Zhukova appears confident

By P. K. Ajith Kumar

NEW DELHI, NOV. 25. The air is getting colder in the Capital. Small wonder many of the players chose to spend the afternoon in the little sunshine by the swimming pool at Hyatt Regency, the venue of the World chess championship, which begins on Sunday. Natalia Zhukova from Ukraine was also there.

She is one of the main contenders for the women's crown. She acknowledges that fact with no false modesty. You ask her who stand good chances of walking away with the title on December 16. She smiles and says, ``Alisa Galliamova, Xie Jun, Pia Cramling and me.''

Zhukova's confidence is hardly surprising. A couple of months ago she contested the final of the women's World Cup in Shenyang, and before that in June she won the European women's championship. And just recently, she had a reasonable Olympiad at Istanbul, where she scored 6.5 points from 11 rounds on the top board for Ukraine.

Significantly, that European tournament was a knock- out affair. ``I like the system,'' she says, with a twinkle in her eyes. And that system will also be used for the World championship.

How disappointing was that loss to Xu Yuhua in the World Cup final?

``Of course it would have been nice to win in China, but you know that last game began at nine in the morning. And like most chess players, I hate getting up and playing so early in the day,'' she says.

Twenty-one-year-old Zhukova is one of the fastest rising stars in the women's game. She is ranked 16th in the World with 2467 Elo points. Her best rating was 2471, in January this year.

She learnt the game from a children's chess club in her town, Herson, when she was seven. She twice won the European under-16 girls' championship, and in 1995 she was the runner-up in the World under-16 championship in Poland. She became a Woman Grandmaster at 17.

This is her first to India, but she has already heard about the rich cultural tradition of the country, which also gave birth to the game. ``Back in Ukraine they used to show Hindi movies and I loved them. I would go to the cinema hall everyday,'' says the charming girl with a dazzling smile. Chess is doing reasonably well in Ukraine, she informs. ``There are still a few private schools where chess is taught. Though things have changed for the worse after the disintegration of the USSR, the game still enjoys some support.'' How would she react to Vladimir Kramnik's victory in the Braingames match in London?

Alexander Ivanov, the Russian-born US Grandmaster who graciously volunteered to be the interpreter (Zhukova speaks English reasonably well though), says, ``she was rooting for Kramnik. And she is his fan.''

``No,'' she makes a correction, ``I am not his fan, but I like him. It was a good thing to chess that he became the champion. Some change was badly needed at the top in the men's game.''

Zhukova, who plays tennis to stay in shape, is regarded highly by her peers. ``She is one for the future,'' says Corina Peptan of Romania.

Could that future begin here?

At least Natalia Zhukova thinks it is quite possible.

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