2011 Indian National Girls U-13 Chess Championship

Monnisha continues her wining ways:

From Indian Sports News

Sunday, 09 October 2011 20:14 New Delhi: [Excerpted]  In the girls’ section, defending champion Monnisha G K on course to her title defence as she produced an impressive victory over Shoumi Mukerjee in the tenth round. Playing with white pieces in Sicilian defence, Monnisha displayed her sheer class to overcome her West Bengal rival in 55 moves to extend her sole lead to full point. Meanwhile top seed Ivana Maria Furtado suffered her first defeat in the championship by the hands of M Mahalakshmi of Tamilnadu. Playing white side of Rubinstein variation of Nimzo-Indian defence, Mahalakshmi exposed Ivana’s defence with her bishop and rook in the middle game to register a crucial win in her favour. In the final round Monnisha takes on Mahalakshmi, who is occupying the second spot with eight points. Ivana and Priyamvada Karamcheti of Andhra Pradesh, who beat Vaishali R of Tamilnadu in the penultimate round, are in joint third spot with seven and half points. [Furtado's defeat has put her out of contention for a medal.] Important Results:   Round-10 Girls :  Monnisha G K of Tamilnadu (9) beat Shoumi Mukerjee of West Bengal (7); Mahalakshmi M of Tamilnadu (8) beat Ivana Maria Furtado of Goa (7.5); Shiny Das of Tripura (7) drew with Anigani Kavya of Andhra Pradesh (7); Priyamvada Karamcheti of Andhra Pradesh (7.5) beat Vaishali R of Tamilnadu (6); Manjula R of Tamilnadu (7) beat Rutuja Bakshi of Maharashtra (6); Ashwini U of Tamilnadu (7) beat Chandreyee Hajra of West Bengal (6); Tarini Goyal of Chandigarh (6.5) drew with Megha Gupta of Gujarat (6.5); Divya Garg of Maharashtra (7) beat Akankhya Kabi of Orissa (6); Nishi Mahalaxmi Iyer of West Bengal (6) lost to Hilmi Parveen of Kerala (7); Sunyasakata Satpathy of Orissa (6.5) beat Dhanashree Pandit of Maharashtra (5.5); Varshini V of Tamilnadu (5.5) lost to Asmita Das Munshi of West Bengal (6.5); Shweta Priyadharshini of Uttarpradesh (6.5) beat Smaraki Mohanty of Orissa (5.5); Divya Lakshmi R of Tamilnadu (6.5) beat Gange Tanmayee of Maharashtra (5.5); Meghna C H of Kerala (6) drew with Chitlange Sakshi of Maharashtra (6); Manasa H R of Karnataka (6) drew with Dharani Sree R of Tamilnadu (6).

2011 Indian National U-13 Girls Chess Championship

Taking place right now in New Delhi/  From Indian Sports News:

Under-13 Chess:  Monnisha Takes Sole Lead Friday, 07 October 2011 17:09 New Delhi: [Excerpted] Defending champion G K Monnisha of Tamilnadu beat Hilmi Parveen of Kerala in the eighth round to take sole lead with seven points in the girls category of ongoing National Under-13 championship here at Kulachi Hansraj Model School on Friday. Playing with white pieces, Monnisha displayed a finely crafted middle game in Scandinavian defence to overcome her Kerala rival in 56 moves while top seed and overnight joint leader Ivana Maria Furtado failed to produce a decisive result in her favour against Tripura rival Shiny Das in a Tarrasch variation of French Defence game and signed the peace treaty in 50 moves. This crucial results in the eighth round enabled Monnisha to take the slender half point lead over Ivana. Ivana is occupying the lone second spot in the point table with six and half points. Important Results : Round-8 Girls : Shiny Das of Tripura (6) drew with Ivana Maria Furtado of Goa (6.5); Monnisha G K of Tamilnadu (7) beat Hilmi Parveen of Kerala (5.5); Rutja Bakshi of Maharashtra (6) drew with Mahalakshmi M of Tamilnadu (6); Shoumi Mukerjee of West Bengal (6) beat Anigani Kavya of Andhra Pradesh (5.5); Vaishali R of Tamilnadu (6) beat Deekshidha P S of Tamilnadu (5); Manjula R of Tamilnadu (5) lost to Ashwini U of Tamilnadu (6); Divya Garg of Maharashtra (5) lost to Megha Gupta of Gujarat (6); Gange Tanmayee of Maharashtra (5.5) drew with Dharani Sree R of Tamilnadu (5.5); Tarini Goyal of Chandigarh (5.5) beat Sunyasakta Satpathy of Orissa (4.5); Varshini V of Tamilnadu (5) drew with Chandreyee Hajra of West Bengal (5); Priyamvada Karamcheti of Andhra Pradesh (5.5) beat Asmita Das Munshi of West Bengal (4.5); Divya Lakshmi R of Tamilnadu (4.5) lost to Nishi Mahalaxmi Iyer of West Bengal (5.5); Meghna C H of Kerala (4.5) lost to Akankhya Kabi of Orissa (5.5); Saughanthika A S of Tamilnadu (4) lost to Smaraki Mohanty of Orissa (5); Kavisha S Shah of Gujrat (4.5) drew with Varsha C K of Tamilnadu (4.5).

Chess Princess: Potluri Supritha

From The Hindu.com
Bringing home a bagful of gold
SUJATHA POTURI
July 25, 2011

Meet a ten-year-old who is mastering major chess moves.

She is just ten and she has already represented Andhra Pradesh in three national events in chess.

Meet Potluri Supritha, a Std. IV student of Mustabada Sports and Educational Society and a chess prodigy from the coastal region of AP. Young Supritha won the under-11 State tournament at Hyderabad and later finished on top at the under-15 State tournament held at Tadepalligudem.

Achievement

At Ponnur, she bagged the first place by winning the under-17 State championship. “It is a rare achievement. A ten-year-old girl winning senior age group tournaments in AP signifies her innate talent. She has the wherewithal to win medals in the Asian and World tournaments,” says V.R. Bobba, her coach.

Chess is not in the family background of Supritha. Her father takes care of agriculture and her mother works in a private firm at Nuzvid.

Focused

“What started off as a hobby went on to become an obsession for young Supritha.

Her mother gave up her job to concentrate on Supritha's fledgling career.

Everyday she spends around five hours honing her skills in the game of square board,” says Mr. Bobba. Her coach feels that while her middle and end games are encouraging, she needs to master the technique of finishing the game within the allotted time.

“She often gets into trouble due to the time factor. By playing more tournaments, she can overcome these hiccups.”

Mr. Bobba is confident that Supritha will be ready by 2013 to win medals in the Asian and world tournaments.

“All she needs to do is to spend more time training ,” he says.

Harappan Era "Stone Toys" Discovered in Kutch?

The Lothal artifacts.  Game
pieces, most likely.  But, could
they possibly be chess pieces?

"Stone toys" - could they be what some Indian archaeologists have identified as "chess pieces" from Lothal?  The article is tantalizing, and provides almost no information!

From The Times of IndiaOrnaments of Harappan era found in Kutch
TNN, Jan 5, 2011, 10.50pm IST

BHUJ: In a remarkable finding, officials of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have recovered a number of artifacts belonging to Harappan era from Khirsara (Netra-Gadhwali) in Nakhatrana taluka of Kutch district during an ongoing excavation.

Jitendra Das, superintending archaeologist, excavation branch ASI Baroda, said: "At least two necklaces, resembling present-day gold ornaments, have been recovered beside other artifacts like stone toys, utensils, weighing stones etc. The ornaments are similar to those recovered from a Harappan site in Lothal, near Ahmedabad. The artifacts will be sent to laboratory for determining their age."

A fifteen-member team of ASI has been camping at the site for past 18 months with over sixty labourers deployed at the site. The excavation is being carried out on a ten-acre plot of land.

Assam, India to Host Large Women's Championship

From the Assam Tribune
Top players for nat’l chess
Sports reporter

GUWAHATI, July 28 – The All Assam Chess Association is bracing up to hold the 37th Women Challenger Chess Championship.

The championship will be organised at the Silpagram, near Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakhetra here from August 20 to 28.

The organisers have informed that leading players of the country like Swati Ghate, Swati Mehta, Amruta Mukal, Vijay Lakshmi are likely to take part in the championship which has been counted as one of the most important women’s chess tournament in the country. About 150 players will vie for the title.

The players will be accommodated in and around the competition venue. MP Ranee Narah will be the chief guest in the inaugural function.

It is for the first time that the State chess body is organising such a important chess tournament of national circuit for women.

Begging for the Sake of Chess

From The Telegraph (Calcutta, India) August 13, 2009 Begging for the sake of chess JAYESH THAKER Jamshedpur, Aug. 12: Organisers of a national-level chess championship are on the road with begging bowls to foot the bill for the nine-day meet in October. Facing government apathy for years, the cash-strapped Chakradharpur Chess Association (CCA) has already ordered printing of donation slips of Rs 100 and Rs 500 denominations. CCA officials have also requested shopkeepers and sports lovers to help them collect donations for the national under-17 chess championship. It is not possible for officials to re-approach some local and outstation suppliers for help as they already owe the CCA over Rs 3 lakh for conducting the 2nd International Fide Rating Chess Championship last October. Repeated requests to the state government for releasing funds have also fallen on deaf ears. The national Under-17 chess meet is scheduled at the Railway Mandap in Chakradharpur from October 6-14. About 100 boys and girls from across the country would take part in the championship being organised jointly by the CCA and the South Eastern Railway Sports Association (Sersa Chakradharpur). Though the railways are providing infrastructure, the rest of the expenses has to be met by the association. According to CCA secretary Umapad Battabyal, they expect to raise about Rs 2 lakh through donations. “If not that amount, we can at least raise Rs 50,000 from people. We will soon hand over donation slips to shopkeepers and sports lovers to help us out,” he added. Battabyal told The Telegraph from Chakradharpur that they had been forced to prune their budget (for the chess meet) from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. “Initially, the budget was on the higher side, but we have now omitted fireworks and cultural programmes to curtail expenses. We will manage to raise Rs 3 lakh from industry, MPs, MLAs from the region, souvenir, entry money and catering. But we still need rest of the amount to host the championship,” he said. State sports department officials, on condition of anonymity, said that they were now busy funding the National Games to be organised in November-December. Chess, being not part of the Games, does not get priority for now. “We are already feeling the heat. Organising a national chess meet in a small town like Chakradharpur is itself a big thing. However, the government is yet to respond positively to our requests,” Battabyal added.

Chess in India

From the Telegraph - Calcutta, India: Wednesday March 25, 2009: Imphal: The Manipur Chess Association is organising the Women’s B 19th Under-17 Boys and Girls Chess Championship at Chingmeirong from April 5. I don't think it's just my imagination. There has been a definite increase in the number and magnitude of chess events being held in India since Anand ascended to the World Chess Champion title. GM Koneru Humpy's recent victory at the first FIDE Women's Chess Grand Prix event just adds fuel to the fire! Go, India, Go!

Indians Training Hard for 2008 Chess Olympiad

From The Hindu.com Indians training hard for Olympiad Arvind Aaron September 12, 2008 CHENNAI: The Indian team’s training camp for the Chess Olympiad is on in full swing in Chennai and New Delhi. For the first time, both the men’s and women’s teams will field Grandmasters on all boards. Senior Grandmaster Lev Psakhis of Israel is training the men’s squad here and Elizbar Ubilava, who was with the men’s team at Calvia 2004 and Turin 2006, has been assigned the task of handling the women’s side. The camp, which began on September 9, will run till 23. “Such camps are required as the team members should know each other better. I have some material and want to analyse that with the five boys,” said Psakhis. The men’s team comprises Krishnan Sasikiran (TN, captain), P. Harikrishna (AP), Surya Sekhar Ganguly, Sandipan Chanda (both Bengal) and G.N. Gopal (Ker). The women’s side has Dronavalli Harika (AP), Tania Sachdev (Del), Nisha Mohota, Mary Ann Gomes (both Ben) and Swati Ghate (Mah). The players have been training for seven hours a day and the focus has been on endings so far, according to Harikrishna. “A role of a coach is to make the player think and play better. Success rests with the concerned player,” said Psakhis, the key man behind India’s gold medal winning performance at the 2006 Doha Asiad. Psakhis expects India, minus Viswanathan Anand, to match a team like Israel. About the placing one can expect, he said it would depend on how well the boys play. “India is already a top nation and in four years it will equal Russia in terms of quality of play at the top,” said Psakhis about India’s growing presence in the game. Predictions can go awry in a Chess Olympiad. A strong Russian team with Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander Morozevich and other strong players could finish only sixth. “I am giving the boys a lot of work and I am trying to make them think. Computers are not there at the camp since we are not analysing the openings and what we learn today can become out of fashion when the games begin on November 12,” said Psakhis. New rules The Chess Olympiad to be held at Dresden (Germany) will see many changes. By increasing the players from four to five and boards from three to four, women’s chess stands to benefit. On the contrary, the numbers came down from six to five in the men’s event with the same four playing members. One important rule is that the players have to be at their table five minutes before the start of play. Also, a player cannot leave the table without the permission of the match arbiter when it is his turn to move.

******************

Did GM Koneru Humpy decline the invitation to a board on the Indian Men's Olympiad Team because she thought she'd still be playing in Nalchik while the "mandatory" Olympiad training camps were being held?

The Indian Women's Team is a powerful one: Dronavalli Harika, Tania Sachdev, Nisha Mohota, Mary Ann Gomes and Swati Ghati. I would not be surprised if the Indian women place higher in the final standings than the Indian men.

From Chess King to Pauper

Story at Sify.com/Sports Abdul Jabbar: Chess King to pauper Manisha Mohite Once, he was hailed as a King. Today, the frail 59-year-old can be seen fetching files or making his way across tables with a tray of water glasses in the corridors of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation. Meet Abdul Jabbar, who represented India in international chess tournaments for two consecutive years in the seventies. The Chess giant won many National Open tournaments and had beaten the then stalwarts in India including the country's first IM Manuel Aaron twice. Jabbar was also the Maharashtra State champion thrice and the first chess player to receive the "Chhatrapati Award', the highest award for excellence in sports in the State. Is this the sorry state that former sportspersons with achievements that merit applause are reduced to? Hailed as a 'King' for his power-packed performances in the royal game of Kings and Queens, Jabbar today is more a pauper. Working as a peon since 1967, he retires in the same position this year. This job has been his only means of livelihood. . . . Bogged down by backache, needing a major eye-surgery for his deteriorating vision, this ex-player, who would see way ahead of the others on the board, is forced to lead a hand-to-mouth existence after his retirement. Though coaching is one of the most lucrative options for former players, Anup Deshmukh quickly dismisses it: "He (Jabbar) has been playing and coaching a few youngsters but does not believe in charging money for his efforts". A fact which Thipsay quickly endorses. "As far as I remember, he had lot of pride and never believed in asking any favours. Perhaps, had he been living in Mumbai, he would have been a big name as chess was a well-liked and appreciated game here then." However, the chess players and the Nagpur District Chess Association (NDCA) are organising an Abdul Jabbar Benefit Maharashtra State tournament, as a benefit event. Most of the leading chess players from Maharashtra have pitched in with donations, while a few politicians and other sportspersons from Nagpur have also contributed, according to a release by the NDCA. Jabbar, who lived his life without asking for any favours either from his office or society, cannot help becoming emotional. "This benefit tournament appears like a dream." Full story.

2008 Indian National Women's "B" Chess Championship

This is going to be a tough tournament for the women, competing for spots in the Women's National "A" Tournament in September. Story from The Hindu online: Women’s ‘B’ chess from today KOZHIKODE: Several big names in Indian women’s chess, including former World under-18 champion Aarthie Ramaswamy, Nisha Mohota, Swati Ghate, Eesha Karvade and Mary Ann Gomes, will battle it out in the 35th National women’s ‘B’ chess championship, which opens at Hotel Sana Tower here on Friday. Over a hundred ladies will play for nine qualifying spots for the National women’s ‘A’; the top nine players will join the top three players from the last National ‘A’ for this year’s National women’s ‘A’, scheduled to be held in New Delhi in September. Mohota, with an Elo rating of 2400, is the top seed and starts as one of the favourites for the title. “With five Woman Grandmasters in the fray, this is going to be the strongest National women’s ‘B’ ever, so even to make the qualifying mark, one will have to play really well,” the Kolkata-based WGM told The Hindu. The tournament, to be played over 11 Swiss rounds, should produce some exciting chess over the next one week. “We could see some new talents coming up from Andhra or Tamil Nadu; always do in tournaments like this,” said Mohota.

Juniors Chess in Tamil Nadu (India)

From The Hindu Online, May 16, 2008: (No offense, but I left out the parts about the Under-17 boys) Muthu, Krithika win titles Tiruchengode: Muthu Alagappan (Thiruvallur) and Pon. N. Krithika (Kancheepuram) clinched the boys’ and girls’ titles respectively in the Tamil Nadu State under-17 chess championship, organised by the Namakkal District Chess Foundation, at the SKV MHSS here on Thursday. Results (final round): Girls: Pon. N. Krithika (Kan) 8 drew with P. Uthra (Tlr) 6; S.V. Sathya Priya (Slm) 5.5 lost to C.H. Savetha 7; R. Visalatchi (Vnr) 5.5 lost to J. Saranya (Tlr) 7; M. Poojakanth (Nlc) 5.5 lost to Sithalatchumi Arunachalam (Mdu) 6.5; R. Bharathi (Chn) 6 bt P. Priya Sandiya (Kan) 5; J.G. Nivedhitha (Bca) 5 lost to R. Abirami (Chn) 6; P.V. Nandhithaa (Nam) 6 bt P. Sujitha (Cbe) 4.5; G. Amirthavalli (Chn) 4.5 lost to R. Bhuvaneswari (Try) 5.5; S. Anushya (Nlc) 5.5 bt G. Uma Bharathi (Chn) 4; A. Akshaya (Tlr) 5 bt R. Karthikeyini (Mdu) 4; P. Varshini (Ero) 4 lost to R. Nanduja (Vnr) 5; N. Akshaya (Cbe) 5 bt Swetha (Nam) 4; B. Jeyassri (Chn) 5 bt S. Aarthi (Vel)) 4; R.S. Soundarya (Kar) 4 lost to Srinidhi Sridharan (Trr) 5; M. Vallikannu (Vnr) 4 drew with N.K. Bavithra Midhuna (Tnv) 4; J. Kiruthiga Janani (Nam) 4 bt R. Bala Bagavthi (Tnv) 3; P. Roshini (Kan) 4 bt Manimozhi (Nam) 3; S. Sowmiya (Try) 3 lost to Priyadharshini (Nam) 4; R.S. Harini (Vel) 2 lost to S. Revathi (Kar) 4; J. Pooja (Kan) 1 lost to S. Monica Baarathi (Ero) 3; Sri Rathi (Kar) 1 lost to B. Sudharshini (Kar) 3. Final standings (girls): Girls: 1. Pon. N. Krithika (Kan) 8; 2. J. Saranya (Tlr) 7; 3. C.H. Savetha (Chn) 7; 4. Sithalatchumi (Mdu) 6.5; 5. P. Uthra (Tlr) 6; 6. R. Bharathi (Chn) 6; 7. P.V. Nandhithaa (Nam) 6; 8. R. Abirami (Chn) 6; 9. R. Visalatchi (Vnr) 5.5; 10. S.V. Sathya Priya (Slm) 5.5.

Great Year for Chess in India

Press Trust of India Thursday, December 20, 2007 (New Delhi) The year 2007 witnessed a golden period for Indian chess with Viswanathan Anand reaching the top of the world ranking list while also becoming World Champion. Anand, who has been consistent in maintaining his top-three position for almost last 15 years, climbed to the top of FIDE's world ranking list for the first time in his over two-decade career and went on to clinch the World Championship title as well as the ELO rating of 2800 to make it a memorable year not only for himself but for the country as well. Besides Anand's unparallelled achievements, Koneru Humpy continued where she had left off last year, achieving the rare feat of an ELO rating of 2600 to become only the second woman in the world after Hungarian Judit Polgar to do so. Humpy was also awarded the Padmashree for claiming gold medals in the sport on its debut in the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. Humpy repeated her dazzling performance at the Asian Indoor Games in Macau by winning two gold medals - one each in rapid and blitz - along with a silver in the classic version. She also proved her mettle by bagging back-to-back open tournaments at Hilversum in The Netherlands and Luxembourg. Tania Sachdev, the glamour girl of the sport, won the Asian women's title and then pocketed the National women's 'A' crown for the second successive year. Krishnan Sasikiran also reached new heights in his career by crossing the 2700 ELO rating mark, albeit for a brief period as he slipped after his none-too-impressive performance at the Aerosvit tournament. He was the only Indian to reach the fourth round of the World Cup at the Khanty-Mansiysk in Russia while citymate R B Ramesh lifted the Commonwealth Chess Trophy to end the year on a bright note for the country after Anand had set the ball rolling with his win in the Amber Rapid and Blindfold tournament. Anand comfortably won in the rapid format and finished overall second to Russian Vladimir Kramnik in the elite field with only Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria giving it a miss. Anand also won the 14-round prestigious category-20 Morelia-Linares Super GM tournament ahead of Topalov, Peter Svidler, Vassily Ivanchuk, Peter Leko and Levon Aronian to be at the top of the FIDE rankings.Anand won the Mainz rapid title for 10th time by defeating Aronian in the final. The Indian ace, however, finished runner-up to the Armenian in his debut in 'Chess960' rapid world championship at the same venue. The 38-year-old Chennai-born finished second to Ivanchuk in the World Blitz Championship. His happy hunting ground at Wijk Aan Zee was not so lucky for him this time as Anand finished fifth after losing to Kramnik and Topalov at the Corus Super Grandmasters tournament. Meanwhile, Delhi prodigy Parimarjan Negi tied for the top position but finished third after the tie-break in the World Youth Star competition while G N Gopal and teenager Abhijeet Gupta became the 16th and 17th Grandmasters of the country apart from many others earning various title norms. Prominent among the norm-makers included IM G Rohit, MS Thejkumar who earned GM norms, while 12-year-old Sahaj Grover claimed his first IM norm along with P Karthikeyan, Sasikant Kutwal and Nisha Mohta, Amruta Mokal, N Kirthika and R Preeti earned their respective WIM norms. If the seniors were at their best, the junior brigade was also exemplary with the national team winning the World Youth (Under-16) Chess Olympiad gold medal. The team members -- R Ashwath, B Adhiban, P Shyam Nikhil, Swayam Mishra and S Nitin -- also won individual medals. Adhiban bagged the bronze on first board, Nikhil pocketed the silver medal on fourth board and Mishra received bronze on the reserve board. In the age-group division, Ivana Furtado hogged the limelight for bringing the gold medal for the second time in world girls' Under-8 category at the Youth championships.Prince Bajaj was the boys' Under-10 bronze winner while Shalmali Gagare came third in girls' Under-14. However, none of the Indians could be successful at the Junior World championships as bright young stars - GM Parimarjan Negi, GN Gopal, Abhijeet Gupta, Ashwin Kamparia, Deepan Chakravarty, D Harika, Eesha Karvade -- failed to win a medal. It was particularly disappointing that top seed Harika lost the last three games in a row after leading in the initial rounds of the girl's event.Similar was the story for the seniors as all Indians, except Sasikiran, lost in the first round in World Cup chess. Grandmasters Abhijeet Kunte, Harikrishna, Surya Sekhar Ganguly and GN Gopal fell at the first hurdle. Sasikiran finally lost in the fourth round of the premier event.