University of Madras and Anna University triumph

University of Madras & Anna University are South Zone Inter University Chess Champions

The abundance of chess talent in the South Indian Universities was witnessed, when Veltech Dr.RR & Dr. SR University, Avadi, located in the outskirts of Chennai organised the South Zone Inter University Chess Tournament for Men from 12th to 15th October 2016 and Women tournament from 8th to 11th October. The event organised in the home town of five times world champion Vishy Anand had fifty nine teams from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. It was a four days team event of seven rounds.

Former under-16 World Champion and grandmaster Murali Karthikeyan and IM Stany G.A of SRM University, Chennai, former under 10 world champion IM Girish Koushik and the latest IM of India Vianni D’cunha of Vishveshvaraya Technological University, Belgaum, Gireman Ja, a member of the gold medal winning Indian team in under-16 Chess Olympiad 2013 and Akash PC Iyer, a member of the bronze medal winning Indian team in Under 16 Chess Olympiad 2012 of Anna University, Chennai are a few names of worth mentioning in the tournament. Several other state champions also took part in the event.

In the fifth round, the leader Anna was forced to split the point with Madras and VTU joined Anna by recording a 3 – 1 win over Osmania. In the clash against Anna, Antonio Viani D’cunha tilted the result in favour of VTU by beating R. Ganesh and the other games were drawn. VTU led the field with 11 match points after six rounds, followed by Madras, SRM and Calicut Universities.

The summit clash between the top two seeds SRM and VTU was expected to produce a pyrotechnic display as a Diwali special. But, SRM outwitted VTU 3 – 1 and Madras defeated Calicut by 3.5 – 0.5. Both SRM and Madras had 12 match points and Madras won the coveted trophy thanks to their better tiebreak score.

Final Ranking

Women Tournament

A total of 45 teams participated, and Anna University was the top seed with an average ELO rating of 2169 followed by Madras University with ELO of 2100 and VTU Belgaum with an ELO of 1703. Out of 258 participants, four were Women International Masters and 3 Women FIDE Master.

Top players who have played in this event are former World Champion in U14 and U18 WIM M. Mahalakshmi, former World Champion U-10 WFM Cholleti Sahajasri, silver medalist at World Junior 2016 WIM P. V. Nandhidhaa, World U-14 bronze medallist WIM G. K. Monnisha, twice Under 20 Commonwealth Chess champion WIM Michelle Catherina, bronze medalist in World U-14 WFM Saranya, and silver medalist in World U-18 championship 2015 Varshini.

Elite chess personalities graced the functions. Grandmaster RB Ramesh, Coach of the Indian team for Olympiad was the chief guest and FT. V. Hariharan, Secretary, All India Chess Federation and TN State Chess Association was the guest of honour for the final day.

It is interesting to note that WGM Aarthie Ramaswamy, wife of RB Ramesh was the chief guest for the women tournament’s valedictory function. It was inaugurated by former Asian champion S. Vijayalakshmi, the recent winner of the National Challengers for Women.

Former Asian Women champion IM Vijalakshmi S inaugurated the women tournament 

Anna University dominated right from the word go and beat third seeded VTU in the fourth round. Meanwhile Madras University having dropped a couple of points were on the second spot. The crucial game between Anna and Madras ended in a truce leaving Anna University a probable champion. In the final round, Anna won against Bharathiar, Madras drew with VTU Belgaum. The top four qualifiers for All India University Championship are Anna University, Madras University, VTU Belgaum & University of Kerala.

Final Ranking – Women

Accredited with A grade by NAAC, Veltech University has supported chess in a big way. The All India Inter Zone Chess Championships are also scheduled here in November. CDIO Worldwide has selected the University as its first member in India. Times of India ranks it as the second best private institution in Chennai. Philanthropists and educationists Dr. Col. Vel Rangarajan Founder President and Dr. Sagunthala Rangarajan evinced keen interest in the organisation of the tournament.

Many prominent players like Murali Karhtikeyan, Girish Koushik, Antonio Viani, B.Kumaran, etc. have submitted their games, with their own analysis for the benefit of the readers. This will follow in a separate report shortly. 

About the Author

Rathinam Anantharam is an A grade international arbiter. He is the

• Councillor in FIDE Arbiters’ Commission
• Chairman of Arbiters’ Commission, All India Chess federation
• Member, Qualification Commission, FIDE
• Member, Pairings & Programs Commission, FIDE
• He has served as chief arbiter for two World Junior, one World Schools Championships, besides several Asian championships and GM tournaments
• He is also a FIDE lecturer