Adding lustre to an impressive bio-data

THERE WERE times when she strove hard for success, in vain. But more often, success has chased S. Vijayalakshmi.

Three weeks after making history by qualifying for the National men's `A' chess championship, India's finest female player ever was in Kozhikode to attend the coaching camp of the Indian team for the Asian championships when she heard the news that she was chosen for the Arjuna Award.

``Of course I am happy to receive the highest honour in Indian sport, but honestly I was expecting it for the last couple of years,'' the 22-year-old told TheHindu at Hotel Asma Tower, the venue of the camp. But unlike the Woman Grandmaster (WGM) title, she did not pine for this honour from the State. When you happen to be the best ever in your sport, and when you are a pioneer in your own right, you do deserve some acknowledgment.

Viji - she is rarely called Vijayalakshmi - looks rather pleased with herself these days. She played good chess at New Delhi in June to win her fourth successive National women's `A' title (no one has done it before), and followed it up with that precious ninth place at the National men's `B' championship at Nagpur. ``To be frank, I was not very keen to play there. But my father was; he was very confident that I would qualify for the National men's `A' this time,'' she says.

Fathers are indeed always right.

She could not quite become the first woman in history to achieve the feat, as she would have liked to, but she met the qualifying mark, nevertheless, just a few hours after Swati Ghate entered her name in the record books.

``Yes, it felt great to make it,'' she says. Over the last few years, she had been threatening to meet the qualifying mark in the National `B', only to miss the bus in the end.

At Nagpur, she had a fight on her hands, after getting off to an uncharacteristically poor start. She had just two points from five games. ``But I was not upset by the setbacks,'' she recalled, ``and I did not think about the qualification at that time. I just thought about my immediate game.''

In the final round tie against N. Sanjay, she needed nothing short of a win to make the grade. She, however, did not have to exert herself overly, and secured the ninth place. And a place in history too.

Compared to that, the National women's `A' championship in Delhi was child's play for her, as she picked up her fifth title in six years in India's premier tournament for women, equalling the record shared by the Maharashtra ladies - Rohini Khadilkar, Bhagyashree Thipsay and Anupama Gokhale.

But not a soul was surprised by her triumph. Not even when she emerged as the champion with two rounds to spare, in what is the toughest tournament for women in the country. ``I could have won it with three rounds to spare, if I could at least get a draw in the game against Aarthie (Ramaswamy),'' she rued.

Ever since she won her maiden National `A' in her home town of Chennai, in 1995, Viji has made consistent progress in her game and established herself as not just the best Indian female player of her time, but of all time. In July last year, she became the country's first Woman Grandmaster. And until 14-year-old Koneru Humpy joined the club last month, she was the only Indian with that title.

In the Vijayawada teenager, she might find a serious contender for supremacy at home. Knowing her, one can safely assume she will be ready and happy to take up the challenge.

``Humpy's performance of late has been truly remarkable, making a GM norm and winning a men's GM tournament. But she has also been a mystery, because you hardly see her play in India,'' she says.

Viji the fighter relishes challenges. She never gives up. When she is in an inferior position, she will attempt to restore parity, and if the game looks like heading for a draw, she will press for a win till the last moment.

She once said that was the way she had been playing chess all along, after she learnt the moves from her father when she was five. The little girl would go to Chennai's famous Tal Chess Club, which was also a nursery for World champion Viswanathan Anand, every evening and play with grown up men.

She won her first National title when she was nine, the under-10 championship in her home town. She went on to win titles in every possible category, and in 1995 she won all the National championships she played in.

In 1997 and 1999 she was the Asian zonal champion. In 1996 she won the women's title at the Commonwealth championship, which she reckons as one of her better performances (she had scored her maiden WGM norm in the tournament).

There was indeed quite a long wait for her before she could get her final norm at the Wipro GM tournament in Hyderabad last year. But she accomplished that in style, with a brilliant show in the strong tournament, as she finished fourth, ahead of three GMs and four International Masters. And she had inflicted defeat on three GMs: compatriots Abhijit Kunte and Krishnan Sasikiran and Argentine Maxim Sorokin (one of the coaches in charge at Kozhikode). ``That still remains the most gratifying effort of my career till date,'' she says with a smile, cherishing the unforgettable Hyderabad event.

But still there was something missing in Viji's impressive bio- data - a medal at an important international competition. Late last year, however, with a stunning show, she won the silver at the chess Olympiad in Turkey.

Playing on the top board, against the world's strongest women players, she played high quality chess with remarkable courage and endurance. She did not miss a single game (if she did, the gold was hers), for she knew her country's fortunes depended heavily on her.

It was the first ever medal at the Olympiad for an Indian female, and she also became the first Indian woman to get the men's IM title (``Winning a medal for the country made me so happy and proud''). She had made quite an impression in international chess. Though she fared poorly at the World championship in Delhi, barely three weeks after the Olympiad, it was obvious that she had made people sit up and take notice. Many of the world's leading women players, who saw her in action in Turkey, spoke very highly of her talent in Delhi.

P. K. AJITH KUMAR

Kozhikode

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