Tue, Aug 03 10 10:16 PM
From Our Chess Correspondent Chotowa (Poland), Aug 3 (PTI) World''s second youngest Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi starts as the third seed and India''s best bet in the World Junior Chess Championship that gets underway here. The top seed of the event is Grandmaster Dmitry Andreikin of Russia while Jon Ludvig Hammer of Norway is the second seed. The 17-year-old Negi, who was selected for Arjuna award, finished last in the just concluded Young Grandmasters tournament that was a part of the Biel Chess Classics. Negi obviously would like to forget the Biel tournament that was his worst ever since he became a Grandmaster in 2006 and would want to look ahead in the World Junior Championship which he missed last year. In 2008, Negi had finished second to compatriot Abhijeet Gupta and that should gave him the confidence here. He can look forward to be the fourth Indian after Viswanathan Anand in 1987, P Harikrishna in 2004 and Abhijeet to win this coveted title. As usual it is a very strong field with the likes of Ilya Nyzhnyk of Ukraine and Eltaj Safarli of Azerbaijan present. Nyzhnyk especially is a player to watch out for the future. After Negi, India''s best hope is Sethuraman who is in roaring form. After finishing third in a strong Czech Open tournament at Pardubice, the Indian came directly to Poland where he will also be vying for a Grandmaster norm. Alongside the open championship, the girls'' championship will also be held. Soumya Swaminathan will not be defending the title this time and Padmini Rout starts as the highest rated Indian in the fray. Anna Muzychuk of Slovenia starts as a huge favourite with her high 2527 ELO rating. It looks like a straight fight for the title between Deysi Cori of Peru and Anna. Both look a cut above the rest with higher ELO ratings.
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