The Hindu : Sport / Chess : Women’s ‘B’ chess from today

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Friday, Jun 06, 2008
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Women’s ‘B’ chess from today

KOZHIKODE: Several big names in Indian women’s chess, including former World under-18 champion Aarthie Ramaswamy, Nisha Mohota, Swati Ghate, Eesha Karvade and Mary Ann Gomes, will battle it out in the 35th National women’s ‘B’ chess championship, which opens at Hotel Sana Tower here on Friday.

Over a hundred ladies will play for nine qualifying spots for the National women’s ‘A’; the top nine players will join the top three players from the last National ‘A’ for this year’s National women’s ‘A’, scheduled to be held in New Delhi in September.

Mohota, with an Elo rating of 2400, is the top seed and starts as one of the favourites for the title.

“With five Woman Grandmasters in the fray, this is going to be the strongest National women’s ‘B’ ever, so even to make the qualifying mark, one will have to play really well,” the Kolkata-based WGM told The Hindu.

The tournament, to be played over 11 Swiss rounds, should produce some exciting chess over the next one week. “We could see some new talents coming up from Andhra or Tamil Nadu; always do in tournaments like this,” said Mohota.

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