SRM-A Unstoppable With 5-0 In India College Championship
SRM-A are on a winning spree as they have won all the matches so far after week five of the 2024 India College Chess Championship! (ICCL).
Their winning streak in the last three matches included heavy scores like 15-1 in round three, 16-0 in round four and 11-5 in round five. In addition to GMs Pranesh M and Arjun Kalyan, one of the key members of their team is IM Srihari L R , who has won all the last twelve games that he has played.
Roaring Dolphins (Jadavpur University) are trailing the leaders by one point as they lost to St. Joseph's College of Engineering.
India Chess College Championship - Week 5 Standings 
Interesting Moments
If there was one opening that could top the list of "innocuous-looking but dangerous," the London system would easily make it. In this game, Pranesh faced a huge attack and was on the verge of losing the game, but he got lucky and went on to play one of the longest games of the event!
Talking of the shortest game, it was a mouse slip that led to the loss in this game:
You may have heard of Savielly Tartakower's quote, "Blunders are all there on the board, waiting to be made." You will be able to relate to it by checking out this example where your task is to find out the losing move that White played here:
If you got the blunder, good! If not, it is a good idea to work on the patterns as prompts like these can tell you what kind of moves to NOT play in a game.
When an attack is well coordinated, the finishing blow or ensuring that the attack succeeds becomes pertinent. Here is a great example of a successful attack from Srihari:
Tactical Shots
In a clash between two International masters, White made use of a tactical opportunity:
White to play and checkmate in three!
Find White's threat and accordingly find the best move for Black:
Grob Saga Continues
In the games of Week 3 to Week 5, White tried seven different options on the first move and it included 1.g4!?.
In Division 2, BITS Pilani 'A' Team are leading with a perfect 5/5! 
In Division 3, it is a close run between BITS Goa Admirals and BITS Pilani 'B' Team as they both have scored four wins and have dropped a point. 
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.
