Calcutta, Feb. 14 :     The Goodricke International Open is the only annual chess event in the country where Indian players get a taste of top international flavour. It gives them the opportunity to secure Grandmaster norms as not many tournaments in India attract that strong a field. Among those to have made most of this chance this year is Sandipan Chanda, who secured his maiden GM norm after a seven-move draw with Abhijit Kunte in the tenth round today. Kunte became India's fourth GM but Sandipan had a memorable outing, beating three GMs and drawing with as many, including former world title challenger Viktor Korchnoi. Scalping GMs, however, is nothing new to this 16-year-old. He had upset three others earlier, the first one at age 14. 'The third match here against Viorel Iordanescu was most satisfying as was the one versus Korchnoi,' Sandipan, a find of The Telegraph Schools meet, said. But securing the norm was nowhere on his agenda when he filled in the application form. His recent performance, including the Millennium Open here, was unimpressive which cost him nine Elo rating points. 'I didn't quite think of points or norms but concentrated on playing well,' Sandipan said. And that was exactly what GMs Toni Najdoski, Iordanescu and Jozsef Horvath found out. The Goodricke National Chess Academy student maintained that he had not set any target for himself. 'My only aim at the moment is to play well, not going after titles.' GM Pravin Thipsay, who beat Sandipan in the Goodricke meet in 1998, thinks the youngster has made huge progress since. 'He's a natural player who doesn't care much about theories. This is important as this is the age to let one's natural style blossom. Also, he has matured a lot in these few years,' Thipsay observed. Striking aspect The most striking aspect of Sandipan's game, as pointed out by his coaches, is his natural aggressive instinct. Ironically, the coaches added, that quite often leads to his downfall. But Sandipan said he doesn't want to change his style. 'I have to tighten up my opening but not by compromising my style.' His opening, thinks GM Dibyendu Barua, is the area which needs immediate attention. 'Tactically, he's very sharp, very dynamic. He never plays for a draw which is significant, but his opening is not as good,' Barua told The Telegraph. Barua thinks poor opening can put a player under extra pressure as one spends a lot of time in middle-game to recover. 'Sandipan's middle-game is very good which helps him make up. But he should pay more attention to his opening as that will enable him to play the middle-game more freely and also help him save some time,' Barua noted. Barua, who took just two years to collect his final norm after clinching the first in 1989, thinks Sandipan should play a lot more tournaments now, to make most of this momentum. 'He's in the right rhythm and expectations are not mounting. This helps him to play freely which may not be the case some years later. He may not get as many chances to experiment,' he said. Sandipan is aware of the fact that his opening has to be better. That is the feedback he got from his coaches and even from some of his rivals here, like Horvath whom he beat in the fifth round. 'Sandipan is brilliant in attack and can touch the 2600 Elo mark but it will be difficult to go further with such opening,' Horvath had said after their match. Sandipan, who leaves for Sangli for another international meet beginning February 21, knows he can have a go at his second GM norm there. But, he insisted, his target is to just play well.