Gopal aims to become Super GM

Kochi, Jun 3 (UNI) G N Gopal, the first Grand Master from Kerala and 16th from India, today said it was his ambition to become a Super Grand Master and break into the top ten in the world.

Talking to reporters here, prior to his departure for the pre-Olympiad training camp in Bangalore, the 18-year-old Gopal said he had benefited a great deal from his 24-day training under world class coach Lev Psakhia recently.

Talking of his training with Lev, which was sponsored by leading Kerala-based financial services company Geojit, he said he focused on the technical and psychological aspects of his game.

Gopal is the youngest among the six-member Indian team selected for the 38th Chess Olympiad, to be held in Dresden, Germany, from November 12-25.

The other members were Shashi Kiran, P Harikrishna, Sandeepan, Surya Shekhar Ganguly and Abhijit Kunde.

Gopal, currently ranked seventh in the country, said he had also been selected to represent India at the World Mind Games, to be held in China from October 1 to 16.

Regretting that the Kerala Government had not given him any recognition despite being the only GM from the State, Gopal, however, said he was not worried.

''I am focusing on my goal of becoming a Super GM,'' he added.

UNI ARC GD RAR HT1745