BASIL SYLVESTER PINTO
PANAJI
The State recently played host to the 1st Goa International Open Grandmaster Tournament 2018 at the Indoor Stadium, Taleigao. Playing in a highly competitive field in Group A with a galaxy of Grandmasters and International Masters, the recently-turned 17-year-old, FIDE Master Nitish Belurkar (2295) gave a good account of himself, finishing at a credible 20th and finish as the best Goan player in the aforesaid tournament.
Speaking to The Goan, Belurkar talked of his experience of playing at the home tournament. “It was a very good experience. We got to see many top players who played amongst the elite battling it out. I had a great experience playing at such a highly competitive level and the tournament organisers have to be given credit for beautifully setting the tournament,” Belurkar said.
The Taleigao-based player picked out his tenth and last round match in the tournament as one to remember.
“In the last round, I was pitted against Ukranian GM Bernadskiy Vitaliy (2547). He is a good player and in the game which went pretty smooth throughout, I had black pieces which are a slight disadvantage. He thought he could take some risks and he tried to do so. There was a beautiful queen manoueuvre. His Queen was trapped on one side of the board. Eventually, there was an exchange up in the end game and I won easily in the end,” recounted the FIDE Master.
What made the win all more significant was that he put it across a more illustrious rival who separates him in over 250 ELO points in only two hours in a standard (4-hours) game. But he does acknowledge he took on his much fancied Balkan opposition in the last round with a lot more confidence, after putting in three consecutive draws against much higher rated opposition in the preceding rounds.
“In Rd 7, I played IM Stany GA (2502, AAI) who came third in the recent GM Open in Gujarat. Starting off with a draw against him, gave me a lot of confidence. Drawing in Rd 8, against IM Vardan Nagpal (2433, Delhi) also felt great as he was having a good run. In the penultimate round, after splitting points with GM Himanshu Sharma (2444, Railways), we sat through a bit analysing the position. The fact that a renowned GM as Himanshu got up after the game and told me I played well was pretty motivational,” the Geno Pharmaceutical Brand ambassador said.
Though he may be satisfied with his overall performance in the recently concluded tourney, Belurkar does show a tinge of regret for missing out on a second IM norm.
“I was pretty close. I needed a performance of 2450 which I could not get. It was because of the first round, where I lost to a pretty low-rated opponent. If I were to get any other result other than the loss, I would have got the norm. After five rounds, I got quite stable,” he disclosed. Belurkar earned himself 15 ELO points from the tourney.
Belurkar took to playing chess at the age of five when his father (Sanjay) taught him and his older brother (Suyan) how to play the game. Showing great interest in the game, the tiny tot was not disillusioned despite losing to his dad in the teething period and kept his spirits up requesting for another game. Once his dad felt he was good and needed coaching, the young Belurkar was sent to Shravan Barve’s chess classes. Thereon, he came under the tutelage of Sivaswamy and Prasanna. As he continued making rapid strides, he came under the wings of Dronacharya award winner, Raghunandan Gokhale under whom he trains till date, mostly online.
Belurkar’s claim to fame was at the World U-9 School Chess Championship in Turkey where he was the joint gold medallist along with Gholami Aryan (Iran). In 2015, he was selected for the World U-16 Chess Olympiad Indian team. In that tourney held in Slovakia the following year, the Indian team finished an impressive fourth over higher rated teams. In 2016, at the Olomouc International Master Round Robin Tournament in the Czech Republic was particularly memorable for the chess prodigy as he not only came second but achieved his first IM norm as well. He has won the Goa State Chess Championship for three consecutive years from 2015-17.
Going forward, Belurkar has his eyes set on achieving the International Master (IM) title as a short-term goal. “As I am approaching the 2300 mark, I have to work even harder and improve on my weaknesses like the end-game and positional play to be more consistent,” he admits. The Std XII Commerce student will next be seen battling his wits across the chequered board at the National Seniors in Jammu in December.
