New gains for women's chess

IT TOOK 38 years to find the first woman qualifier for the men's National `A' chess championship. Pleasantly, it took only a couple of hours to double that number.

Swati Ghate was the first to climb the summit, followed soon by S. Vijayalakshmi. In breaching this male bastion, the two ladies not only left an indelible mark on this year's National `B' chess championship but also gained the respect of the chess followers of the country.

What more, Swati went on to remain unbeaten in the 13-rounds and finished runner-up. Vijayalakshmi, on her part, put behind a nightmarish start of two points from the first five rounds to score 7.5 points from the remaining eight rounds. She was ninth among the 12 qualifiers in what is considered the toughest domestic championship in chess.

In chess, like almost all other sport - perhaps with the exception of gymnastics - men are considered qualitatively more skillful than women. Being a cerebral sport, chess does not involve blatant exhibition of speed, strength or stamina. Therefore, men do not enjoy any natural advantage over women. Being a mixed event, where men and women compete with one another, chess provides a fair platform for comparison. Still, universally, women players (except Judit Polgar who refuses to play in field meant only for ladies), have not done enough to be treated with more regard.

However, in the limited context of Indian chess, Swati and Vijayalakshmi have succeeded in taking the first steps towards bringing in more respectability to their tribe. Irrespective of how the two ladies perform in the next National `A' championship, they have made a point beyond doubt. That is, the rising power of women chess deserves respect, and should not be ridiculed.

To truly understand the significance of the feat achieved by Swati and Vijayalakshmi, it is important to know a little bit more about the National `B' championship. This competition attracts a field of over 250 players, majority of them enjoying the FIDE rating. Many International Masters and vastly experienced competitors prepare hard to be among the 12 qualifiers for National `A'. As per the prevailing rule, these 12 players join four Grandmasters and the first four non- Grandmasters from the previous edition of National `A'. So, these 20 players form the field for the National championship, played on a round-robin basis.

Once Swati and Vijayalakshmi earned their well-deserved places in the National `A', adulations followed. Ungrudgingly, International Masters R. B. Ramesh, Varghese Koshy, N. Sudhakar Babu, among several others, hailed the efforts of these two ladies.

``More than any other reason, this year's National `B' will be remembered for what Swati and Vijayalakshmi managed to achieve,'' said Ramesh.

Koshy, who began his quest in the National `B' in 1978, was lavish in his praise of the two ladies. ``Against all expectations, they showed that they have what it takes to qualify. Believe me, it is very, very difficult,'' was how the 42-year-old from ONGC chose to put it.

Babu, a two-time National `B' champion, said in his amiable way, ``it is incredible. I wish it helps women's chess in the country. I hope people realise the significance of their achievement.''

Before going further, let's take a look at the path adopted by the two ladies who qualified.

Swati, a Woman International Master who finished third behind Vijayalakshmi and her sister S. Meenakshi in the recent National `A' championship in New Delhi, enjoys a reputation of being a solid player but is equally suspect of losing her way without provocation. Effective but not far from being erroneous.

Therefore, when Swati began her campaign as the 40th seed, she was not considered a serious aspirant. She won three matches against lower- rated players and quietly joined the leaders. Thereafter, this 21-year old from Pune met all higher rated players, including five International Masters. She prevailed over T. S. Ravi before escaping to a victory over IM Lanka Ravi. But her biggest triumph was against another IM and double GM- norm holder Sandipan Chanda in the crucial ninth round. Thereafter, draws with four eventual qualifiers ensured a safe passage for Swati.

Unlike the weak-looking Swati, Vijayalakshmi carried the baggage of expectations on her increasingly strong-looking shoulders. A rating of 2424 had made her the fifth strongest player in the field. Seeded to qualify, Vijayalakshmi soon hit the headlines for not quite the right reasons. No, not for airing her feelings against the chauvinistic male chess players, as she did in New Delhi, but for crashing to three unexpected defeats - including one to the unrated 11-year-old girl Harika Dronavalli - in the first five rounds.

At this stage, Vijayalakshmi was down but certainly not out. Known for her fierce fighting qualities, this high-flying Assistant Manager (Finance) of Indian Airlines slowly began to soar. Like Swati, Vijayalakshmi too rode her luck. But unlike Swati, she emerged fortunate against far lesser-rated rivals. It did not really matter as Vijayalakshmi kept growing in confidence. Five straight victories in contrasting styles was followed by a fortuitous draw against Vedant Goswami in the 10th round. Her next victim was M. R. Venkatesh, who had lost the previous two rounds, too. In the final round, a much-harrassed N. Sanjay, who had lost sleep over the questionable pairing with Vijayalakshmi, was predictably not in the right frame of mind to stop the country's first Woman Grandmaster from qualifying.

To draw a comparison, Swati had to negotiate with six other qualifiers on the way while Vijayalakshmi neither faced a single player who finished in the top-12 nor any International Master. In fact, the strongest seed Vijayalakshmi met was the 17th ranked N. Sanjay in the final round.

By attaining qualification, Swati and Vijayalakshmi have done their bit to bring women chess into focus. Although the chess- playing women in the country have a long way to go, there is no doubt that Swati and Vijayalakshmi have proved that they deserve to be taken far more seriously now.

Let us not forget that Vijayalakshmi has victories over Grandmasters K. Sasikiran and Abhijit Kunte apart from draws against some of the other well-known players. Mentally the toughest among the ladies, Vijayalakshmi today finds herself at the 17th spot on the country's rating list. What perhaps has slowed down her climb is the streak of inconsistency that shows up from time to time. Should Vijayalakshmi find a way to check this variance in her performances, she will be far more formidable.

On the other hand, Swati needs to take a leaf out of Vijayalakshmi's book and work on her varying levels of confidence. Her preparations are improving but she needs to work a lot more. For this, sooner than later, Swati will have to invest in a lap-top (computer) and chessbase. This Higher Grade Assistant, with LIC, surely needs the assistance of the sponsors to go to the higher grade.

Looking at the growth of women's chess in the country, the recent exploits of Swati and Vijayalakshmi has surely provided a shot in the arm to a process that began almost 25 years ago.

In the 1970s, the emergence of Rohini Khadilkar had done a world of good for women's chess in the country. Soon, Rohini was joined by sisters Jayashree and Vasanti and for a decade, the Khadilkar sisters remained synonymous with the nation's ladies chess. But sadly, they left the stage thoroughly disillusioned and made way for the likes of Anupama Abhyankar (now Gokhale) and Bhagyashree Sathe.

These two ladies went on to claim the Asian women's titles but by this time, a young man by the name of Viswanathan Anand had begun monopolising the attention of the followers of chess in the country.

The 1990s saw the blossoming of Vijayalakshmi as the one to beat in women's chess. She deservedly became a WGM and also gained the distinction of being the first Indian woman to win the top-board silver medal in the Chess Olympiad last year.

In June this year, Vijayalakshmi showed why she is the highest rated Indian woman by winning the National title for the fifth time. The fifth triumph helped Vijayalakshmi match the feats of Anupama and Bhagyashree but in addition, made her the first to win the title for four consecutive years.

Even as Vijayalakshmi was busy reinforcing her claim at the top, R. Aarthie brought to the country the World girls (under-18 title) while Koneru Humpy graduated from her progressive triumphs in the three World age-group titles in the under-10, 12 and 14 categories to complete the norm-requirements aimed at becoming the country's second Woman Grand Master. In her budding career, Humpy not only became the youngest Woman International Master in South-East Asia but also remains the only girl in India to gain a Grandmaster's norm.

Put together, the lady chess players are increasingly giving a fair number of reasons to cheer about. Still, what prevents them from doing better is the lack of adequate opportunities in tougher fields.

Vijayalakshmi has been vocal about the lack of norm-making opportunities for the Indian girls at home. Swati, too, wants more rating tournaments in the country so that the hard-working girls get chances to enhance their ratings. In addition, playing against stronger players obviously will help these girls.

It remains to be seen whether their voices are heard.

RAKESH RAO

New Delhi

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