Hari does a Vishy, is now top of the junior chess world

The junior girls title went to Ekaterina Korbut of Russia who beat Alina Motoc of Romania in the last round and collected 10.5 points. Elisabeth Paehtz of Germany baggled the silver with 9.5 points though she lost her last round game to India’s Kruttika Nadig. India had reason to celebrate in the girls section too as Eesha Karavade finished third with a resounding victory over Zhang Jilin of China in the last round. Eesha tied with Paehtz on points but on tiebreak the German pushed the India to the third spot.

Overall, India enjoyed a good world junior with three top 10 places in the boys section and four in the girls category. Deep Sengupta and Koneru Humpy finished ninth and 10th respectively while apart from Eesha’s third place, Kruttika Nadig, N Vinuthna and Sivasankari barged into the top 10 in the girls section.

Hari had a slightly better position in the Kings Indian attack against Ferenc Berkes. After winning a pawn, the Indian GM, however, allowed the game to drift to a rook and opposite colour bishop ending which was drawn after 50 moves.

Black struck on the top three boards in the girls section as Kruttika, Korbut and Eesha Karavade accounted for Paehtz, Motoc and Zhang Jilin respectively. Kruttika won material (Queen for rook) to take the point in 70 moves while Eesha had the bishop pair advantage in the Ruy Lopez which she converted into a fine win after 64 moves.

‘‘We got into a drawish ending and she (Zhang) kept pushing and lost a pawn and I won,’’ a delighted Karavade explained her game. Koneru Humpy, who won the gold in 2001, is the only Indian to have bagged a medal in the World junior girls before Eesha.

A landmark well-timed

Pentyala Harikrishna was a child prodigy when he first played the National under-8 championship 11 years ago at Palakkad. Though he is a Super Grandmaster now, he still retains the childish innocence. And his world junior title at Kochi on Tuesday is expected to lure thousands of children to the game, like Vishy Anand’s title did in 1987.

For India, Hari’s success is a landmark, only the second in its history. The world junior title was good enough to get Anand many invitations from elite tournaments. Hari is now destined to find new events and new horizons on the world stage after this success. For Andhra Pradesh, this was a sweet double as Dronavalli Harika had won the under-14 girls world title earlier this month.

Hari was born (at Pratipatu, a village near Guntur), a year before Anand was to announce his arrival on the world stage by winning the world junior. And just a month before the Kochi world junior, Hari had the chance to work with Anand at the Calvia Olympiad though not in the strictest sense of the term. ‘‘It was a remarkable experience. He used to analyse the games and he gives you a lot of confidence,’’ recalls Hari.

Interestingly, Hari came for the meet here without setting himself any goals. ‘‘I did not prepare at all. In fact, I played all sidelines here,’’ he said after his game on Tuesday. Hari was disappointed in his previous visists to the world junior in Azerbaijan and Goa because he had put too much pressure on himself by trying too hard. The only preparation he had for this event was moments from the Kochi world junior, will have a rating of 2635 in the next list. Soon, he will be chasing Krishnan Sasikiran, India’s number two.

Fortunately for the Indian Grandmaster the world junior title came at crucial time in his career. His contract with Wipro ends this December and this new addition to his collection may well get him a strong sponsor for his fresh challenges and stronger events. — HNH