India’s challenge at the Olympiad could be formidable

Pallavi is making a re-entry after her indifferent performance last year while Saheli, who has had a bad stretch since the 1994 Nationals, mixed solidity with caution at the Kalyan Nationals. Saheli and Meenakshi were the only unbeaten players in the championship. And in consequence, they earned International Woman’s Master norms. Only Viji, among the quartet, is an International Woman Master (IWM).

The average rating of the team works out to 2225. The current ratings of the foursome as published by FIDE are: Viji 2383, Meenakshi 2195, Saheli 2185 and Pallavi 2138 Elo points. Calculated at current ratings, the last year’s team account for an average of 2265 making them somewhat less strong.

Swati’s dynamic and attacking play would be sorely missed. This is not to take away anything from the capabilities of this year’s team. Saheli is solid, Meenakshi a blend of aggression and caution, Pallavi — making her third Olympiad after 1996, 1998 — would be an experienced asset.

In the recent Nationals, Pallavi and Meenakshi had beaten Viji and Saheli. Despite three losses, Viji was in a class of her own.

Andhra’s Koneru Humpy and Tamil Nadu’s R Aarthie are exciting prospects and Swati undoubtedly will bounce back, yet the dynamism of Viji’s play bespeaks of far greater potential. With three Grandmaster norms to her credit, she promises to emerge as the first Indian woman Grandmaster. She has missed norms narrowly in the past and hopes to set the record straight at Istambul.

One who believes in winning, Viji is quick on the uptake. She is brilliant in her forays and is not above taking calculated risks and quite capable of keeping the book aside to formulate new themes and schemes.

Viji felt she missed winning against Pallavi. “I just don’t know where, I will have to analyse and find out,” she told The Indian Express.

Viji’s loss to Pratibha was probably because she misplayed the sequence of her opening and her loss to Meenakshi… well, that’s all in the family!

Viji and Meenakshi started playing chess at three and five respectively. The driving force being their dad — an assistant engineer with Pallavan Transport in Chennai.

Meenakshi likes to play the Ruy Lopez with black pieces if white moves e4, “but with white, I like to play d4.” She likes to go for wins, but her uncharacteristic caution in the Kalyan Nationals was because she wanted to make a mark of her own.

Viji debunks the oft-repeated statement that her favourite is English Opening (c4). “I chose my opening according to the player,” she said. “I like to surprise. Swati never expected me to play the Caro-Kann. Bhagyashree was surprised when I chose the Dutch defence … at least she told me so.”

Remember the Khadilkar sisters? Rohini, Jayshree and Vasanti? Well, Meenakshi and Viji do not complete the `Subburaman sisters’ epithet. Mr Subburaman is training his third daughter Bhanupriya, currently studying in the 10th standard. Someone commented during lunch at the venue: “Let’s hope Bhanupriya is the last!”

Spurred originally by her father, Saheli has now GM Dibyendu Barua as her pillar of strength. “I had not been doing well in recent years, so I decided to be cautious in this tournament,” Saheli said, which explains her solidity, a la Tigran Petrosian.

Pallavi, too, credits her father for her inspiration. “My father is a chess fanatic. He is never without a chess book. In fact, we have a huge library of chess books.”

Pallavi started serious training just last year. Now it’s her career. “I am grateful to LIC for giving me a job. It’s the only organisation sponsoring women’s chess players, recruit Swati, Nisha and myself last year.”

Pallavi is determined to become a GM herself. FIDE vice-president Ummer Koya had told her that a Woman’s Grandmaster tournament in India is in the pipeline to which she is looking forward to.

All the players have desktops at home with necessary chess software. But they are looking forward to sponsors to help them get laptops for practice during outstation tournaments.