quot;Indian Openquot; with a difference

November 23: Bobby Fischer blasted the World championship system in the 1960s by alleging that it ensured there will be a Russian World ches...

November 23: Bobby Fischer blasted the World championship system in the 1960s by alleging that it ensured there will be a Russian World chess champion always. He shied away from participating in the Inter-zonals as he thought the Russians always indulged in open collusion, agreeing for draw among themselves in quick time while targeting Bobby in all the remaining games.

On the surface, the field in the 37th NTPC-Triveni World Junior Chess Championship may invoke memories of the Russian presence in World championship with Indian entries pitted against each other on many boards in every round. But beneath it, the two situations and scenes present a study in contrast.

Unlike the Russians in the past, these Indian entries are not strong enough to pull down the outsiders and even among themselves, they fight for blood till the last minute. Hence, a keen observer termed this World junior an Indian Open8217;.

Yet, the Indian Open8217; is turning out to be a mine field for the country8217;s most celebrated young talentin the boys section 8212; Krishnan Sasikiran. Starting as the seventh seed and potentially capable of beating all the seeds above him, Sasikiran has, however, found the going tough, especially when pitted against lesser lights.

Asian junior champion Tejas Bakre, an underrated Indian entry, is not doing any better. Though he had won the Asian junior in Rasht ahead of Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam, the top seed here, Bakre is yet to come to grips with the competition in the World junior.

In this context, only special entries RR Laxman and Sunderarajan Kidambi have vindicated the decision of the World chess federation FIDE to open the World junior to all the young talent, who could not make it through official competition.

Missed chances for girls

The first half of the tournament belonged to fifth seed Vietnamese Hoang Thanh Trang, who drew with top seed Monika Bobrowska and seventh seed Vijayalakshmi, and defeated second seed Iweta Radziewicz to take the lead. With seven rounds still remaining, thebattle in the coming rounds will be of utmost importance.

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Top seed Monika Bobrowska of Poland has not shown her full strength yet, but whether she is able to raise her level of play in the second half remains to be seen. However, despite not at her best, she is in the second spot along with Irina Krush of the US.

Krush was a runaway winner in the US women8217;s National championship scoring 8.5 out of nine. She took part in the 8217;98 Olympiad in Elista. She had one bad day, losing in the second round, going for a alluring exchange sacrifice against Le Thi Phoung Lien. Barring that, she has been on the mark. Her encounter on the morrow with Hoang Thanh Trang should be interesting.

It has been case of missed opportunities for Indian girls, except for Koneru Humpy, who has performed above expectations. With four points, she is tied with Vijayalakshmi. Viji started off like a well-oiled engine, rolling past the weaklings. But, she is struggling in compared to quality opponents like Bobrowska, Hoang and LakosNikoletta. However, there is still time for her to pull up her socks.

For Pallavi Shah, it has been so near yet so far. She missed a draw in the first round and a win in the sixth round. Swati Mohota, who travels around India, competing in lot of tournaments, has got her act together after early tournament blues. 8220;I would like to take my mind off chess for a day8221;, said Swati.

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Another youngster, Swati Ghate, was expected to perform, but inconsistency and imprecise play in the endings have fetched her only three points.

The crowd response to the tournament has been positive. Despite only a few board positions being clearly visible, spectators were willing to sit patiently for hours which even sometimes players will find it difficult.