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End of title drought for Ravi

By Our Sports Reporter

T.S. Ravi of Tamil Nadu, winner of the Airtravel FIDE-rating chess championship in Kozhikode on Tuesday, poses with the trophy.

KOZHIKODE AUG. 20. He was in two minds about this tournament. His grandmother was critically ill, and he did not want to leave home at such a time. Persuaded by the All India Chess Federation (AICF) secretary P.T. Ummer Koya, T.S. Ravi finally decided to catch the train to Kozhikode.

On Tuesday, the eve of Thiruvonam, the biggest festival of Kerala, he said at Taj Residency here he was glad that he decided to play the Air Travel Trophy FIDE-rating all-India chess tournament. He had just won his first all-India tournament in seven years. "Yes it's a long time since I won the Palani tournament, way back in 1995,'' said the 31-year-old International Mater (IM) elect. "Í'm really happy I won here, and it feels nice to find that I haven't made any mistake.''

The Indian Oil player from Chennai drew both his games today to finish with 8.5 points at the end of 11 rounds. He finished unbeaten and played by far the most consistent chess in the tournament. Rahul Shetty, the Mumbai-based IM from Indian Airlines, took the runner-up spot with eight points, while his teammate from Delhi, G.B. Joshi, finished third with 7.5 points.

Ravi, who has played in two Olympiads for India, in 1994 and 1996, needed only a draw in his final round game against local lad K. Ratnakaran, who had a disappointing tournament after his triumph at an all-India open event at Karaikudi. They drew the game after just seven moves (it was French Defence, for the record).

Ravi also drew in the morning the crucial game against Shetty. In a Spanish Game, Shetty had an edge as he was playing white, but he missed a queen move, soon after the opening, which would've given him the advantage. Black then forced the exchange of queens, and an equal position was reached with rook and three pieces for both the men. Even the weaknesses were well matched, and they signed the peace treaty after 28 moves.

Shetty pressed hard for a win in the afternoon too, against Sayantan Dutta of Bengal in another Spanish Game, but this time with black pieces. He was in fact a piece up, but the Kolkata youngsters earned half-a-point by perpetually attacking Black's rook with his knight.

Joshi, who is a very successful coach for young children in Delhi, expectedly beat the hapless Purabi Sinha of Assam in the final round to take the creditable third spot. In yet another game played from Ruy Lopez (undoubtedly the opening of the tournament), Joshi, who had a protected passer in the centre, triumphed in 41 moves. "It's nice to come third in a fairly strong tournament like this. Maybe I will play in more tournaments fron now on, though I'm working with `bachche log' so much that I even look at my games from their point of view,'' he laughed.

Mr. E.T. Lukose, Commissioner of Income Tax, Kozhikode, gave away the prizes at the closing ceremony, which was presided over by Mr. K. Aboobacker, Resident Editor, Malayala Manorama. The function was also attended by Mr. Koya, who is also the founder secretary of the Tal Chess Academy, which hosted the event, and Mr. H.A. Musthafa, secretary, Kozhikode District Chess Association.

The placings: 1. T.S. Ravi (IO) 8.5, 2. Rahul Shetty (IA) 8, 3. G.B. Joshi (IA) 7.5, 4-6. M.B. Muraleedharan (Ker), G.N. Gopal (Ker) and K. Ratnakaran (Ker) 6.5, 7. Argyadip Das (Ben) 6, 8. Sayantan Dutta (Ben) 5.5, 9. K. Lakshminarayanan 4.5, 10. Parimarjan Negi (Del) 3, 11. Saimeera Ravi (IB) and 12. Purabi Sinha (Asm) 1.

The results (final round): Sayantan Dutta (Ben) 5.5 drew with Rahul Shetty (IA) 8; Argyadip Das (Ben) 6 drew with G.N. Gopal (Ker) 6.5; G.B. Joshi (IA) 6.5 bt Purabi Sinha (Asm) 1; K. Lakshminarayanan (Ker) 4.5 drew with M.B. Muraleedharan 6.5; Parimarjan Negi (Del) 3 w/o Saimeera Ravi (IB) 2.5; T.S. Ravi (IB) 8.5 drew with K. Ratnakaran (Tal) 8.

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