Monginis Brand Ambassador and current National Junior Girls Champion Bhakti
Kulkarni finished 4th in the National Women's 'B' Championship which
concluded in Calicut. By virtue of this performance, she qualified for the
prestigious National 'A' Championship for the second time in her career and
this event will be held in New Delhi in September this year.
Bhakti drew her last round game with WIM Padmini Rout of Orissa and they
both finished with 8 out of a possible 11 points. First place was bagged by
WGM Eesha Karavade who drew her last round game with Pon. Krithika of Tamil
Nadu. This was the most hotly contested National 'B' ever with as many as 5
Women Grandmasters competing in a field of 113 players.
Bhakti will be gaining 27 ELO rating points for her efforts and her
performance is at the 2282 level which shows that she can try to complete
her Woman International Master title during the latter course of the year.
AICF Vice President Salgaocar praised her performance noting that 'Bhakti
has come back to chess with a bang after a 6 month hiatus in which she
appeared for her 10th standard exams'. 'We, in the Goan chess fraternity,
are all very proud of her', he added.
Bhakti's coach, Dronacharya awardee Raghunandan Gokhale stated that this
performance will instill in her 'tremendous confidence for her upcoming
tournaments'. The Woman FIDE Master will next be playing in Spain in the
24th Sort Open and in the "Villa de Benasque" tournaments before she heads
off to Teheran for the Asian Youth Chess Championships.
Final standings : 1 Eesha Karvade (Mah), 2 Mary Ann Gomes (WB), 3 Nisha
Mohota (PSPB), 4 Bhakti Kulkarni (Goa), 5 Swathi Ghate (LIC),
6 Nadig Krutikha (Mah), 7 Pon N Krithika (TN), 8 Padmini Rout (Ori), 9
Amrutha Mokal (Mah).
SOURCE: Sameer Salgaocar - Vice President, All-India Chess Federation
