Aims to qualify for Chess Olympiad
TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Goa Carbon Ltd Goodwill Ambassador and International Woman Grandmaster Bhakti Kulkarni clinched first place in Highland International Masters chess tournament held at Trebic, Czech Republic. Bhakti was awarded Men’s International Master norm for this achievement.
Bhakti (rating 2285) was seeded sixth in the starting line-up of 10 handpicked invited players. They all played each other in nine well fought rounds.
Bhakti said,” The advantage came to me when I defeated top seeded German International Master Sebastian Plischki (rating 2436) in just 16 moves in the second round.”
Thereafter, it was a race for the title between Bhakti and the top seed Plischki, which the Goan lass won on a tie-break in the end.
Bhakti’s back-to-back wins over FM Kratochvil and IM Piankov towards the end brought her nearer to the first prize and she clinched it in an exciting finish.
Bhakti now moves on to Slovakia to play in Tatry International Open and then to Budapest for First Saturday International.
“My aim is to qualify for the Indian team for the forthcoming chess Olympiad in Norway later in 2014.”
Bhakti’s trainer Dronacharya Awardee Raghunandan Gokhale expressed happiness over her result.
“Dr. Jan Mazuch, director of Czech Tours commented that in the history of 20 years of Czech tour, he does not remember a lady winning first prize among more qualified men players.
