The decline of Georgian chess

NINE OF them came to the New Delhi World championship with a glorious tradition behind them. But the women from Georgia, who, till not so long ago, ruled the 64 black and white squares were the biggest disappointment of the recent women's chess championship. None of them lasted beyond the third round.

But the surprising fact is that it was not surprising at all. For, some time now, Georgia has clearly been on the decline. It is no match these days to China, the new super power in women's chess.

Nona Gaprindashvili, who was the World champion for 17 years, Nino Khurtsidze, Nino Gurieli, Sopio Tkeshelashvili and Lela Javakhishvili were knocked out in the opening round itself. Another Georgian, Rusudan Goletiani, did not turn up at all.

Only four women from the homeland of women's chess survived the opening round. Three of them were eliminated in the second round itself: Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant, Inga Khurtsilava and Maya Chiburdanidze, who became the World champion when she was 17. Maya lost, without a fight, to Romania's Corina Peptan, who suddenly developed a liking for the Georgian blood.

Nana Isoliani, the only Georgian who made it to the third round, ran into the Rumanian, and was comprehensively beaten. Isoliani, who challenged Xie Jun of China for the World title in 1993, is not getting any younger. And she was Georgia's best hope in Delhi, according to Nana Alexandria, a former challenger to the crown. Surely that is not a healthy sign. ``Since Maya has not been in the best of form of late, I was not expecting much from her. But I thought Isoliani would do a lot better,'' said a disappointed Nana.

Her dismay is understandable, for she herself is a reminder of the great past of Georgia. For thirty years, from 1962 to 1991 the women's World champion was from Georgia: Nona held the title from 1962 to 1978 and Maya from 1978 to 1991. In the 70's and 80's there were four matches in which the fight was purely Georgian. Before Georgia came into existence, when it was a part of Soviet Union, the USSR team for the women's Olympiad (Olympiad is the ultimate team event in world chess) was made up of mostly Georgian women. From its debut in 1992 till 1996 Georgia won the women's Olympiad. Interestingly, most of the Georgian greats are from one city: Tbilisi.

Maya's loss to Xie Jun in 1991 in Manila was much more than a shocking result. It was also the beginning of the end of the Georgian domination of women's chess. It was the beginning of China's ascendancy. Among the world's top ten women, five are Chinese, and there are only two from Georgia. Even in the top 50, there are only five women from Georgia.

It was China which stopped the golden run of Georgia at the Olympiad in 1998 at Elista. Georgia had to finish with bronze. Nona, the team's captain, had made a memorable statement then. ``My collection has lacked the bronze medal and now I've got it,'' she had joked. Xie Jun's Chinese team retained the title in Istanbul too.

So what went wrong with Georgia's glorious women?

``For the decline in our fortunes, there are many reasons, mainly political and economical,'' says Maya, who has won the World championship for a record five times. ``There was a lot of support for the game in the former Soviet Union. There was a system. Art and sports enjoyed patronage from the government. It is no longer so.''

Nana, who had lost the title match on both occasions to fellow- countrywomen (Nona in 1975 and Maya in 1981) agrees with her friend. ``We have many problems back home; and chess has been affected badly by the unhealthy state of economy,'' she says. ``It's distressing to see that Georgia is no longer producing players like Maya or Nona.''

She, however, still hopes some new talents would emerge from the chess school she is running at Tbilisi. ``Nona also teaches young girls there, and we do hope the Georgian tradition continues in women's chess,'' she says.

P. K. AJITH KUMAR

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