Inter Universities 2010

SOUTH WEST

       This time, SRM chess team was much stronger than ever before. The old people - Prem, Aravind and myself were there. Vishnu, Shanmuganathan (jammu), Adhiban, Sethu and Shyam were the new people :) So, there was, as they say in cricket, 'problem of plenty', which is good in the context of the team. Adhiban was in China, playing Asian games and Sethu went to Poland for a closed round robin. So, Vishnu, Prem, Aravind, Shyam, Tr and I were the teammates for both South west and All India (yeah, we know we will qualify).

       I was the Captain again as usual... But I can tell u, I really enjoy this tag! :) As usual, the manager and coach tell me some stuff before the matches; board order discussions, it's tough but fun at the same time. This time, the event was held at Sathyabama University ( http://www.sathyabamauniversity.ac.in/ )... home ground, it was easy to go and come; anyway, I stayed there... just for the so-called 'team spirit!'

The only teams that could put up some resistance against us were Anna University, VTU (Visweswaraiah Technological University)- that's it! Madras University was more or less without its star players this time around since everyone had already passed out - they completed their degrees! :) So, all we had to do was put up a decent performance against these two teams. We drew with Anna ... The fact that Anna University players had exams during the event helped us - they could not perform much; I really felt bad for the team... (We would have won anyway - that's a different thing!) We won the tournament with a phenomenal 31 / 36 - a South West record... We were really happy about our performance. Everyone - the players, the officials and the University people!

What makes team SRM click? More than the strength of the team (which is obvious), the secret is simply the 'team spirit'. A fact worth mentioning is that, a few months ago in Haryana, I had a chance to read 'Time to Declare' - the autobiography of Michael Vaughan.His captaincy experiences really helped me handle our team this time around. On paper, our team is quite strong; but when it comes to team, it's a new team and I had to bring the people together. I am happy that I handled quite well. The board order discussions were much better this year than all the previous years; the players enjoyed playing more than the last two years; lastly, the communication was great within the team!

        Shanmuganathan did an excellent job - above all, he came to play just after recovering from Conjunctivitis; he uploaded photos in facebook almost on the same days and influenced the team to a great extent. Vishnu gave me valuable suggestions before every game. Shyam played all games - he and I have made a sort of record - We have played in the same team for 4 different teams - Velammal school, Chennai Juniors, Chennai UT Dallas match and now... SRM. Prem and Aravind really enjoyed - they travelled together every time... This way, every one felt important in the team and played their part! It was a great experience altogether for me! Lots of lessons learnt too!
Also, I had the chance to meet some old friends - H__ Modi, Shri__ Raj, Sudhar___ and so on! It was great from a social viewpoint too!

Once again, congrats team SRM! :)

ALL INDIA

       The All India was again held at the Magadh University in Bodh Gaya and I can tell u - it's not the place u would like to visit. The campus is simply horrible - tasteless food; poor accommodation, no entertainment and almost no Internet which meant that there is not much connection with the outer world. We have visited this place in 2008 , so we knew the place very well. Anyway, we had to go there and play again.

Shyam could not make it due to unavoidable reasons. However, Vishnu offered to play - which was a great decision. He had to leave on the night of 8th to the National Premiers in New Delhi. Somehow, he made it!

        So - Vishnu, TR, Prem, Aravind and I - this was the team for All India. VTU and Anna University could not make it to All India due to reasons known to no one (or rather , not worth mentioning here!). Osmania and SRM from South West; Delhi, Amritsar, Magadh (home team) and Muzaffarpur from the North east.6 teams, 5 rounds... It was a relatively easy draw for SRM this time and we were determined to win the title convincingly. Delhi was the team to beat. Unfortunately, we only drew with them - I lost to Hemant so at the end of round 2, Delhi and SRM were on 5.5/8. But deep down, I knew this was enough for us because Delhi did not have the 'depth' to blank their opponents 4-0 in the rest of the games. And guess what, that was exactly what happened. The last 3 rounds, SRM blanked Osmania, Magadh and Muzaffarpur 4-0 and finished with 17.5/20 while Delhi could not do the same. So, we won the title with relative ease. Also, all the five players except of course Shyam, won board prizes (if Shyam had come, we would have got only on 4 boards)!

        In the closing ceremony, they invited me to talk on stage. It was a sudden call, somehow I managed! :D I did not mess up, thank God!

        This time, we had a rest day and we managed to play two games of Cricket with Delhi and Osmania people; it was a great rest day! We also had time to visit the historic place of Buddha at Gaya. It was a great trip , ok, we managed to make it memorable!

This was our first title in All India and I am extremely happy about it! Congrats guys!

As they say, "SRM rocks!" - the team which always redefined team spirit! :)