Avik Roy
Bhubaneswar, June 1: Grandmaster (GM) Sandipan Chanda, the winner in the Elite category of the KIIT International Chess festival which concluded here Sunday, stated that self-belief and love for the game have contributed to his success.
Sandipan beat Himanshu Sharma in the last round to emerge as the sole leader with eight points and won `3,00,000 along with a trophy.
Talking with Orissa POST, he said Monday, “Due to some personal problems I have not participated in many tournaments this year. So I targeted this competition knowing that if I win here, I will earn good Elo rating points. Finally I have managed to achieve my goal,” stated Sandipan.
On his road to the title, Sandipan defeated top seed Dmitry Kokarev of Russia and held second seed Alexander Zubov to a draw. But his toughest match was against last year’s runner-up Levan Pantisulia.
“I played a good game against Dmitry and won because he committed some errors. But against Levan it was really difficult because he reads the game very well and can adopt both attacking and defensive strategies. So it was a tough game for me,” stated the three-time Chess Olympiad participant.
The 32-year-old will now take a few days off before participating in the Asian Continental Championships at UAE in August. “Now I will be spending time with my family. However, in a few days time, I will start preparing for the Asian Championships,” informed Sandipan.
Sandipan also had some tips for budding players. “Love the game, enjoy and never fear your opponents,” Sandipan signed off.
