AGENCIES, VIETNAM: Woman Grandmaster Bhakti Kulkarni of Goa gave a scintillating performance in Hanoi, Vietnam when she won second place among women in the star studded HD Bank International Chess Tournament, held in Vietnam, recently.
Bhakti was tied for second place with World Rapid runners-up Li Tingjie of China. Former World Junior Champion Dinara Saduakassova (Kazakhstan) won the top Women prize.
Bhakti earned a cash prize of $2000 with this notable success. She also earned 42 Elo rating points with this dazzling performance.
Bhakti, the Goodwill ambassador for Goa Carbon Limited, was 14th seed among women in the seeding list as the leading players from all over the world had gathered for this tournament. However, Bhakti’s dream run towards the end of the tournament brought her at par with the Chinese Superstar Li Tingjie. Her attacking game against veteran GM Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam was the highlight of her play.
Goa’s State Champion Nitish Belurkar performed creditably in the tournament where his win over seasoned Indian Olympiad Team member IM Eesha Karvade earned him all round praise.
Bhakti will now move on to Dubai for the famous Dubai Cup International where last year she won the best woman player award.
