KOLKATA: Mary Ann Gomes has little time for celebration. The city girl's silver-medal winning finish at the Asian Women's Continental chess meet on Sunday also earned her a berth in the upcoming World Cup and she finds herself racing against time to get ready for the premier world meet which is slated in Baku, Azerbaijan, from July 30 to August 24.
"I have to get down with my preparation right away," she told TOI, a day after returning to the city from Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday. Much will be at stake as the top three finishers in the seven-round knockout event will qualify for the Women's Candidates Tournament 2024 also. "I don't think I will approach the World Cup thinking about a Candidates berth. It's a very tough format and as many players have qualified long back I am sure they have done their homework well by now," Mary, who will be playing her second World Cup after 2015, stated.
The Women's Grandmaster (WGM) will play the upcoming national women's championship at the end of this month in Ahmedabad to hone her skills for the global event. "Irrespective of the results, it (nationals) can be a good preparation platform for me," she felt.
Gomes, however, didn't expect to finish on the podium at the Asian Continental meet. "I had a poor run at the Baku Open meet before this tournament and didn't get off the block well in the blitz meet which opened the tournament," she remarked. "However, I felt tiredness affected my show in the blitz event as we managed to reach Almaty just hours before the start of the tournament," Gomes, who won a silver in last year's blitz event, said.
But the 33-year-old decided to approach the classical event with a fresh mind. She was on course for a top finish till she blundered in a complex Rook ending to go down against International Master and eventual winner Divya Deshmukh in the seventh round. The 3215 Elo rated Gomes managed to edge past IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul of Mongolia on tie-breaks to secure the silver medal with 6.5 points after nine rounds. "Overall I am quite satisfied with my games and enjoyed my win against IM Nisha Mohota in the second round the most," she stated.
