Tania Sachdev seeks a hat-trick

Nine players have qualified from National ‘B’

 
Formidable foe: Tania Sachdev will be hoping to make the 35th National ‘A’ championship a memorable one.

NEW DELHI: Tania Sachdev has nothing much to prove and can enjoy the advantage of competing at home when the Parsvnath 35th National ‘A’ women’s chess championship kicks off at the Russian Centre of Science and Culture here on Thursday afternoon.

The reigning Asian women’s champion, Tania had won the National championship in the last two editions, and would be looking for a hat-trick.

If her current form is any indication, Tania could prove formidable for the young field, led by Kiran Manisha Mohanty of Orissa and Soumya Swaminathan of Maharashtra who had finished second and third behind the Delhi girl in the last edition.

Good account

Tania gave a good account of her ability in her first Olympiad last month in Germany and retained the momentum in finishing runner-up in a tournament later in Croatia. Not that she needs to look at the prize-money, but Tania, with an impressive Elo rating of 2425, the third best among the Indian women behind K. Humpy (2618) and D. Harika (2462), would have the added attraction of the winner’s purse of Rs.100,000.

Nine of the players have qualified from the National ‘B’ championship, and would be keen to bolster their stature.

Former world junior girls’ bronze medalist, Eesha Karvade (2386) of Maharashtra, former National champions Swati Ghate (2320) of LIC and Nisha Mohota (2312) of Petroleum Sports will be the ones with the experience to back their aspiration for good results.

Mary confirms entry

Mary Ann Gomes, fresh from the Asian junior title, that she won for the third time, in Chennai on Sunday, has been runner-up in the National championship twice.

She confirmed her entry at the last moment, owing to indisposition.

Kruttika Nadig, who has dramatically boosted her ELO rating from 2240 to 2387 in the space of three months, will have a chance to stake her claim in the big league. The 16-year-old Pon N. Krithika, a first-time qualifier from Tamil Nadu ahead of former champion Aarthie Ramaswamy, would be out to make an impact among the big girls.

The world under-14 champion, Padmini Rout of Orissa, one of the brightest talent, has an energetic style of play that opens winning opportunities for her.

Overall, it should be an exciting fare, spread over 11 rounds, with everyone meeting everybody else in a round-robin format.