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Young team hopes for good show in chess Olympiad

Grandmasters Dibyendu Barua and Pravin Thipsay will lead India's challenge in the absence of world number two Viswanathan Anand in the 33rd Chess Olympiad, beginning in Elista, the capital of the Kalmykian Republic, on Saturday.

The 12-member team, led by Barua, arrived at the venue on Friday from New Delhi via Moscow.

The team comprises six men, four women and two coaches, and boasts a bunch of promising young players such as Kunte, K Sasikiran, V Saravanan and Anup Deshmuck.

The Indian captain, who sounded confident, said that though India is seeded 25th, the team is expected to finish in the top 15, which will be a big achievement, more so in the absence of Anand.

Barua said that for the team to do well, the youngersters will have to take their chances and score on the bottom boards. Barua, Thipsay and Kunte are all rated above 2500 ELO points, an index of grandmaster strength on the international rating scale.

Kunte, who had pocketed two GM norms, and Sasikiran are among the best young talents in the country. They will be looking to clinching crucial points to help Barua and Thipsay in their assault, especially against average teams. Saravanan and Deshmukh are also in top form.

Indian women also have a comparatively young side with current national champion and International Women's Master Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman, Pallavi Shah and Swati Ghate. Five-time national champion Bhagyashree Thipsay is the only experienced player in the side.

Pallavi Shah was in fine form in the Yerevan Olympiad in 1996, when she achieved the IWM norm. The women's team is expected to finish in the top 20 if past performances are taken into reckoning.

If the team is able to maintain its consistency, it could even end up in the top 12.

UNI