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UBI 40th National Women Chess Championship - Mary Ann Gomes is the winner |
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Saturday, 07 September 2013 17:08 |
Mary Ann Gomes of West Bengal won a hat trick of titles by capturing the coveted United Bank of India 40th National Premier Chess Championship, organised by Dibyendu Barua Chess Academy at The Spring Club, Kolkata from 25th August to 5th September 2013.
The tournament has been given a new lease of life in the form of round robin format, with 12 strong players of the country. The average rating was 2256, making it a Category nine tournament for women.
International master Tania Sachdev of Airport Authority of India was the top rated player in the tournament, followed by the defending champion WGM Mary Ann Gomes of Kolkata.
Other attractions were former world junior girls champion WGM Soumya Swaminathan of PSPB, former champions WGM Swathi Ghate of LIC and IM Nisha Mohota of PSPB, besides former world Under 14 girls champion Padmini Rout of Orissa.
 Mary Ann Gomes
In the round robin format, a player’s lead can not be taken for granted, as it depends on the strength of the opponents, he or she had met in earlier rounds.
Tania and Swathi started with a bang, beating Padmini and Ivana Maria Furtado respectively, in the first round. In the explosive third round, the top two rated players of the tournament met each other, wherein, Tania was defeated by Mary Ann. GK Monnisha of Tamil Nadu dealt a blow to Nisha in this round.
Tania’s woes did not stop here, as former world under 8 girls champion Ivana rubbed salt to the wounds, by beating her. By the end of the fourth round, the trio Swathi, Mary Ann and Soumya were leading with 3 points each.
The lead did not change in the fifth round, as the overnight leaders drew their games and Tania recovered mildly, with a win over Michelle Catherenia of TN.
In an interesting duel of sixth round, Soumya was outwitted by Tania and Swathi emerged sole leader with 4.5 points, beating higher rated Padmini. Mary Ann drew with Kiran Manisha Mohanty to trail the leader by half a point.
Seventh and eighth rounds went on expected lines, and Soumya joined Swathi at the top, with a fluent win over WGM Bhakti Kulkarni of Goa.
Things turned topsy turvy in the ninth round, as Swathi was stunned by the minnow GK Monnisha, allowing Soumya to move into sole lead, with a convincing win over Kiran. Mary Ann maintained her second spot by beating her city mate Nisha.
In the penultimate round, both Soumya and Mary Ann recorded victories, maintaining the lead position and Tania was also at a striking distance, with an outside chance to win the title.
In the pulsating final round, Mary Ann was the first to draw her game against Ivana in an inferior position, waiting anxiously for Soumya’s result. Padmini had a steel of nerves to beat Soumya, paving the way for a three way tiebreak between Mary Ann, Soumya and Tania, each with 7.5 points.
The first tiebreak of direct encounter was in favour of Mary Ann as she had 1.5 points from two games with the other two players, Tania having one point and Soumya half.
 Padmini beat the leader Soumya in the final round
Barua’s experience in organising big level tournaments like Asian Team Championship in 2009 and National Premier Championship in 2012, helped him for the successful conduct.
 Mary Ann receiving the trophy and a cash prize of Rs.1,75,000 from Mr. PK Bannerjee (centre with spectacles), football Olympian and Honourable minister for Sports Madhan Mitra (next to him with yellow shirt)
Report by R. Anantharam
Final standings:
1-3. WGM Gomes Mary Ann 2418 WB, IM Tania Sachdev 2430 AI and WGM Soumya Swaminathan 2318 PSPB – 7.5
4. WGM Padmini Rout 2332 ODI – 7
5. WGM Swathi Ghate 2226 LIC – 6
6. IM Mohota Nisha 2293 PSPB – 5.5
7. WIM Ivana Maria Furtado 2116 Goa – 5
8-10. WGM Kulkarni Bhakti 2302 Goa, WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty 2272 LIC and Pratyusha Bodda 2159 AP – 4.5
11. WFM Monnisha Gk 2056 TN – 3.5
12. Michelle Catherina P 2152 TN – 3
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