Kunte has regained his winning touch

PUNE: Success — which could well have been his first name, at least going by what he had achieved in his formative years — suddenly seemed to dry up. The last couple of years, despite him winning British Open, had been a bit of a grind. For Abhijit Kunte, Kolkata has been his favourite hunting ground, "especially every four years," and it certainly was a City of Joy for him on Wednesday.
Practically a slow starter, the 28-year-old Grand Master is often caught jostling for positions in the later rounds for a decent finish.However, it was not the same story during the Kolkata International Open chess tournament at the Alekhine Chess Club, Gorky Sadan on Wednesday. He ended up with the title — the first Indian to do so in the tournament''s 16-year history.
He tallied 7.5 points along with five others GMs — Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Aleksej Alexandrov (of Belarus), Ni Hua (China), Ehsan Ghaem Maghami (Iran) and Oleg Romanishin (Ukraine).
"I think I perform well here after every four years," Abhijit said from Kolkata while speaking to TNN after his win. "I got my first International Master norm in 1996, four years later I became Grand Master here and now my first Open title," he added.
The tournament (initially known as Goodricke Open, now Kolkaka International Open) had 48 players and Abhijit was seeded sixth. "There was quite a strong field here with 17 grand Masters in fray. I played eight GMs in 11 rounds winning two, drawing five and losing one (against Ganguly in the penultimate round — his only loss in the event). It was quite tiring, especially after the Chess Olympiad in Spain last month," said the Indian Oil employee.
However, he said whatever preparation he did for the Olympiad helped him very well here. "The preparation camp under Georgian GM Elzibar Ubilava at Calicut was quite extensive though I was not able to put to use everything there (in Spain). But it certainly helped me a lot here. Secondly, this tournament was a bit different where I was always among the leaders and never let my tempo down."
Said Abhijit''s father, Prakash, "Years ago when Abhijit won Telegraph school tournament in Kolkata, and the International Open was to follow immediately I had requested the organisers to give my son some concession in entry fee and Shomen Mukherjee had readily agreed. I have always had special affinity to this place and Abhijit has done well in Kolkata."
Over past few months Abhijit saw his elo rating rise again. He had a high of 2569 till it plummet to 2476. He now has 2550, according to October rating list.
The two-time national champion, Abhijit now eyes the 42nd National ''A'' beginning from December 1 at Calicut. Hope he keeps his track record of being in top six intact.