Chess growth in Goa

Of Kings, Queens & a chess revolution
Paresh Mokani | Sep 27, 2014, 12.12 AM IST

Panaji: Often, it takes a spark to trigger off a revolution. There are reams and reams of fairytale stories on how a player from a tiny nation triggered off a movement by outstanding performances only to see it emerge among the leading nations, if not dominate, in the world of sport.

To make a point, look at Serbia. This small European nation rose to become a tennis empire with the emergence of Novak Djokovic. Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and few others soon followed only to make this former Yugoslavia state a force to reckon with in world tennis.
Likewise, closer to home, our very own queens of the 64-square, Bhakti Kul-karni and Ivana Furtado have been the reason for the rise of Goa as a force to reckon with in India.

It all started in the year 2003 when Bhakti Kulkarni at 11, became the first Goan to break into the 2000 ELO rating club, 24 years after the Goa Chess Association was formed.
Until then, Goan chess players were treated like children of a lesser God. They were provided the last board to play, meant for the bottom finishers. Then came another shining star in the name of Ivana Furtado. The child prodigy took the chess world by storm winning the under-8 crown at the World Youth Chess Championship held in Georgia in 2006. Ivana proved it was no flash in the pan by successfully defending the title in the next edition in Turkey.

Today Goa is among just a handful of states that can boast of a Women’s Grand Master (WGM) in Bhakti who has now set her sights on the Interna-tional Master’s before targeting the Grand Master’s title.

Fifteen-year-old Ivana is among the youngest International Woman Master (IWM) in the country.

“Today Goa poses a healthy challenge when it comes to national and international competitions,” says Kishor Bandekar, GCA secretary, sitting on an official desk, monitoring the 41st National Women Challengers Chess Cham-pionship 2014 held at Pedem Sports Complex, Mapusa.

“The emergence of Bhakti and Ivana was the best thing to happen to chess in Goa. It opened the eyes of parents, making them realize that their sons and daughters could emulate Bhakti and Ivana’s feats even as leading local corporates came forward to fund their cause.

“Suddenly from 100 chess players in 2004, Goa’s pool grew to an astonishing 1000 members and around 200 of them have an ELO rating players in just a decade’s time,” reveals Bandekar.

However, much of the credit for the rise of chess in Goa goes to the guardians of the game in Goa. From former presidents — Sameer Salgaocar, Ashish Keni — today’s president Vinay Tendulkar and secretary Bandekar, have played a stellar role in spreading the gospel of chess. From timely news releases to the media and the conduction of tournaments for beginners and seasoned campaigners, to holding classes to sending teams for participation in tournaments to other parts of the country and abroad — they have done it with elan.
The rest is history as results are there for all to see.

Ofcourse, the success story cannot be complete without the mention of bene-factors including those like the Dempos, Geno Pharmaceuticals and the Fomento Group. 

One hope their tribe grows and Goa’s dream success spills over to other sports.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com