Woman Fide Master Christine Namaganda returned from India where she has spent the last ten days representing the country at the Commonwealth Chess Championships that were hosted at the prestigious The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel in New Delhi.
Namaganda’s results weren’t very pleasing to the eye. The former national champion earned just two points collected from a solitary win and a couple of draws, and as a result, finished 112th, six places adrift of her start rank at the event.
The Olympian had prior the championships set sights on a medal but her awful start meant disassociating herself from the top positions and eventually, the dream wasn’t fulfilled.
The 31-year-old admitted she wasn’t amused by her performance, but nonetheless rates the tournament as her best. She says it was a mind-blowing experience, one that taught her a great deal.
She says: “I travelled safely thanks to my sponsors who made the trip possible. We reached Delhi a place with fancy hotels and I was out to play in the Open category which itself was a great experience.
“I expected a lot from the tournament. I expected a win in my first game and a better performance generally. This was the first tournament I was playing with one heart. I was very settled and expected much, but the Indians are honestly better than us. They really work hard and for them, chess is life. They are too good and are middle game experts.
“However, I learnt so much from the championships and it is knowledge I intend to impart in my students. It was my best ever tournament.”
Namaganda’s lone victory came in the fourth round after she’d endured three successive defeats. The rated 1565 beat Akshitha Goud Pally [1156] before disappointing herself with a draw against unrated Chennakesavula Madhura Lalasa who she says she underrated and Bangladesh WIM Hamid Rani in the sixth and seventh rounds respectively.
“To be honest, I undermined her [Lalasa] and guess what? I was two pieces down. I had to fight for a draw. Against the WIM [Rami], I was winning the game but didn’t know how to convert to a win and ended up drawing.”
Indian Grandmaster Gupta Abhijeet won the event with 7.5 points. he was winning it for third year running.
