Xie Jun's gut feeling turns true

By P.K. Ajith Kumar

NEW DELHI, DEC. 16. When she saw Viswanathan Anand in a bad position in his quarterfinal match against Alexander Khalifman in the World chess championship, Xie Jun was worried. For, she had a strange idea about her own chances in the women's World championship.

``I had this feeling that if Anand, who was the clear favourite in the men's section, qualified for the final, I would also win here, since I had the best chances in the women's section,'' said the 30-year-old Chinese soon after winning her fourth World title. ``But when I saw him in that losing position against Khalifman in the tie-breaker, I told myself, ``Come on, how coud Anand do this?''

The Indian genius survived that scare of course. And as for the women's competition, Xie Jun continued to play on a different level than the rest. The fact is that she totally dominated the women's championship, whereas no man could stake a similar claim in the men's event. Not even Anand.

All along the six-round tournament, Xie Jun looked the most likely winner. She did not lose a single game, and could have won many of her drawn games if she wanted to (she chose to play it safe, when she needed only a draw).

Though she faced some unexpected resistance in the final from compatriot Qin Kanying, at no stage during the four games did it look that she would be stretched. She won the crucial first game, when she had white pieces, coming up with a novelty that caught her younger rival unawares.

``But I was surprised the way she fought after that game,'' she said. ``Normally the Chinese players are afraid to play me.'' It was not just her own countrywoman she scared in this championship, though.

Xie Jun said she was happy to win what was the inaugural knock- out World championship, but she would rather prefer the old format. ``Here you make a mistake and you lose your life. Anyway I am proud that I am the first World champion in the knock-out format and the last champion in the classical system.''

Xie Jun had created a sensation in 1991, when she won the World title for the first time, shocking Maia Chiburdanidze of Georgia, a five-time World champion. Significantly she also led the way for a Chinese revolution in women's chess. China is far ahead of the rest of the world in the women's game, and has truly taken over from Georgia.

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