Arcadia Day 2 – Spotlight: Chess

“Silently they made history!”

It’s not often that chess hogs the limelight when there is a wide array of spectator-friendly sports going on around the campus but today was an exception. The day clearly belonged to the royal game – possibly it was time for the silent game to make the loudest noise!

Chess was slotted to begin at 4:30 PM. Division A won its match against CM and BM won its quarterfinal against CMB. The much-awaited quarterfinal match between HR and defending champions ‘F’ began around 6:15 PM. All three boards went beyond 30 minutes. After the first two boards finished, it was all fair and square at 1-1. HR cracked under pressure to give F division their semi-final berth.

In the semi final again, division F had their task cut out. They had to meet a formidable opponent in division A. The score line 3-0 in F’s favour does not reflect the true intensity of the match, which was of a different level. It was bitter, well-fought and was a thoroughly deserved victory for the favourites. There were some hard moments when board two went into time pressure for both players. Experience prevailed in the end. While all this was happening, division D had another relatively easy outing against BM. They romped home with an early 2-0 lead. The last game never seemed to finish. It went on and on till over 9 PM and neither of them would budge. In the end, it was cut short.

The stage was set for a final showdown between defending champions F and the surprise package D. The final was on the brink of being postponed for the next day but Council handled the situation well with the admin department and got the last match on. The playing hall experienced a graveyard silence, a rarity in Mumbai in general, and NM in particular. However, given the fact that the match started after 9:15 PM, it was possible that it was this calm. The atmosphere was electric. Natarajan of division F got to a huge advantageous position early on, but his teammates were in a spot of bother mid-way through the match.

A game of Chess in Arcadia doesn’t go on forever. Players have 30 minutes each.

  

You doing okay, Nikhil? (Natarajan(r) may be saying?!)

  Ah! Let me see my game!  (Front board: Vivek (White) – Natarajan, behind: Nikhil (White) – Rahul)

                                 

  Hands on the chair and sitting back… Pressure! (Rohit – Deepanshu)

By the time Natarajan romped home to give his team a 1-0 lead, the D folks were about to have their final say on the result.

 Sitting pretty (Rahul), why not, when your team is doing well!

After some gruelling last minutes, the defending champions ended up biting the dust. Surely, division D needed some Champion’s luck. Division F had strong opponents right from the quarter finals. All said and done, the best team won, and they truly deserved it for the commitment they showed today. D for deadly!