After national triumph, Karthikeyan eyes foreign shores

CHENNAI: Grandmaster Karthikeyan Murali is on a high. With 10.5 points, the 17-year-old Chennai lad retained the national premier chess title in Lucknow on Wednesday.
Karthikeyan staved off a stiff challenge from his statemates GM Aravindh Chithambaram Vr (9.5 points), who finished second, and third-placed GM B Adhiban to clinch the trophy.
In fact, the win was even more sweet as he had to fight back after losing to Aravindh in one of the earlier rounds.However, Karthikeyan said title glory wasn't on his mind. "The loss to Aravindh didn't affect my rhythm. I was more focussed on winning the next rounds. It was about taking one round after the other," Karthikeyan said.
Coach RB Ramesh said Karthikeyan's strength is his ability to register wins meticulously against lower-rated players, which eventually helped him defend his crown. "Although Karthikeyan lost to Aravindh, he ensured he won against all those who were in the last five places in the championship. Aravindh, on the other hand, defeated GMs, but couldn't force a win against a few who were at the bottom. I would say Karthikeyan is a steady player.
"He is now in the 2500 rating (2530) and is evolving well. He has a few issues in the opening moves and he is trying hard to solve those problems," said the 39-year-old.
Having stamped his superiority at the national level, Karthikeyan is now looking to carry forward the good work in foreign tournaments. "I'm set to feature in a couple of open tournaments in London, including the London Classic. It will be a great learning curve. There is little time to prepare as the tournament begins on December 8. However, a couple of days break now is enough for me to recover. I have plans to play in the Gibraltar and Dubai Open next year," added Karthikeyan, a first year commerce student in SRM College.
Even Ramesh felt it's high time his ward stepped out of his comfort zone regularly and proved his worth. "He has shown his calibre at the national circuit. He needs to play more competitions outside India and achieve glory," he said.
As is the case with most chess players, Karthikeyan, too, faces cash crunch. "At the moment, ONGC, SDAT, my college and a few others are sponsoring me for tournaments. But it wouldn't be enough to play frequently outside the country," said Karthikeyan, whose father Murali is an assistant engineer in Tamil Nadu Electricity Board.
However, Ramesh said the All India Chess Federation (AICF) president PR Venketrama Raja has plans to sponsor Karthikeyan in the near future. "I believe Mr Raja is going to support Karthikeyan, which is a great gesture. Only when our guys get exposed to top-rated players, they can improve their allround game," said Ramesh.