Date:24/02/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/02/24/stories/2007022406962200.htm

Sport - Chess

Strong field for Kolkata Open

KOLKATA: As many as 21 Grandmasters, three of them in the Super GM category, 23 International Masters and four women GMs, will be in the fray in the second Kolkata Open international chess tournament which begins at the Alekhine Chess Club on Sunday.

The $20,000 prize money meet, regarded as the strongest Open in the continent, has attracted players from 16 countries. The meet will be played on a 10-round Swiss league and will run till March 6.

The Indian challenge will be led by GMs Surya Sekhar Ganguly (Elo 2571), Abhijit P. Kunte (2532), Deepan Chakkravarthy (2504), R.B. Ramesh (2483), Dibyendu Barua (2464) and Tejas Bakre (2441).

GM Sergey Tiviakov of the Netherlands, with a rating of 2681, will be the top seed. He is followed by GM Darmen Sadvakasov of Kazakhstan (2615) and GM Pantsulaia Levan of Georgia (2612). Tiviakov, who won the then popular Goodricke International meet in 1993 and '94, will be looking for a hat-trick in his third appearance.

Amidst the euphoria of organising one of the top tournaments in the country, The Alekhine Chess Club was at a loss to explain the absence of some of the top Indian stars like K. Sasikiran, Koneru Humpy, Sandipan Chanda, Neelotpal Das, P. Konguvel and V. Koshy. — Special Correspondent