BHUBANESWAR 21-Mar-2012 161
Odisha chess prodigy Saina Salonika has become eligible to be awarded the Woman Candidate Master (WCM) title for winning a bronze medal in the World Youth Chess Championship, which was held at Caldas Novas in Brazil from November 17 to 27, 2011. Nine-year-old Saina of Bhubanswar will be the youngest and 11th Fide title holder from Odisha.
The previous 10 comprising five International Masters (Sekhar Chandra Sahu, Swayangsu Satyapragyan, Debashis Das, Anwesh Upadhyaya, Swayams Mishra), two Woman Grandmasters (Padmini Rout, Kiran Manisha Mohanty), two Fide Masters and one Woman Fide Master.
Besides Saina, three other Indian youngsters have been eligible to get Fide titles for their medal-winning performance in the World Youth Chess Championship. Among the trio L N Ram Aravind and Murali Kartikeyan would get the Fide Master (FM) title, while V S Rathanvel would receive the Candidate Master (CM) honour. Saina earlier won titles in the National U-7 Girls` Chess Championship and Asian School Chess Championship.
