Thrilled to qualify for World Chess Championship

Thrilled to qualify for World Chess Championship: Mary Ann 
Archiman Bhaduri, TNN | Nov 7, 2012, 04.30AM IST

KOLKATA: City girl Mary Ann Gomes became only the third player in last 10 years to retain the National women’s premier chess title when she triumphed in Jalgaon on Saturday.

“The competition was much tougher this time with almost all leading players of the country taking part in the meet,” Mary Ann told TOI after returning home on Monday.

“Players like Bhakti Kulkarni, Eesha Karavade, Soumya Swaminathan and others played very good chess and the lead kept changing hands after almost very round. In that respect, it was quite an entertaining competition this time,” she said.

Despite being half-a-point behind three players who jointly shared the lead going into the final round, the 23-year-old city girl won the title beating statemate Nisha Mohta with white pieces in the 11 th round.

“I just concentrated on my game against Nisha who was playing very well. Even after I won, I was not sure about the title as the other matches were still going on. I was delighted when I got to know the leaders had drawn their matches,” Mary Ann, who has an Elo rating of 2384, said. 

The Woman Grandmaster said she badly wanted to win the title as it would have guaranteed her a spot in the next edition of the World Chess Championship (WCC). “I am thrilled to have made the cut. It will be my maiden appearance in the WCC. It is a great honour and a big challenge,” she said. 

Mary Ann did not do well in last month’s National Premier meet in the city where she was the only female participant, but it was a good preparation for National Women’s meet. “The Kolkata meet had a very strong field and I played top Grandmasters. And though I did not do too well, it was a good preparation for the tournament in Jalgaon where I again faced a strong challenge in every match,” she said. 

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com