CHENNAI: Bhakti Kulkarni is on a roll. It has been a good year for the Goan. After completing her IM title, the 27-year-old triumphed in the Women’s National Championships in Karaikudi, scoring 10 points out of a maximum of 11. Her recent successes saw Bhakti leapfrog to the No 3 spot on the Indian women’s ratings list behind Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika.
Among the names that she overtook are the likes of Tania Sachdev and Padmini Rout. “Padmini and Tania are very good players and have been IMs for many years,” Bhakti said. “It remains to be seen whether I can sustain my form. I am happy to overtake them at the moment. I am happy to become an International Master. When I won bronze in the National Open Blitz Championship at Jalandhar this year, I thought I was playing at par with men.”
Bhakti is happy with her performance at the nationals and attributes her success to a change in style. “I am happy to retain the title,” she said. “My performances were very good in recent times. But the nationals is a different ball game. It’s nerve-racking as everyone tries to give their best. However, I played my best in the big event. I adopted a different style this year. My wins were so emphatic that one of the former champions told me she will go home and study my games from nationals.”
India’s seventh woman IM took to chess after her father, who played the game during his college days, introduced her to the sport. Hailing from football-crazy Goa, Bhakti has a connection to the beautiful game as well — among her early patrons was Shrinivas Dempo, who also owns former I-League champions Dempo FC.
A big turning point for Bhakti was the World Team Championships earlier this year. “AICF invited me to represent India when Humpy withdrew, which was a big boost,” she said. “I gained 28 rating points from the tournament, which was a turning point. I played with full concentration. My coach made changes to my style. I also felt psychologically good.”
Bhakti, who spends four to five hours polishing her game every day, credits coach Raghunandan Gokhale and trainers Ankit Rajpara and Ravi Teja for her rapid rise. After a breakthrough last 12 months — which included a debut at the Women’s World Championships in November 2018 — she is hoping to use what she has learnt and cement her position over the next few months.
“Though I was eliminated in the first round (of the World Championships), I learned many things. The professionalism of Chinese players created a big impression on me,” said Bhakti. “I have been invited for camps by the chess federation. Prior to that, I will represent India in the Shanghai Corporation Organisation Chess Tournament in China this month.”