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Scheming Miss looking for luck

After winning a men's title in Karur and her maiden WIM norm, Nimmy George is bubbling with confidence these days, says STAN RAYAN

PHOTO: MAHESH HARILAL

CHESS QUEEN Nimmy George has made a mark in the men's world

With her short hair and shy smile, she looks your typical girl next door. The quiet and simple sort, the type who would giggle at your every little joke. But wait. Just seat her before a chessboard and watch the transformation. Nimmy George becomes a scheming mistress. Her big eyes dart from piece to piece, rushing back and forth frequently and then doing a fast dance as they search for the various possibilities with a furious clock ticking nearby. And then after making her move, the 20-year-old gives her opponent a cool glance, eager to catch her response.

These days, it's often a shiver and squirm from the other end as opponents fall to her lethal form. And she had quite a few male victims too.

A couple of months ago, Nimmy won an all-India FIDE-rated tournament in Karur, becoming one of the few women in the country to win a men's event. Her triumph must be doubly sweet since it was achieved in Tamil Nadu, a State which is virtually the chess capital of the country. She is also the first Kerala girl to achieve the honour.

Only weeks before that, she had created some stunning upsets in the Women's National `A' in Visakhapatnam. Swati Ghate, who made history five years ago by becoming the first Indian woman to qualify for the men's National `A', won the title at Visakhapatnam but her lone loss at the National came against Nimmy in the fifth round.

Nimmy had a fantastic run at Visakhapatnam. She also beat S. Meenakshi and pulled off creditable draws against S. Vijayalakshmi, D. Harika, Aarthi, all giants of women's chess. She also got her maiden Women's International Master norm at the championship.

"She has improved a lot during the last one year. She has a solid game, a strong defence and a very good endgame. If she improves her openings a bit, she will produce amazing results," said Ganesh Bhat, a State star and a popular coach, who plays against Nimmy occasionally. Former National `A' player M. B. Muraleedharan and P. S. Ameer are the others who play against her.

But if the first half at Visakhapatnam went like a dream, the end was almost a nightmare. "After getting the WIM norm, I lost continuously. I don't know why," said Nimmy, a final year B.Com student at St Paul's College, Kalamassery. She had stars like Nisha Mohota on the ropes but couldn't deliver the knockout punch. In the end, she could only finish 13th. Last year, she had finished seventh.

Still, her first (and Kerala's first) WIM norm has made the former national junior runner-up very confident now. The Kerala champion has more than 20 State titles in her bag, but she now keen on making a bigger mark in the big world.

She is looking for a lot of luck too. "I was fourth in the last junior National. The top three get to play the Asian Junior and World Junior Championships. I'm just hoping somebody drops out, so that I can make it to these events," says the international who comes from a chess family.

Her elder sister Neenu, a former international, is now studying medicine while her younger sister Neelima is a star in the making while dad George John, who introduced the girls to the 64-square game, is an top chess arbiter.

Nimmy has a tour of China coming up in October too. While many children take up sport in Kerala with an eye on engineering and medical college seats, Nimmy has chosen to concentrate on chess. She sees a very bright future.

We do too.

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