Saheli begins with a creditable draw

LONDON, AUG. 20. Saheli Dhar Barua became the star of the Indian contingent in the opening round of the Commonwealth chess championships as she held fancied Scottish Grandmaster, Colin McNab (rated 2437), to a draw in the first round.

Around a dozen Indians are taking part in this event, where non- Commonwealth players are also allowed to take part, but the standings to decide the Commonwealth championships are done separately.

Pravin Thipsay, one of the three Indian Grandmasters taking part, was the lone Indian to score a full point. Thipsay beat veteran englishman Michael Franklin to get off to a good start. For Saheli, a women's International Master, the opening round result was an excellent one, considering her own rating of 2248 as against her rival.

Ponnuswamy Konguvel and Lanka Ravi clashed with each other and quickly drew to split the point. Neeraj Mishra also drew his opening round with Anthony Fox of England.

Bhagyashree Thipsay, one of the two Indian husband- wife duo taking part, lost to English IM Colin Crouch, while another Indian woman player, Y. Pratibha, lost to Patrick Coffey of Scotland. Dibyendu Barua, the current Indian National champion, and Saheli Dhar are the other husband-wife taking part.

Grandmasters Abhijit Kunte, Barua and holder of three GM norms, 15-year-old P. Harikrishna, will begin their campaigns from the second round. The organisers, Ron Banwell Mind Sports Organisation, have allowed some players who had intimated them in advance to begin their games a day later.

According to the list of confirmed players available as of now, Kunte will be the highest rated player at 2547, while Harikrishna at 2522 will be the other player above 2500 mark. The tournament runs till 27.

The games will be played at the rate of 40 moves in the first 100 minutes and then the rest of the game in 40 minutes with 30 seconds per move being added from the first move. A total of œ 2,050 sterling is available as prize-money and the winner gets œ 750 and the top player from the Commonwealth will get œ 200 besides the title of being the Commonwealth champion. Some of the GMs are also being given an appearance fee of œ 300.

A big Indian contingent has arrived here in two batches for the championships, many of them straight from the Asian continental championships. Dibyendu Barua and Harikrishna are two of the three Indian participants who have qualified for the FIDE World Championships.

While few of the indians made it in time for the first round, the organisers allowed some others a leeway of a day and they will begin their campaign from the second round. Their first round games will be played later.

- UNI

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