Date:06/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/06/stories/2008120661842000.htm

Sport - Chess

Asian junior championships inaugurated

Chennai: The Sri Sai Ram Engineering Asian junior chess championships was inaugurated by M.J.G. Leo Muthu, Chairman, Sri Sai Ram EC, who made the symbolic opening move against defending champion, IM P. Karthikeyan at the Hotel Vijay Park, here on Friday.

The winner will become an IM and get a GM norm and there is no change in the status, said chief arbiter Prof. Anantharam. The opening ceremony was brief and the managers’ meeting was held thereafter which decided the Appeals Committee members.

The boys’ top seed is Gundavaa Bayarsaihan of Mongolia who has a rating of 2,458 and the top seed among girls is Woman IM Kruttika Nadig of Pune who has a rating of 2,387.

The games will begin at 2.30 p.m. on Saturday instead of the planned 9 a.m. start. Players from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives are expected before play starts on Saturday. — Arvind Aaron