Friday, May 03, 2002
Friday, May 03, 2002 |
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Chess
By Rakesh Rao
First, it was Viswanathan Anand who stuck to his 10-year-old stand and declined to be part of the Indian team in the biennial event. This week, Koneru Humpy went ahead and cocked a snook at the All India Chess Federation by announcing her decision to stay away from the forthcoming women's National `A' championship itself. But is the stance taken by these players equally justified? Perhaps, not. In March, a day after the AICF named Anand to lead the Indian squad for the Olympiad in Bled (Slovania), the former World champion, in a statement issued through his agents, maintained that the reason for his continued non-participation in the biennial event was the format which was not "agreeable.'' Humpy did not do her reputation any good by making a mockery of AICF's invitation to play the women's National `A'. And that, too, just a week away from the commencement of the prestigious championship. The World junior girls champion is also the first player ever to be extended such a privilege by the AICF. The top-four players from this championship, slated to begin at Lucknow on May 5, will form the Indian women's team in the Olympiad. Both Anand and Humpy have different reasons behind their decision. It may be recalled that Anand, without doubt the country's finest sports ambassador, last represented India in the 1992 Olympiad in Manila. If there was optimism on the subject of Anand spearheading India's challenge this time, it was due to the fact that the present combination, including the former World champion, looks formidable like never before. In sharp contrast to the 1992 squad, the current one includes young and fast-improving Grandmasters K. Sasikiran and P. Hari Krishna besides Abhijit Kunte and the seasoned Dibyendu Barua. Even Surya Sekhar Ganguly, who has given ample evidence of joining the list of GMs in the country, is capable of bringing in delightful results.
`Anand should reconsider his decision'
However, these factors were not enough to make Anand change his mind. In the past, Anand had a justified reason to stay away from the Olympiad. Considering India's not-so-strong presence in the field, Anand ended up facing far lesser-rated players on the top board and there was always a danger of losing precious rating points. But since 1992, a lot has changed. India, without Anand, had exceeded all expectations and finished a creditable eighth in the last Olympiad in Istanbul in 2000. As a result, this time, India is sure to be a marked team. Anand's mere presence in the squad would have not only raised the morale of the other team members but also dampened the spirits of the opposition. What more, for the first time, Indian chess lovers could have toyed with the realistic chance of the team returning with a medal! Dibyendu Barua, set to make a record of sorts when he plays his eighth successive Olympiad in October, is of the opinion that it's time Anand reconsidered his decision. ''In the past, when Anand chose to stay away, he was fully justified. Irrespective of the playing strength of his rival, there was too much pressure on him to pull off his match. Also, the danger of losing rating points was, of course, there. But now, Anand is likely to face much tougher opponents. Given his class and the vast improvement in the past 10 years, I see no reason why Anand should have any apprehensions now,'' said Barua. Looking at Anand's predicament, a suggestion from International Master N. Sudhakar Babu looks fairly practical. ''Anand should lead the team but choose his matches. He need not play against lowly-rated rivals. In fact, this will always keep the other teams guessing. This can well be a win-win situation for Anand as well as our country.'' says Babu, who was part of the 1992 team under Anand. Not surprisingly, the efforts of the AICF secretary, P. T. Ummer Koya to persuade Anand have proved futile. But considering the amount of time available before the Olympiad, further pleas from interested quarters cannot be ruled out.
Humpy's rides bumpy at home
Coming back to Humpy's case, it is not going to be easy for her father and coach, K. Ashok to explain the truth behind the late decision to pull out of the Nationals itself. It is this ''withdrawal symptom'' that has reinforced the claims of her detractors that she is ''highly overrated'' and fears being exposed while playing in India. Here, it is important to know that Humpy may have caught the imagination of the country's sports lovers and the media, but in the domestic chess circles, she is yet to command respect. Humpy has been a source of joy for the entire nation for many an occasion. But so far, in India, she is yet to perform anywhere close to her rating. Consider this. In December last, a week before Humpy's career-best rating of 2539 was announced, she crashed to four defeats, including to lesser-known players like Chennai-based V. Visweswaran and Pune-teenager Prathmesh Mokal in the AICF Golden Jubilee tournament at Kozhikode. More recently, in the Goodricke tournament in Kolkata, where she was seeded 13th, Humpy finished a distant 28th after suffering three losses. But what is going to haunt Humpy for long is the nightmare she went through in the First Saturday GM tournament in Budapest before travelling to Kolkata in March. Though Humpy had gained much from her earlier sojourns to the Hungarian city this one was different. Despite being the top seed in the field of far-less illustrious names, Humpy lost six games and drew two. After such a dismal show in the first eight rounds of the 13-round competition, Humpy's father chose to pull her out of the event. The move of Ashok may have been to salvage some rating points for his daughter but that did very little to redeem her reputation among the players in the country. Remember, Humpy lost a whopping 53 rating points in the space of three months this year and that too, when her performance in Kolkata was not even considered. ``Though most players in our country are under-rated because they do not get to play many rated tournaments, Humpy is an exception. Her rating is at least 100 points more than her actual playing strength,'' observed GM Pravin Thipsay at Raipur at the time when Humpy was having a bumpy ride at Budapest. Barua, too, agreed with Thipsay's assessement. ''So far, her father has managed to keep her away from the tough open fields in the country. But it is just a matter of time before everyone will discover her true playing strength. I hope her father has prepared her mentally to handle failures. Otherwise, it will be very unfortunate to see such a talented girl lose her confidence,'' said a well-meaning Barua. No doubt, there are several players who draw vicarious pleasure from Humpy's recent streak of below-par performances. But this 15-year-old girl is too solid a player to let inconsistent form worry her for too long. There are very few girls in India who can match her single-minded pursuit for excellence. After all, who can question Humpy's prowess that saw her bring home the Junior World title? At the same time, there are too many players of repute who privately question her father's choice of tournaments where Humpy gained the coveted men's GM norms in Belgrade and Budapest last year. The First and Third Saturday tournaments have the reputation of being ''norm-making'' competitions. Pay up a sizeable entry-fee and the expenses of board and lodging but still, if you win the tournament, there is no prize-money. Therefore, you either gain a norm and rating, or just nothing.
Planning her next move
At present, Humpy and her father are busy planning their next move. The goal is to raise Humpy's Elo rating to 2500 and make the third and final men's GM norm to gain the distinction of being the youngest to do so in the country. As and when Humpy achieves her target, it will truly be a great day for Indian chess. However, for now, Humpy's success-graph is showing a downward curve. That in turn has raised the confidence-level of some of the women players who were eagerly looking forward to a showdown with the Humpy in the Nationals. Considering the vast difference in rating between Humpy and the rest, even a draw with her would have meant gain of rating points for the other players. In fact, Humpy's refusal to play in the National championship was not an unexpected one. In March, when it was suggested that Humpy might not respect AICF's invitation, Mr. Koya had asserted that the AICF would ensure her participation. ''After all, only the presence of two WGMs (the other one being S. Vijayalakshmi) is going to make it a WGM-norm event,'' the AICF secretary had said then. Now that Humpy has acted as expected by most in the chess fraternity and her action is affecting the WGM norm-making chances of most other participants, it remains to be seen how the AICF reacts on being defied. Should Humpy play the Nationals, given her calibre in the women's field, she should make the team easily. That in turn will raise hopes of an improved showing by the women's team in the Olympiad. But the question is, whether Humpy plays for pride or stays away to salvage points ? If one looks at the bigger picture, the presence of Anand and Humpy in the Indian Olympiad squad, is surely going to be worth a lot more. After all, nothing should prevent these champions to play for the country.
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