B'day boy Sasikiran wants to hang in ELO 2700 Club

New Delhi, Jan 7 (UNI) At a certain level, staying at the top is tougher than reaching there and country's latest Super Grandmaster K Sasikiran, who turns 26 today, just wants to cling on to his new found place in the elite ELO 2700 league.

''My ELO rating was 2650 in 2002 and I struggled for about four and a half years to reach 2700. Now I don't want to come down and my target in the new year would be to maintain my position in the club,'' the Chennai woodpusher told UNI.

Sasikiran became only the second Indian, after a certain Viswanathan Anand, to enter the elite league and is ranked 21st in the latest FIDE rankings.

''It has been a long wait for me and I have been through the ups and downs all this while. I had made it there in July 2006 but the official confirmation came recently,'' he said.

Sasikiran is now all set to kick off his new year with the February 13-20 Aerofloat Open in Moscow and says he would be selective in his participation now.

''Now that I have reached the 2700 mark after so much of toil, I have to be selective to safeguard my place there. The Aerofloat open would be a good start for me, because it would have an average rating of 2550,'' he explained.

''This year, I hope to get some invitations to play in elite tournaments as well and I'm happy that I would play less, which would allow me more time to practice,'' Sasikiran elaborated.

Sasikiran admits that his new-found status would increase the burden of expectations on his 26-year-old shoulders but says he is not unduly worried.

''Initially I had problems with expectations but now I'm more at ease with that. My target would be to learn how to regain composure after losing a match and be better equipped with the psychological aspect of the game,'' he said.

On his game, the ONGC employee believes he would do better with a personal second but that's too much for his pocket.

''A permanent and personal second definitely helps but I can't afford that. In 2005, I did benefit from my one-to-one with (Elizbar) Ubilava and last year too, I worked with (Artur) Yusupov on my opening and end game,'' he said.

Sasikiran, who won the mixed team classical Gold in the Doha Asian Games, said playing long-drawn events is quite a test for any chess player and revealed he combats weariness with chocolates.

''I eat lot of chocolates, and some times I go out for a cup of coffee. Chocolates help me keep going without being tired,'' he said.

Despite his fondness for chocolates, Sasikiran adds, he is quite fitness conscious.

''I play badminton, do jogging and even play cricket. But I don't overdo things,'' he said.

Meanwhile, despite winning the Asian Games Gold, Sasikiran is not particularly pleased with his show in Doha.

''I'm certainly not happy with my performance there. I made some mistakes at crucial times. Once a tournament is over and you check it with Fritz 10, you realise the mistakes and it was same with me at Doha. I'm not happy at all with the way I played there,'' he said.

The youngster is upset at the recent case of cheating in Indian chess, which saw Umakant Sharma being banned for 10 years and a probe being ordered against IM DP Singh.

''This is not the first time that such incidents have occurred in chess world. Earlier, similar cases have been seen in the US. The federation has suspended the player and I think this would discourage those who plan to cheat,'' Sasikiran said.

The All India Chess Federation (AICF) recently banned Umakant after the player was caught using bluetooth device under his cap and ordered an inquiry against DP Singh after allegations of cheating from fellow players.

''Now they have started a thorough checking in India and I think we will see the same abroad,'' he added.

UNI