University of Madras and Anna University triumph

by R. Anantharaman - 03/11/2016

The South Zone Inter University was held in the second week of October in Chennai. A lot of prominent names like GM Murali Karthikeyan, IM Girish Koushik, IM Antonio Viani D'cunha and others participated in the event. It was won by University of Madras in the Open section and Anna University in the Women's section. International Arbiter R. Anantharaman has sent us a report with all the action, pictures and final standings from this exciting tournament.

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.

University of Madras won the South Zone Inter University tournament 2016. Guess the man who holds the trophy along with the champions? – none other than grandmaster RB Ramesh who motivated the Indian team to win the bronze medal in Olympiad 2014. Harihara Sudhan, Kumaran B, Senthil Maran K, Yogit S, Vinith I and Vasantha Rubavarman are the team members

GM Karthikeyan Murali of SRM won the gold medal on Board one and...

...IM Girish Koushik won gold on Board two

B. Kumaran of Madras won the silver medal on third board

University of Madras vs VTU Belgaum

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.

Ajay Krishna S, Ganesh R, Gireman Ja and Akash PC Iyer of Anna University

Karthikeyan, R. Akash and ML Abhilash Reddy of SRM University (right)

Final Ranking

Rank	Team		MP	Pts.	SBFIDE
1	University of Madras	Chennai	12	22½	377.75
2	SRM University	Chennai	12	21	344.75
3	Anna University	Chennai	11	21	357.25
4	Vishveshvaraya Technological University	Belgaum	11	20½	368.00
5	Manipal University	Manipal	11	18½	252.75
6	Calicut University	Calicut	10	17½	267.25
7	CUSAT, Kerala	Kochi	10	15½	229.25
8	Osmania University	Hyderabad	9	20½	317.00
9	Mahatma Gandhi University	Kottayam	9	18½	271.50
10	Amrita University	Coimbatore	9	18½	261.50
11	Bharathiyar University	Coimbatore	9	18	241.25
12	Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences	Bangalore	9	17½	227.25
13	Acharya Nagarjuna University	Vijayawada	9	17	217.50
14	University of Mysore	Mysore	9	16½	204.25
15	University of Kerala	Thiruvanathapuram	9	15½	215.00

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

WGM Aarthie Ramaswamy distributing the prizes to Anna University. Anna University was represented by world junior championship 2016 silver medallist PV Nandhidhaa, world Youth U 18 silver medallist V. Varshini, WIM Mischelle Catharine, former national junior girls’ champion J. Saranya, N. Hemapriya and G. Aarthi.

Aarthie also inaugurated the men 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.

Varshini receives board prize

Final Ranking – Women

Rank	Team		MP	Pts.	SBFIDE
1	Anna University	Chennai	13	26	434.00
2	Madras University	Chennai	11	22	373.00
3	VTU Belgam	Belgaum	11	19½	305.25
4	University of Kerala	Thiruvananthapuram	11	19	286.00
5	Mangalore University	Mangalore	11	18	256.50
6	JNTU Kakinada	Kakinada	9	18	240.75
7	Bharathiyar University	Coimbatore	9	17½	262.75
8	Kannur University	Kannur	9	17½	244.50
9	Bharathidasan University	Trichy	9	16½	228.50
10	Rajiv Gandhi University of Health sciences	Bangalore	9	16½	221.00
11	Madurai Kamaraj University	Madurai	9	16	192.00
12	Dr.NTR UHS	Vijayawada	9	15	233.75
13	Manonmaniam Sundaranar University	Tirunelveli	8	18½	232.50
14	Acharya Nagarjuna University	Vijayawada	8	15½	207.25
15	University of Mysore	Mysore	8	15	230.00

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