It’s Christmas in a week’s time, and Mary Ann Gomes would like to gift herself and her family that elusive third norm.
MUMBAI: It’s Christmas in a week’s time, and Mary Ann Gomes would like to gift herself and her family that elusive third norm. It will be enough to earn her the Women Grandmaster (WGM) title, and she is well on her way towards it.
On Monday, she continued the charge for her second consecutive Asian Junior Chess title with a convincing win over Padmini Rout, to lead the field by five points at the Goregaon Sports Complex.
“Its important for me to perform better in tournaments I participate, as the prize money I win helps me in funding future tournaments,” quips Mary Ann, whose consistent performance at international level hasn’t translated into sponsors coming forward and supporting her. “As far as sponsorship is concerned, it’s pretty bad in Kolkata as compared to Chennai, Delhi and Maharashtra as well.”
Though the Asian championship doesn’t offer any prize money, it will help her collect ELO points to get her norm. The 18-year-old earned her second WGM norm in last year’s edition in Delhi, and hopes to get the third one this time round, or at least get closer to it.
“My current ELO rating is 2262 and the requirement for WGM is 2300, which I may reach close to after this tournament,” said Mary. Concerning her plans after the tournament, “I’ve been away from my family since last two months.
This is my fourth tourney on the run. I’m off to Kolkata after this event to celebrate Christmas with my family.” About her future plans, Mary Ann said, “My ultimate dream is to become a Grandmaster, which I know I’ll reach at some point in my career. I would like to approach it step-by-step.”
Mary Ann took an eight-month break after last year’s Commonwealth Championship to prepare for her 10th examinations. She made a comeback just before last month’s women’s national ‘A’ championship at Pune.
And her game had evidently suffered a lot, as she finished way down the order. “Due to the break, my game suffered, which showed in my result during the nationals,” said Mary, who finished runner-up in previous two editions.
Her quest in the game started at the tender age of six, with her father teaching her some basic moves. It soon blossomed into a promising career.
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