India has done well so far

By Manuel Aaron

OROPESA (SPAIN) OCT. 16 India has done very well in the first four rounds of the World Youth chess festival to find the world champions in the age categories of under-10, 12, 14, 16 and 18.

There is one clear leader in Koneru Humpy in the girls under-14 and there are three Indians in the joint lead in other categories. Dronavalli Harika in the under-10 girls, Deep Sengupta in the under-12 boys and Shraddha Samani in the girls under-14 are in the top bracket in their sections.

Moreover, a number of other Indians are lying in second or third places with good chances of winning medals if they do well in the remaining seven rounds. Abhijeet Gupta is in second place, just half a point behind Deep Sengupta and Sergei Zhigalko of Belarus in the under12 boys. V.K.Sindhu (u-10 girls), Eesha Karawade (u- 14G), Dasari Saisrinivas (u-10B) and Pentyala Harikrishna (u-14B) are the Indians who figure in shared third places.

Last year, the lowest score that won the gold medal was 8.5 points. This means that a player who drops 2.5 points in the eleven rounds here has chances of a gold medal. According to this reckoning, currently only two boys in the 20-player Indian contingent are definitely out of the race for any medals.

While Koneru Humpy's performance was expected, the good showing of Dronavalli Harika, Deep Sengupta and Shraddha has brightened Indian prospects of winning more than the one gold and one silver which we won last year.

The negative surprise is Harikrishna. The top seed in the u-14 and with a huge rating of 2500, he has conceded two draws already and is one point behind the three joint leaders. A well-known player in this festival, all his opponents have come with special opening preparations for him. Harikrishna has the brilliance and steadiness to step up his scoring pace in the next seven rounds. Hopefully, he will aim for gold.

Monday was the first free day. Many participants were unhappy that this came on a Sunday when all shops are closed in Spain. There was a rapid chess tournament in Valencia with big prizes. Wisely all the Indians preferred to stay in Oropesa. The organisers also arranged an excursion to a nearby town where the highlight was a boat journey along Europe's longest navigable under-ground river. The Indians took a cue from Humpy. They stayed put in Oropesa. Humpy and her father Ashok never go on tours on free days. They stay in their lodgings, focussed on the championship.

However, the participants had fun in Oropesa itself. The main relaxation came from strolling along the clean, beautiful sands of the Mediterranean sea coast. They even organised their own kabaddi match on the beach. The players also played snooker, video games, danced in the disco and amused themselves with the many attractions that this beautiful holiday resort offers.

By nightfall, everybody was back in their rooms preparing for their fifth round opponents by going through their games in the games bulletins.

The 33-strong Indian contingent is supportive of each other. The current focus of attention is Deep Sengupta's predicament after he lost his food card and was asked to pay for the food at the Championship restaurant. At least four of the accompanying Indians are cooking food for themselves in the apartments where everything like utensils, cutlery and a cooking range are provided. So Deep is invited to these meals. Dronavalli Harika is accompanied by her parents and a coach. All four of them do not use their food cards as Harika's mother prepares all their meals. Harika's father Mr. Ramesh offered one of their cards to be exchanged for a new one for Deep.

When the Indian team management approached the director of this festival with this proposal, he agreed. But he said, ``bring four cards and I will give a new one for your player!''

This problem is being solved the ``Indian way''. Deep has so far displayed excellent chess sense and a level head over the board. Hopefully, he will get us a gold medal.

Important fifth round pairings: Harika 4 vs Zhong Yi Tan (Chn) 4; Michelle Lee (Aus) 3 vs V.K.Sindhu 3; Mathilde Choisy (Fra) 2.5 vs Iswarya Shobana 2.5; Roza Eynullaeva (Aze) 3.5 vs K.Humpy 4; Eesha Karavade 3 vs Batchimeg Tuvshintugs (Mgl) 3; Shraddha Samani 3.5 vs Elmira Hassanova (Rus) 3.5; Sai Srinivas 3 vs Hugo Gonzalez (Spa) 3; Abhinav Mekala 2.5 vs U.Chimeddorj (Mgl) 2.5; Deep Sengupta 4 vs Sergei Zhigalko (Blr) 4; Laszlo Gonda (Hun) 3.5 vs Abhijeet Gupta 3.5; Akshayraj Kore 3 vs Mindaugas Subatavicius (Ltu) 3; Harikrishna 3 vs Saptarshi Roy 3;

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