (variabel with parameter)
Tie Break3: Sonneborn-Berger-Tie-Break variable

Holy Lakshmi!  I don't know why it didn't register with me when I posted the R9 results earlier -- Vijay Subbaraman played in this tournament!  Maybe she has been playing all along and I just haven't been paying attention, but I have to tell you, this is the first time in quite a while that I have seen her name come up in a tournament, and she finished in a tie for first place!  Whoop whoop!  Evidently she was in great form.  Her sister, Meenakshi Subbaraman, also played and finished in a tie for third place with six other players.  I have great admiration for both ladies.

Unfortunately, the official website (Tamil Nadu State Chess Association) was silent as to whether any players earned WGM or other norms in this event.  Arggghhhh!

Mary Ann Gomes Arrives!

From The Times of India:

Mary arrives on the big stage
Hari Hara NandananHari Hara Nandanan, TNN | Nov 9, 2011, 09.11PM IST

CHENNAI: For 12 years, Mary Ann Gomes played and won chess tournaments of different levels. On Wednesday, her career reached a new road which will put the 22-year-old on par with the few stalwarts of Indian women's chess. Her first Premier national women's title will give Mary Ann a ticket to the Indian team's journey to the biennial Olympiad next year but more that what the Kolkata girl would be pleased about her performance in Chennai in the last two weeks is the way she methodically achieved her targets.

"I was not looking at the title when I started," said Mary Ann, who first won a national title (under-10) in 1999. "I had made two IM norms (men's) and I was happy that I could add the third (and the title) in the penultimate round," she added. India has only two (men's) Grandmasters among women in Koneru Humpy and D Harika and only four IMs in the fairer sex, though there are many Women's Grandmasters.

To her credit, Mary Ann, who is on a contract with AAI, has achieved everything without much help from outside. "I used to train with GM Dibyendu Barua but now I am on my own," says the new champion proudly. Of course, women's chess in India is at a crossroads with even the likes of Humpy and Harika not able to get the right coaches to further their career.

However, Mary Ann, at the moment, is not bugged by this. "When I started, I liked chess and so I did not think about anything else. I did not set any goals for me," she said as she held the trophy closely. "Dad (Charles Gomes) used to play chess. Maybe, when I played in the Ahmedabad age-group national when I was 9, I thought I should set goals for myself."

She achieved two of the goals in Chennai in the last fortnight (IM title and Premier national trophy) but Mary Ann knows her journey has just started and not reached anywhere. "I have a long way to go," she looked afar and muttered, maybe to herself. She will add some 30 Elo points from the Chennai meet and could move closer to the rating requirement for IM title (2400 points). Mary Ann knows that she will be going to the Olympiad but then she has already got enough experience in that area.

"I played in the Olympiad in 2006 (Turin) and 2008 (Dresden). The last time, I won a silver medal on the reserve board," recalled Mary of her Dresden performance. The new champion's next goal should be to emulate Humpy and Harika and belong to the men's field completely.

38th Indian Women's National Chess Championship

OHMYGODDESS!  Mary Ann Gomes wins the title!

From The Times of India.

Mary Ann Gomes bags maiden national title
TNN | Nov 9, 2011, 04.07PM IST

CHENNAI: Finally, the Premier national women's chess title was decided on tiebreak. Mary Ann Gomes of Airport Authority of India, who drew her last-round game against Kiran Manisha Mohanty of Orissa and Eesha Karavade of Maharashtra, who got the better of Padmini Rout of Orissa on Wednesday tied for first place with eight points each but the former's tiebreak (average of opponents' score) stood her in good stead in the end.

The Kolkata girl, who won the winner's purse of Rs 75000, said she was delighted to take her maiden national senior women's title. "When I think of it, I feel great joy. I dedicate this title to my mother Freda Gomes," said the 22-year-old IM-elect.

International Master Eesha Karavade scoring a surprisingly quick final round victory over Woman Grandmaster Padmini Rout. The Grunfeld game saw white wresting the advantage early, and a rook for minor piece sacrifice by Padmini did not improve her position. Eesha's queen and double rooks decided the issue in 32 moves. The Pune girl has always been in the top bracket ever since she started playing in the senior women's national 10 years ago at the age of 14 in Lucknow.

By far, this has been Eesha's best performance. "I train with Raju at Hyderabad (with D Harika's coach) and I am right now focused on playing chess, taking it as a profession," said Eesha, who scored 5.5 points in the last six rounds. Experienced Tania Sachdev of Air India secured the third spot with an energetic victory over Woman International Master Sai Meera of Indian Bank.

Final Placings :

 

1-2 Mary Ann Gomes (AAI), Eesha Karavade (Mah) 8.0,

3 Tania Sachdev (AI) 7.5,

4-5 Nisha Mohota (PSPB), Padmini Rout (Ori) 7.0,

6-10 Pratyusha Bodda (AP), Meenakshi Subbaraman (IA), Sowmya Swaminathan (PSPB), Kiran Manisha Mohanty (Ori), P Michelle Catherina (TN) 6.5 pts

 

Results (Round 11):

 

Mary Ann Gomes (AAI) 8 drew with Kiran Manisha Mohanty (Ori) 6.5,

Eesha Karavade (Mah) 8 bt Padmini Rout (Ori) 7,

Tania Sachdev (AI) 7.5 bt Sai Meera (IB) 6,

Nisha Mohota (PSPB) 7 bt Chandika Divyasree (AP) 6.0,

Sowmya Swaminathan (PSPB) 6.5 bt A G Nimmy (Ker) 5.5,

Meenakshi Subbaraman (AI) 6.5 bt R Bharathi (TN) 5.5,

P Michelle Catherina (TN) 6.5 bt Bhakti Kulkarni (Goa) 5.5,

Pratyusha Bodda (AP) 6.5 bt S Harini (TN) 5,

Swati Ghate (LIC) 6 bt Cholleti Sahajasri (AP) 4.5,

Swati Mohota (WB) 5 drew with Pon N Krithika (AICF) 5.5,

A Akshaya (TN) 5 drew with P Bala Kannamma (TN) 5,

Aarthie Ramaswamy (AI) 5 drew with P V Nandhidhaa (TN) 4.5,

Madhurima Shekhar (Del) 2.5 lost to J Saranya (TN) 5.5,

Shweta Gole (Mah) 5 bt Supriya Joshi (Mah) 2,

M Mahalakshmi (TN) 4 bye.

Final Ranking after 11 Rounds

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	IND	2325	WB	8.0	2261	2272	2285
2	IM	Karavade Eesha	IND	2348	MAH	8.0	2205	2202	2196
3	IM	Tania Sachdev	IND	2419	Air Ind	7.5	2241	2244	2254
4	IM	Mohota Nisha	IND	2320	PSPB	7.0	2235	2241	2248
5	WGM	Padmini Rout	IND	2356	ORI	7.0	2212	2215	2214
6		Pratyusha Bodda	IND	2062	AP	6.5	2263	2271	2291
7	WGM	Meenakshi Subbaraman	IND	2297	Air Ind	6.5	2239	2242	2251
8	WGM	Soumya Swaminathan	IND	2318	PSPB	6.5	2132	2125	2113
9	WGM	Kiran Manisha Mohanty	IND	2213	ORI	6.5	2123	2113	2088
10		Michelle Catherina P	IND	2088	TN	6.5	2093	2088	2075
11		Chandika Divyasree	IND	2129	AP	6.0	2203	2213	2222
12	WIM	Meera Sai	IND	2117	IB	6.0	2195	2201	2205
13	WGM	Swathi Ghate	IND	2278	LIC	6.0	2132	2118	2094
14	WFM	Saranya J	IND	2106	TN	5.5	2180	2185	2202
15		Nimmy A G	IND	2252	KER	5.5	2164	2162	2154
16	WFM	Pon Nkrithika	IND	2044	AICF	5.5	2127	2135	2138
17	WFM	Bharathi R	IND	2112	TN	5.5	2123	2122	2113
18	WIM	Kulkarni Bhakti	IND	2289	GOA	5.5	2120	2109	2085
19		Harini S	IND	2055	TN	5.0	2183	2196	2203
20	WFM	Mahalakshmi M	IND	1954	TN	5.0	2132	2130	2129
21		Shweta Gole	IND	1999	MAH	5.0	2098	2099	2107
22	WGM	Ramaswamy Aarthie	IND	2209	Air Ind	5.0	2088	2071	2050
23		Bala Kannamma P	IND	1978	TN	5.0	2072	2077	2084
24	WFM	Swati Mohota	IND	2030	WB	5.0	2063	2064	2067
25		A Akshaya	IND	1990	TN	5.0	2040	2035	2037
26		Cholleti Sahajasri	IND	2074	AP	4.5	2186	2196	2213
27		Nandhidhaa Pv	IND	2105	TN	4.5	2020	2009	2006
28		Madhurima Shekhar	IND	1906	DEL	2.5	2036	2044	2043
29		Supriya Joshi	IND	1904	MAH	2.0	2024	2029	2027
30	WIM	Thipsay Bagyashree Sathe	IND	2108	AICF	1.0	2059	0	0

Annotation:
Tie Break1: rating average of the opponents (variabel with parameters)
Tie Break2: rating average of the opponents (variabel with parameters)
Tie Break3: rating average of the opponents (variabel with parameters)

38th Indian Women's National Chess Championship

More coverage - this article from zeenews.india.com

Tania Sachdev, Nisha Mohota, Mary Ann Gomes share lead
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 01, 2011, 21:51

IM Tania Sachdev, 2011 Indian Women's
National Chess Championship

Chennai: International Masters Tania Sachdev of Delhi and Nisha Mohota of PSPB, along with Women Grandmaster Mary Ann Gomes (AAI) shared the lead with 3.5 points at the end of the fourth round of the 38th National Women Premier Chess Championship on Tuesday.

In second place with three points are two players – WGM Padmini Rout (Orissa) and S Harini of Tamil Nadu.

The top board saw Tania employ the Nimzo Indian Defence against Candidate Master Bhakti Kulkarni of Goa.

Tania accepted an isolated pawn to gain good piece play. In a bid to gain some space on the kingside, Bhakti unwisely moved her pawns on the kingside, enabling the Delhi girl to get some vital entry points.

With both players willing to take that extra risk to gain a valuable point, Tania`s foray with her major pieces proved to be Bhakti`s undoing in 38 moves.


In the second table, Mary Ann Gomes employed an irregular set up with white pieces to confuse Pratyusha Bodda of Andhra Pradesh.

Pratyusha seemed to have equalised comfortably until a hasty pawn move on kingside forced Mary to show her hand on the queenside with a timely pawn break on the 19th move.

The balance shifted in Mary`s favour and she won two pawns and had a flowing kingside attack. A hapless Pratyusha Bodda threw in the towel in 35 moves.

Nisha Mohota had a relatively easy day as Meenakshi Subbaraman (IA) misplayed the opening to lose a pawn in seven moves.

Nisha played some easy moves to consolidate on the advantage and soon won another pawn on the 17th move. She converted the advantage into a full point in 44 moves.

Tamil Nadu`s S Harini scored an upset victory over higher rated IM Esha Karvade of Maharashtra, employing the Four Knights opening with white.

Some unorthodox handling of the position by Esha saw Harini gain a big advantage on the kingside. She then forcibly converted the advantage into a big attack against the Black king to win an exchange on the 25th move and the game in just 29 moves.

With this win Harini has moved into joint second spot with three points. WGM Padmini Rout of Orissa outplayed Pon N Krithika in an Alekhine game in 38 moves.

PTI
First Published: Tuesday, November 01, 2011, 21:51

Cross-table from chess-results.com

Rank after Round 4

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	IM	Tania Sachdev	IND	2419	Air Ind	3.5	2265	0	0
2	IM	Mohota Nisha	IND	2320	PSPB	3.5	2249	0	0
3	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	IND	2325	AAI	3.5	2109	0	0
4		Harini S	IND	2055	TN	3.0	2213	0	0
5	WGM	Padmini Rout	IND	2356	ORI	3.0	2084	0	0
6		Pratyusha Bodda	IND	2062	AP	2.5	2322	0	0
7	WFM	Saranya J	IND	2106	TN	2.5	2313	0	0
8	WGM	Meenakshi Subbaraman	IND	2297	Air Ind	2.5	2219	0	0
9	CM	Kulkarni Bhakti	IND	2289	GOA	2.5	2216	0	0
10	WIM	Meera Sai	IND	2117	IB	2.5	2106	0	0
11	WGM	Soumya Swaminathan	IND	2318	PSPB	2.5	2068	0	0
12		Cholleti Sahajasri	IND	2074	AP	2.0	2285	0	0
13	WFM	Pon Nkrithika	IND	2044	AICF	2.0	2249	0	0
14		Nimmy A G	IND	2252	KER	2.0	2211	0	0
15	WFM	Bharathi R	IND	2112	TN	2.0	2122	0	0
16	IM	Karavade Eesha	IND	2348	MAH	2.0	2106	0	0
17		Bala Kannamma P	IND	1978	TN	2.0	2091	0	0
18	WGM	Swathi Ghate	IND	2278	LIC	2.0	2084	0	0
19		Chandika Divyasree	IND	2129	AP	2.0	2080	0	0
20	WGM	Ramaswamy Aarthie	IND	2209	Air Ind	2.0	2017	0	0
21		Shweta Gole	IND	1999	MAH	1.5	2185	0	0
22		A Akshaya	IND	1990	TN	1.5	2158	0	0
23	WFM	Swati Mohota	IND	2030	WB	1.5	2098	0	0
24	WGM	Kiran Manisha Mohanty	IND	2213	ORI	1.5	2054	0	0
25	WFM	Mahalakshmi M	IND	1954	TN	1.0	2121	0	0
26		Nandhidhaa Pv	IND	2105	TN	1.0	2064	0	0
27	WIM	Thipsay Bagyashree Sathe	IND	2108	AICF	1.0	2059	0	0
28		Madhurima Shekhar	IND	1906	DEL	0.5	2080	0	0
29		Michelle Catherina P	IND	2088	TN	0.5	2069	0	0
30		Supriya Joshi	IND	1904	MAH	0.5	2011	0	0

Annotation:
Tie Break1: rating average of the opponents (variabel with parameters)
Tie Break2: rating average of the opponents (variabel with parameters)
Tie Break3: rating average of the opponents (variabel with parameters)

Mary Ann Gomes on her Olympiad

From The Telegraph (Calcutta) A long way to go: Mary A STAFF REPORTER November 28, 2008 Calcutta: Mary Ann Gomes is happy with her performance in the chess Olympiad in Dresden. The Calcutta girl won a silver after scoring six out of eight points and a performance rating of 2437 in the championship. “This was my second Olympiad. I performed quite well and am happy with my showing,” she said after returning to the city on Thursday. The WGM, a product of The Telegraph Schools’ Chess Championship, said her experience made the difference this time. “I was very tense in my first Olympiad in 2006. But this time I concentrated on my natural game. Moreover, two coaching camps organised by the AICF in the lead up to the tournament also helped,” she said. The performance, however, hasn’t left her complacent. “This is just the beginning… I still have a long way to go. This year I completed my WGM. Now I am aiming for the men’s IM norm and then the GM,” Mary Ann, who has an Elo rating of 2298, said. She, though, will improve her ratings by 21 points by virtue of her performance — five wins, two draws and a loss — in the Olympiad. “The competition was very tough. All top teams played and it helped me a lot… I think my penultimate round performance was the best in the competition. It was a near flawless game and my moves were perfect,” she recalled. She also plans to work on her shortcomings with Dibyendu Barua. “I’ve got to work on my openings. The strategic play also needs improvement,” she pointed out.

Mary Ann Gomez Scalps a GM

News from the Hindu online.com Mary outwits Abhijeet Friday June 27, 2008 NEW DELHI: Mary Ann Gomes stunned Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta in the second round of the Sort Open chess tournament on Wednesday. The results (involving Indians): Second round: Nidjat Mamedov (Aze, 2) bt Swapnil Dhopade (1); Vishnu Prasanna (1.5) drew with Rasul Ibrahimov (Aze, 1.5); Abhijeet Gupta (1) lost to Mary Ann Gomes (2); M. Shyam Sundar (1.5) drew with Manuel Leon Hoyos (Mex, 1.5); Aryam Abreu Delgado (Cub, 1.5) drew with K. Priyadarshan (1.5); Soumya Swaminathan (1) lost to Rashad Babaev (Aze, 2); Sergey Kasparov (Blr, 1.5) drew with M. R. Lalith Babu (1.5). Prasanna Rao (1) lost to Deep Sengupta (2); Matthias Roeder (Ger, 2) bt P. Uthra (1); Tatiana Kasparova (Blr, 1.5) drew with S. P. Sethuraman (1.5); C. P. Aatirah (1) lost to B. Adhiban (2); S. Nitin (1.5) bt Kruttika Nadig (0.5); S. V. Sathya Priya (0) lost to T. Abhay (1); Josep Ferrer Dalmau (Esp, 0) lost to R. Preethi (1); Aaron Rodriquez Adell (Esp, 0.5) drew with Bhakti Kulkarni (0.5); Pon N. Krithika (1) bt Ricardo Menchon Lopez (Esp, 0); Antonio Viani D’cunha (1) bt Javier Fernandez Alvarez (Esp, 0); Yeva Kasparova (Blr, 0) lost to Shalmali Gagare (1); Jordi Corominas Garrido (Esp, 1) bt Devangi Patankar (0); A. Niji (1) bt Oscar Vela Martinez (Esp, 0).