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Coming upto speed

Checkmate Praveen Thipsay and Dibyendu Barua feel the level of competition has gone up in the tournament

From one Grandmaster in the maiden edition of Mangalore All India Open Chess tournament last year to two this year spells progress for South Kanara District Chess Association, organizers of the event. Praveen M. Thipsay, the lone GM from Maharashtra, who turned up for the event this year has company in Dibyendu Barua from West Bengal. In a freewheeling chat with MetroPlus, the two GMs held forth.Thipsay, defending champion in this tournament is happy that the level of competition has gone up. “We have more International Masters, and higher-rated players at the meet this year. Even the younger players have progressed since the last event.”

A senior manager with Union Bank of India, Mumbai, Thipsay who has spent the last 37-years plotting the downfall of his opponents on the chess board never seems to have enough of the game. “It is not easy to win in a strong field such as this,” he says. The tournament, Thipsay notes, will do a world of good for young players. “They focus much better playing against higher rated players compared to their peers,” he observes.

On Vishwanathan Anand, Barua says, “It is nice for each sport to have an icon.Anand has shown the path on how to rule the world. He broke the hegemony of European chess players.

A common concern that both these GMs share is the lack of match exposure for Indian players. Advocating the need for an Indian tournament circuit, both Barua and Thipsay feel that players in Europe are better served in this regard.

“In India, we have major international events in fits and starts and it is costly for Indian chess players to participate in European circuit.”

Talking about India’s participation in the Chess Olympiad to be held at Germany later this year, Barua, the lone Indian to win a gold medal in the event held at Novisad in 1990 hopes a a strong squad would be fielded. “India stands a good chance if players such as Anand, Shashikiran, P. Harikrishna, Surya Shekar Ganguly and Koneru Humpy represent it.”

Thipsay and Barua, who have represented the nation seven times each in the Olympiad note that the rating of players has to be the criterion for selection.

When asked if their children were following in their footsteps, Thipsay said his son, Kausthab who is into all games including chess, would have had better mental fortitude had he stuck to chess. Barua adds his son, Dishan “is happier with (Saurav) Ganguly’s exploits with the willow rather than Surya Shekar Ganguly’s run with the chessmen.”

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