SRM-A Clinches First Edition of India College Chess Championship!

The first season of the 2024 India College Chess Championship came to an amazing finish with the SRM Institute of Technology and Science dominating the event to win the championship title along with ₹3,00,000. It is remarkable that the team won each and every match they played in this season.

Quarterfinals

Jadavpur University (Roaring Dolphins) outplayed BITS Pilani Hyderabad (Martial Knights @ Team Carlsen) with a massive score of 14-2. In the other match, Shri Ram College of Commerce defeated Netaji Subhash University of Technology (NSUT_A) 13.5-2.

Here are some interesting games and moments from the quarterfinals: 

Semifinals

SRM-A dropped just one point against the Jadavpur University, winning 15-1. The other semifinals match between St. Joseph's College of Engineering and Shri Ram College of Commerce was a closely fought duel with the latter winning by one point, 7.5 - 8.5.

IM Srihari L R of SRM-A missed a key idea and allowed a checkmate. Take a look:

In one of the crucial games, Naveen Ks of St. Joseph's College of Engineering missed a great chance to strike. Can you spot it?

Finals

SRM Institute of Technology and Science scored a heavy victory over Shri Ram College of Commerce with a score of 9.5-2.5!

Here is a topsy-turvy game featuring GM Arjun Kalyan:

Here is a story of how White missed the sacrifice twice on g7, then got a third chance and made it count:

Jadavpur University won the match for the third place against St. Joseph's College of Engineering, 8.5 - 3.5.

Here is a quick visualization test from one of the games: 20.Bxc6 bxc6 21.Qxc6 Nc7 and What will you do as White? 

Standings of Top 5 Divisions

Huge congratulations to all the teams that participated in the first edition of India College Chess Championship! The competition is likely to get tougher in the upcoming seasons.

These are the final standings for the top four teams of the first five divisions:

Division 1

1. SRM Institute of Science and Technology
2. Shri Ram College of Commerce
3. Jadavpur University
4. St. Joseph's College of Engineering

Division 2

1. Birla Insitute of Technology and Science Pilani 'A'
2. Vellore Institute of Technology 'B'
3. IIT Hyderabad 'A'
4. Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University, Coimbatore

Division 3

1. Vellore Institute of Technology 'C'
2. Birla Insitute of Technology and Science Pilani Goa Admirals
3. St. Xavier's College Kolkata
4. Birla Insitute of Technology and Science Pilani 'B'

Division 4

1. Kirori Mal College
2. Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (Knightmare)
3. Indian Statistical Institute, Bengaluru
4. Jalpaiguri Government Engineering College

Division 5

1. Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune (C-Cube)
2. IIIT Jabalpur
3. COEP Technological University
4. Vellore Institute of Technology 'D'

Standings of the remaining divisions can be found here. 

Stay tuned for the next season!

The India College Chess Championship is the premier online chess competition for college students in India. It is a team event starting August 22, 2024, and featuring a $15,000 prize fund.