WGM Bhakti Kulkarni has begun her 1st Goa International Open Chess Tournament campaign with a draw against Akash Dalvi and followed it up with a win over Akshita Kumar. After this tournament, Bhakti will head to Russia to take part in the World Women’s Chess Championship. Ahead of her departure, Bhakti spoke exclusively to Joel Andrade.
Bhakti, who cherishes her Asian Women’s gold in 2016 and CWG gold in 14, is thankful to her sponsor for helping
her get quality coaching and travel around the world for tournaments which has helped her gain a good
rating.
“Goa Carbon Ltd has been supporting me financially since 2008. Thanks to them, I could avail of quality coaching facilities and travel around the world for tournaments. I play around 16 tournaments (national and international) in a year. Participating in these international events regularly has helped me a get a good rating,” Bhakti, who prefers playing the blitz event, said.
Bhakti thanked GCA for giving the Goan players an opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the world’s best international and national GMs in Goa and requested the Goan players to make the most of it.
“It’s a great opportunity for Goans to play besides
so many international and
national GMs. It’s a great pleasure to see so many top international and national GMs come to Goa and
participate in this event. Our Goan players should make the best of this opportunity to play besides these stars.”
Bhakti, who is seeded 51st in the 64 player tourney, is
full focused on performing well in the upcoming
World Women’s Chess
Championship.
“I am currently preparing for the World Women’s Chess Championship that will played in Russia from Nov 1. The 1st Goa International Open is giving me a lot of quality practice,” she went on to say.
TURNING POINT
Bhakti considers her Asian U-14 gold medal in 2006 as the turning point of her
career.
“My Asian U-14 gold medal in Iran in 2006 gave me a boost and from there on, I began performing well. In 2008, I was awarded as the best Goan player in the Nat B games held in Goa. After that, Goa Carbon started supporting me and it was no looking back,”
Bhakti said, with a smile on her face.
Bhakti trains for over nine hours a day and is confident her hard work will bear fruit at the upcoming World Women’s Championship.
“On a daily basis, I train for four hours with my coach and I dedicate another five hours for self study of the game. That amounts to nine hours a day. I’m confident that all my hard work will bear fruit in the upcoming World Women’s Championship.”
Bhakti also praised the GCA for organising regular events and appealed to them to organise a round robin tournament in the State.
“Under the leadership of Nilesh Cabral, GCA has done a fantastic job in organising regular events. This
championship is one of the best in the country that has seen the participation of world class players. I
also appeal to GCA to organise a round robin tournament
in the State,” Bhakti said in conclusion.
