The South Zone inter-university chess tournament got under way here on Tuesday with 57 teams vying for the top honours. The best four universities will qualify to represent the zone at the All-India Inter-University Chess Tournament in Meerut later this month.
Teams from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Kerala will play seven rounds in the Swiss system format.
The tournament was inaugurated by International Master Stany George Antony from Shivamogga.Mr. Antony lauded the facilities at the university to conduct a chess tournament of this size and urged the authorities to consider hosting an international grand masters tournament. In response, H.S. Ballal, Pro-Chancellor, MAHE, agreed.
Osmania University, Hyderabad, is the top seed with an average rating 2158, followed by Anna University, Chennai (2121), and University of Madras, Chennai (2111). International Master Al Muthaiah (2408) from SRM University, Fide Master Sai Agni Jeevithes (2336) from Osmania University, Kumaran B. from University of Madras, and Ajay Krishna (2289) from Anna University are the star players of the championship.
At the end of the second round, 12 teams are leading with four match points each.
Important results of Round II: Osmania University (4) defeated University of Kerala (2); University of Calicut (2) lost to Anna University (4); University of Madras (4) defeated Andhra University (2); Bharathiar University (2) lost to SRM University (4); PES University (2) lost to Kannur University (4); Manonmaniam Sundaranar University (2) lost to National Institute of Technology, Karnataka (4); Mangalore University (4) defeated Acharya Nagarjuna University (2)
