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The Inter University North Zone Chess Tournament, organised by UP Chess Association, was held from 5th to 9th October at Bundelkhand University, Jhansi. 26 teams from different state universities participated in the tournament. The tournament strictly followed World Chess rules and was supervised by Mr. A.K. Raijada, Secretary of UP Chess Association.

Delhi University, yet again, won the whole lot, i.e. all the 12 matches of the tournament, and has successfully made their way to the Nationals which would be held in Tamil Nadu during the coming winter. “I have never seen such a big margin in the final result. It is the first time I have witnessed a team scoring full points in North Zone Tournament.” said Mr. A.K. Raijada.

The Delhi University team comprised of total 6 students; Yogesh Gautam, Ankit Gajwa (All India Open below 2000 champion), Prince Bajaj (Asian Games medalist), Aishwarya Sinha (Jharkhand state champion), Deep Kapoor (Delhi state champion) and Prachet Sharma (Philadelphia Open below 2000 champion), 4 being from Shri Ram College of Commerce and the remaining 2 from Hindu College and Kirori Mal College respectively. The team was captained by Yogesh Gautam from SRCC, the former champion of the 42nd World Open at Virginia and the 7th New York International.

“We were provided with Shatabdi Train tickets and were give accommodation in a 4 star hotel. The whole tournament was organised and managed remarkably. They were very strict about the rules. Losing a game to me made a chess player Aishwini Grover, with a rating of 1788, so frustrated that he smashed all the pieces to floor and left the hall without signing the score sheet. An appropriate action was taken immediately against him and he was prohibited from playing in the second round.” said Yogesh. In the closing ceremony the winners were felicitated enthusiastically with rounds of applause and cheering.

Tamanna Goel

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