Interview with Asian Women's Champion Bhakti Kulkarni

Six women players from India went to play the Asian Women Individual Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from the 26th of May to the 3rd of June 2016. Bhakti Kulkarni was the last seed amongst them. But what mattered more than the rating was the fact that Bhakti was in the perfect frame of mind. She was hungry to play good chess and ready to learn from her mistakes. With such an attitude it didn't come as a surprise when she won the Asian Championship 2016 with a score of 7.0/9.

The 2016 Asian Champion Bhakti Kulkarni with her glittering trophy

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

Bhakti's performance of 2505 earned her 50 Elo points!

We contacted Bhakti Kulkarni after her tournament ended and sent her a few questions. The girl from Goa sent us frank and honest answers, which we now present to you. It is an interview from which all of us can learn something.

Sagar Shah: Bhakti, what a tournament! Tell us, is the biggest result of your career till date?

Bhakti Kulkarni: Thanks! Of course this is the biggest till date! I am on cloud nine after playing nine best rounds of my career. Everybody had written me off before the tournament began and that’s why the success is so sweet.

SS: You had a better position in almost every game you played. Even the games that ended in a draw were better for you. How did you prepare before this event that you played at such a high level?

BK: I was in bad shape mentally after Asian Teams in Abu Dhabi. My low rating did not inspire confidence in my team mates or coach. I did my best by scoring 4.0/4 whenever I got a chance but was disappointed for not getting more games.
When I came back to India, [Raghunandan] Gokhale sir bluntly told me that if I want to be trusted in team events, I have to perform. “Let us start afresh,” he said. Since he hardly goes out of Mumbai, he asked me to play in Mumbai first. "Let us treat these tournaments your training ground,” he commented. I was aghast. It was a low rated tournament. I didn't want to play but finally relented. And it proved to be the turning point. After scoring 8.0/9, I lost one Elo! But I gained rich experience and discovered a new Bhakti. The games were not published, so I could experiment with new ideas. I just enjoyed playing against talented sub-2000 players.

SS: After Mumbai you played another tournament in Nashik. Do you think that event helped you at the Asian Continental?

BK: Yes! I was seeded fifth and stood second after losing to the eventual champion N. Srinath and drawing with IM Sameer Kathmale. I scored 8.5/10. Scoring eight wins each in both tournaments in the hot weather was sort of achievement, I feel. Surely playing in Mumbai and Nashik was part of our plan of preparations. I got 16-17 Elo too. Gokhale sir came down to Nashik for my preparation and it worked.

The 19 rounds in Mumbai + Nashik was a great experience for me. It also proved to me that playing in tougher conditions in India can be a very educative pre-tournament workshop. I learnt to be vigilant in plus positions. The talented players from Maharashtra used to fight until the very end and indirectly educated me on how to keep maintaining and then increasing my advantage.

I would like to mention my game against Pawan Dodeja (also my teammate in MCL). He defended stubbornly throughout the game and had I not improved my psychology, I would have allowed him to escape with a draw. But I concentrated and maintained the small plus until the 80th move to win the game. I knew that if I concentrated like that game, Asian Woman title is not far away.

Being in the right frame of mind before a crucial event is of extreme importance

SS: What was your aim before the tournament started in Uzbekistan?

BK: If I tell you that I was bursting with confidence and raring to go before the Asians you may be surprised. I had beaten all the contestants somewhere or other – though I had lost too. With new preparation and psychology, I assumed I could do it. I was also an underdog and there was no pressure on me. Let us think this tournament also as a training ground instead of Asian Continental Championship, I assured myself.

Bhakti Kulkarni - Soumya Swaminathan

Can you find the positional plan that Bhakti (White) came up with in this position? 

SS: After a hard fought draw against Padmini you were able to positionally outplay Soumya. How did you find this idea of Rc1 and b4 (in the above position). It was a very strong plan.

BK: It was Gokhale sir who had showed me that plan while preparing against Benoni. He taught me how to play against both the setups - when Black would place his queen on c7 or on e7. Soumya is a very good player with black pieces and has always given me head aches with her Benoni. So it was understood that she would go for it again. 

SS: Chigorin Defence! Now that is something new in your repertoire. How did you decide on this opening and that too employing it in such crucial games?

BK: "If Morozevich can employ it and beat strong grandmasters, why don’t you try against your opponents?" Gokhale sir asked me before starting our preparation in the Chigorin. Since I trust his chess acumen to the fullest, I studied it. By employing Chigorin, Nitish Belurkar (Goa State Champion and member of Indian Youth Olympiad Team) won comfortably against talented IWM Sakshi Chitlange at the Nashik tournament. After watching the way Nitish had won, I knew that we have found some surprising weapon. I played it against Sarasadat Khademalsharieh and Li Xueyi and won both the games.

My experience with Sarasadat is that she gets rattled if she suspects that her opponent is better prepared. She had lost to me when I played the Trompowsky against her in Asian Indoors in Korea. At that time she had threatened to win b2 with Qb6 and I did not protect it. She lost her nerve and did not accept it. In round eight Li Xueyi had not expected me to repeat the opening thinking that it was a one game shock and got shocked herself. Even after the Li game, Vidit [Gujrathi] and Sethuraman asked me whether I really repeated Chigorin against the Chinese! They are supposed to be quite well prepared in the openings but I went ahead fearlessly.

Two Chigorin games

Sarasadat Khademalsharieh - Bhakti Kulkarni, round four

Li Xueyi - Bhakti Kulkarni, round eight

The beautiful view from Bhakti's room

SS: You sometimes have problems keeping your nerves. Before the crucial final round what was going through your mind and how did you manage to control your emotions?

BK: It is really true that I have had lots of problems with my nerves. Especially during the last rounds. But after Mumbai and Nashik, everything was different. I had been taught how to think (also how not to think) while playing. Incidentally the last round in Nashik against Vinay Kumar Matta was a race against clock, as I had to catch a flight from Mumbai to Delhi on way to Tashkent. I won the round and rushed to catch the taxi. GM Vidit Gujrathi and I made a dash towards the Airport and made it just in time.

After I won against Li in penultimate round I was confident. I was feeling a tad nervous but the tension vanished when I met GM Adhiban during dinner. He is a very positive person. He told me to continue as if there are few more rounds to be played. I stopped thinking about ninth round as the last one. I just followed my routine of preparing on the internet with Gokhale sir and my morning walks. I admire Soumya for her concentration and ability to win crucial rounds. I followed her example.

The smile that comes after victory is always preceded by tension, nervousness and controlling your emotions until the final game comes to an end

Joint secretary of AICF Kishor Bandekar receives Bhakti at the Goa airport on her return from the Asians

SS: Whom would you like to dedicate this success to?

BK: I cannot think that I could have achieved this success without Gokhale sir and his wife Anupama madam. Anupama madam had won the Asian Women title in 1985 and 1987. She was with Tania Sachdev when Tania had won the Asian title in Teheran in 2007. Very rich in experience, she talks only when she has some positive inputs. When they saw me completely broken up after Dubai Open, the Gokhales took charge of things and changed everything. What can I say about Raghunandan Gokhale sir as a coach? Everybody knows depth of his knowledge and understanding of chess.

One of the most famous chess couples of India: Arjuna awardee Anupama Gokhale and Dronacharya award winner Raghunandan Gokhale 

SS: What does qualifying to the next World Championship mean to you and how will you prepare for that?

BK: I do not know when the World Women Championship is and where it will be held. The All India Chess Federation will let me know well in advance. Let me digest this success first. To be the lowest rated player in the Indian Team and win ahead of top Asian women is like a dream.
It is my dream to play in the World Women Championship and I am going to give my best.

SS: What are your impressions about the fourth edition of MCL and your team Ahmednagar Checkers? (subsequently the MCL took place and Bhakti's team finished fifth)

BK: I love to play team championships. I would give my best to Ahmednagar Checkers. Sasikiran is a stalwart and Shardul is like my younger brother. He is a very strong player now. With my pet roommate Tania and theoretician Sagar Shah in the team, I am seeing this as an opportunity to improve myself. Mrunalini Kunte will be an added incentive as the team coach. I have never met the owners (Siddharth Mayur, Dhaval Shah and Narendra Firodia) but I am touched by their personal congratulatory messages.

In the Maharashtra Chess League we came to know that Bhakti is an excellent singer

The Checkers team. From left to right: Sagar Shah, Sasikiran, Shardul Gagare, Sankarsha Shelke, Bhakti Kulkarni and Pawan Dodeja 

SS: What events will you be playing next?

BK: I am going to play in Czech Open in Pardubice. It will be very tough I feel.

SS: Thanks a lot Bhakti for your time and hats off to the way you played in the tournament. This interview will help many players to learn a lot about how to prepare for important events.