Commonwealth Under 18 Gold Medallist and Woman FIDE Master Bhakti Kulkarni (ELO 2062) will attempt to secure her second Woman Grandmaster Norm in the 33rd National 'A' Women's Championship to be held in Chennai from the 6th to the 16th of December. Incidentally, 14 year old Bhakti is the first ever Goan to play in this prestigious event and the stakes are even higher after she secured her first WGM norm in the recently concluded Commonwealth Chess Championship in Mumbai. Bhakti, who also won the Asian Under 14 title in Teheran earlier this year, will hope to repeat her fine performance and get her second of the needed three Norms to help her obtain the much coveted Woman Grandmaster title.
The field is indeed very strong and there are no less than eight WGMs in the lineup of 33 players. Among them is S. Vijayalakshmi (ELO 2426), last year's winner Swati Ghate (ELO 2385), Nisha Mohota (ELO 2270), R. Aarthie (ELO 2228), S. Meenakshi (ELO 2347), Eesha Karavade (ELO 2321), D. Harika (ELO 2353) and Tania Sachdev (ELO 2383). There will also be strong participation of Bhakti's contemporaries in this event including WIM and Asian Under 16 Gold Medallist P. Lakshmi Sahiti (ELO 2136), WFM and Asian Under 12 Gold Medallist Padmini Rout (ELO 2188) and Commonwealth Under 16 Gold Medallist Pon. N. Krithika (ELO 2031). If Bhakti can finish in the top 6, she will represent the country in many International events in 2007 so this is a golden opportunity for her. Bhakti's coach India's only Dronacharya Awardee Raghunandan Gokhale has expressed quiet confidence about Bhakti's chances. "She has to continue the form she displayed in the Commonwealth", he stated, adding that "a second WGM norm is indeed a possibility". GSCA President Sameer A. Salgaocar and Secretary Suhas Asnodkar have also wished Bhakti all the success in the upcoming event. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Goanet supports BMX, the alumni network of Britto's, St Mary's and Xavier's -- three prominent institutions in Mapusa, Goa. Events scheduled from Dec 16 to 21, 2006 For more details visit http://www.bmxgoa.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------
