------------------------------------------------------------------------ TRI Continental Film Festival - Dona Paula, Goa, Sep 28 - Oct 2, 2007
http://www.moviesgoa.org/tricontinental/tricon.htm For public viewing. Registration at The International Centre Goa. (Ph: +91-832-2452805 to 10) Online Media Partner: http://www.GOANET.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Goa's Commonwealth Under 18 Girls Champion Bhakti Kulkarni (ELO 2112) beat Tamil Nadu's 11th seeded S. Harini (ELO 2087) to establish a clear one point lead in the Eighth round of the National Junior Girls Championship being played at Nagpur today. Bhakti, not given a chance by too many of the pundits at the start of the tournament, had participated in the event primarily for experience. This performance, especially her wins in the last two rounds against S. Harini and P. Sivasankari (ELO 2101) has surprised all the chess faithful and perhaps Bhakti herself. S. Harini is an extremely experienced player (having played in the National Women's 'A') and had the advantage of playing with the White pieces. She had beaten Bhakti in the National Women's 'B' in 2006 and although Bhakti had reversed the score in the National 'A' later in the same year, this encounter was expected to be closely fought. The expectations were rightly justified and what decidedly turned the match in Bhakti's favour was the superior opening preparation imparted to her by her Coach - Dronacharya awardee Raghunandan Gokhale. She played a new line from the Ruy Lopez which she had never employed before and this caught her opponent offguard. Harini could not cope with the surprise and eventually resigned after an enthralling middlegame. Bhakti next plays P. Uthra (ELO 2060) of Tamil Nadu in the ninth round later today. On the second board, the game between top seeded Asian Junior Champion WIM Mary Ann Gomes (ELO 2274) of West Bengal and highly rated Padmini Rout (ELO 2246) of Orissa ended peacefully in a draw. This means that Bhakti with 7.5 points has a clear lead of one point over her nearest rival. However, with three rounds to go, anything is possible and Goa's wondergirl Bhakti will be aiming to finish in the top 3 and book herself a spot in the World Junior Championships to be played in Ankara, Turkey in August, 2008. SOURCE: Sameer Salgaocar - President, GSCA