------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the ninth round of the National Junior Girls Chess Championship being played at Nagpur, Bhakti Kulkarni (ELO 2112) fought back from a dead lost position to win her game against fancied P. Uthra (ELO 2060) of Tamil Nadu to take a 1.5 point lead with two rounds to go in the event. Uthra had obviously prepared well for this game as she gained superiority right from the opening itself and won a pawn. However, Goa's Commonwealth Under 18 Girls Champion Bhakti was given a lifeline through sheer Divine Intervention when her opponent grabbed another pawn and opened a file for her rook. Bhakti counterattacked and in the ensuing time scramble held her nerves to win the crucial encounter. Bhakti on 8.5 points has the sole lead and is followed by two time National Junior Champion WIM Elect Soumya Swaminathan (ELO 2178) and Asian Junior Girls Champion WIM Mary Ann Gomes (ELO 2274) who are on 7 points each. Bhakti needs just half a point from her remaining two games to win the Championship. She next plays reigning Champion Soumya in the 10th round to try and seal her victory in the event. Even the worst case scenario sees Bhakti finishing no worse than third and she has thus ensured her place in both the National Junior team and the World and Asian Junior events next year. Coach Raghunandan Gokhale, India's first Dronacharya awardee in chess, has expressed confidence that Bhakti will get the half point and emerge victorious in the Championship! SOURCE: Sameer Salgaocar - President, GSCA
