Akshayraj Kore earns grandmaster norm

Akshayraj,speaking from Chennai,said,“I was leading till the fifth round with a total points tally of 4.5. I had defeated one of the grandmasters in a straight set and drew two games too.

However,after the sixth round,my game started slipping. I managed to come back in the ninth round but eventually lost in the crucial last two rounds.”

Kore is among the new bunch of up-and-coming grandmasters. In the last round,he was facing tournament second seed,GM Kravtsiv Martyn of Ukraine. Martyn started off with the Queen Pawn opening,to which Kore replied with the Nimzo Indian Defence.

Akshayraj,in his usual attacking style,launched an assault on the black pieces and even had the advantage but owing to time pressure missed the full point. The game ended in a draw.

“In my case,I began the tournament playing my natural aggressive style,but then I realised that strategies had to be modified according to the players. Even in the last round,I would have won but I took too long to strategise and build up the game. I began to run out of time and couldn’t finish off the game,” he said. “Time pressure affects the best of players,” added Kore,a software engineer who passed out from the MMCOE last year and is training on his own.

In the tournament,he faced five grandmasters and scored 3.5 points,with two wins and three draws. “I used to earlier open with attacking moves that would help me win the matches against opponents. However when I started playing players from Europe and Asia,I realised this was a strategy that would not get me beyond the initial rounds. I have been working on strategy-based games. My playing style has improved considerably. I will play in the Delhi Open from January 15.”

Kore is hopeful of playing at the Moscow Open and the Aeroflot Open next month. “I need to get my visa if I have to go to play at these tournaments. As of now,there are some issues but I am hopeful of resolving them,” he said.