Tarini Goyal. (Express Photo) In March this year, as 20-year-old Chandigarh chess player, Tarini Goyal, took to the stage for the Vezerkepzo IM in Budapest, she was full of nerves.
The tournament was Tarini’s first since Februrary 2020, and though she had had enough practice during online tourneys in the interim, she always knew Budapest was going to be her real test of skills.
In the hours that followed, Tarini calmed her nerves and drew upon her well-honed skills to fashion out a win and earn herself her third norm in Vezerkepzo IM — thereby meeting all the criteria to become India’s 43rd Woman International Master (WIM).
Tarini had already crossed the ELO rating of 2200 earlier and earned two WIM norms while playing in Greece (2018) and Abu Dhabi (2019).
“The third International Master (IM) title has come after much wait. I am happy that I could achieve the third IM norm last week in Budapest and become a women IM. It was refreshing to have competed in a series of tournaments after a gap of more than two years. Though I had been playing in some online tournaments in the interim, but I majorly refrained from playing at any offline events due to various reasons — majorly due to safety concerns surrounding Covid-19. In Budapest, there were no restrictions about wearing masks etc at all. But I was a bit nervous due to the fact that I was playing in a tournament for the first time in two years. I am glad that I could return with a WIM title,” said tarini, while speaking to The Indian Express.
The youngster, who was a student of Sacred Heart Convent School, Sector 26, had shifted base to Delhi after getting admission in BA (Economics Honours) at Sri Ram College of Commerce in 2019. Tarini finished ninth in U-18 girls blitz category in the Asian Youth Chess Championship in Thailand, and then represented India at the World Youth Chess Championship the same year in Halkidiki, Greece, earning her first women’s IM norm there.
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