Chess Goa: The Reign of the Queens By Tony Martin With due respect to the legendary Viswanathan Anand and other big names like Krishnan Sasikiran, P. Harikrishna, and Surya Shekhar Ganguly, the fact is chess is certainly not amongst the most popular sports being played these days in India or for that matter Goa. But for a tiny dot like Goa it definitely carries a shine and it is confidently golden. Goa’s international recognition comes primarily from its golden duo Bhakti Kulkarni and Ivana Furtado besides prominent names like Anurag Mhamal, Riya Sawant, Vidula Dempo, Riddhi Zantye Sakshi Gaonkar, Nitish Belurkar and Anant Prabjhudesai. From 1973 (All Goa Daman & Diu Chess Association) or say 1977 (Goa State Chess Association) if you prefer, Goa Chess Association has come a long way to come in the reckoning as quite a quiet chess powerhouse. Chess has indeed arrived in Goa. The latest calendar event is the Curchorem Chess club’s all-India Fide rating chess tournament at Cada hall ,Curchorem which was held from January 25 to 28 for late Swetha Sudesh Bandekar Trophy. The rechristened Goa Chess Association has even amended its constitution to provide for registration of the association under section 12A of the Income Tax Act and for availing donations eligible for deduction under section 80G of Income Tax Act. The executive committee has also decided to conduct taluka level chess tournaments to develop the game at the grassroot level and also for the benefit of the students for availing the additional 15 marks as per the new Sports Policy. In 1973 the All Goa Daman & Diu Chess Association was formed under the presidentship of P. K. Dias, however, it became defunct. Then in 1977 a group of enthusiasts banding themselves together as Vasco Chess Association approached the State Council and revived the State Body with the presidentship of Dr. R. V. Deo. Goa State Chess Association (GSCA) was formed in the late 1977s and is affiliated with the All India Chess Federation. Since its inception the GSCA has been regularly holding tournaments in all Categories of events announced by the All India Chess Federation and have been sending teams to the Nationals. It has also hosted 5 National Level Tournaments. Some of them are: • National Sub - Junior (1983) • National Junior (1984) • N. Naik Memorial FIDE rated Open Chess Tournament (2000 & 2002) • World Junior Chess Championship (2004) • Hirabai Salgaoncar FIDE Rating (2006) • GVM FIDE Rating 2011 • National Juniors 2011 Goa Chess Association under the aegis of All India Chess Federation organized the 41st National Junior (U-19) Chess Championship and 26th National Junior (U-19) Girls Chess Championship at Indoor Sports Hall, Fatorda, Margao from September 6 to 14. "Goa is the first state to host the championship for the record fourth time with no other state ever hosting it more than three times," said Mr Ashesh Keni, president of Goa Chess Association. "The first national junior (U-19) chess championship in Goa was held in 1983 while the second was held in 1987, which was won by grandmaster Vishwanath Anand, and the third was held in 2002," he recalled. "Besides Bhakti and Ivana there is a pool of talented chess players in Goa who want to make it big in the national and international arena," he said adding, "Goa at present has 99 FIDE rated players and I am quite confident that we will soon complete the century of FIDE rated players." Mr Ashesh Keni added. AICF Vice President Sameer A. Salgaocar has hailed the feats of the youngsters in the state and said that chess is the only sport in Goa wherein the players have given a remarkably consistent level of performance at the National and International tournaments.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Jul 2013 06:11:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015