Girish, Mohineesh win world u-10, u-8 titles

Chennai, Oct 28 (UNI) India's Girish A Koushik and Ch Mohineesh won the World under-10 and under-8 Chess titles, respectively with a round to spare at Batumi in Georgia last evening, according to All India Chess Federation (AICF) Secretary D V Sundar here.

Girish, who hails from Mysore had a 1.5-point lead and required a draw for the title against fellow Indian Y V K Chakravarthi. He obtained that with the white pieces, to finish with the best tally to nine points from ten games. Three players finished in the second place with 7.5 points each, including Chakravarthi and Komiri Vijaya Kanth. Girish is coached by his father.

Mohineesh, who hails from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh was the 55th seed in the championship. He won nine games and drew one against compatriot Prince Bajaj. In the penultimate round, he defeated Vahap Sanal of Turkey with the Black pieces. He reached an unassailable total of 9.5/10.

However, Indians suffered a setback in the under-12 section with N Srinath, Sahaj Grover and V A V Rajesh suffering defeats and losing title chances.

Hailing Girish and Mohineesh, Mr Sundar said these big successes were possible due to the support of the Sports Ministry at the Centre today. He recalled that when the Government asked him how many medals the AICF was expecting, he said six.

Now, with two titles in the bag and two more expected to come on Saturday, India is expected to cross that number clearly, he said.

About Girish, who had sent his passport to the wrong address in New Delhi for visa processing before it was located at the last minute, Sundar said ''his making the trip and winning is destiny.'' UNI VV DH HS1725