SRM-A Completes Clean Sweep in Division I of India College Chess Championship
SRM-A completed a clean sweep with 7-0 at the end of the regular season of the 2024 India College Chess Championship! (ICCL). Team St. Joseph's College of Engineering conceded just one loss and finished second in the Division I standings.
Team SRM-A picked up wins with massive margins against SRCC (13.5 - 2.5), Roaring Dolphins (11.5 - 4.5) in rounds six and seven respectively. Team St. Joseph clinched victories against VIT-A (12-4) and Roaring Dolphins (9-7).
India Chess College Championship - Week 7 Standings
Chess is BRUTAL
One of the most challenging aspects of chess is that it is unforgiving and brutal. After nurturing an edge for four hours, a player could let it all slip by one blunder in a chess game. Be it at the highest level or at the beginners level, the plots of a game are universal.
Here are some examples where one move changed the result in totality. Black has just played 39...Re6.
And I will leave it to you to figure out why 40.Qxe6 turned out to be a blunder!
In the next example, a very innocuous-looking exchange costs the game. One has to be careful whenever an exchange is under question since exchanges are non-reversible!
The London System has earned a good reputation for kingside attacks and White was on the verge of winning the game. Check out the swindle:
Time for Tactics
If you are able to spot the key moves in less than 30 seconds, bravo! Let's begin with a simple position:
Be careful when you touch your f-pawn. In this case, Black went from being slightly worse to lost in one move with ...f6-f5:
White is winning, but can you finish off in five moves?
As per the attacking manuals, If you have at least three pieces aimed at the king, there is a high chance of succeeding, and this puzzle shows you why. Note that I have deliberately kept the line long so that you find all the precise moves till White collapses.
What's next?
The playoffs season has begun and the top-six teams of each division have qualified to play the playoffs of their respective divisions. 
The top-six teams of Division I qualified to the playoffs: 
In Division 2, BITS Pilani 'A' team scored a perfect 7/7!
In Division 3, Xaviers Team 'A' topped the regular season. 
The battle for the top prizes will continue, and we will bring you updates on the next set of rounds soon.
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.
