The much awaited “North Zone Inter University Chess Tournament (Men and Women)” by Association of Indian Universities- AIU (Inter University Sports Board of India) concluded today at Amity University, Noida with Delhi University Chess Team lifting the Winners’ Trophy.
The valediction Ceremony of the tournament was graced by Mr. Bharat Chauhan, Chief Executive Officer, World Chess Federation (FIDE) & Deputy President, Asian Chess Federation; Dr. Ashok K Chauhan- Founder President, Amity Group; Dr. Gurdeep Singh, Jt. Secretary (Sports), Association of Indian Universities (AIU),Mr. K C Joshi- UP Chess Association and Mr. AK Verma- Delhi Chess Association.
Presenting a summary of the Tournament, Prof. Kalpana Sharma, Organizing Secretary, North Zone Inter University Chess (Men & Women) Tournament thanked AIU for entrusting the responsibility of hosting “North Zone Inter University Chess Tournament” at Amity from October 28-31, 2014. She shared that the Tournament was played in accordance with FIDE rules and 6 rounds were conducted with assistance from the officials from UP Chess Association and Delhi Chess Association. She revealed that over 160 participants from 31 Universities across the North zone participated in the Tournament including Punjab University, Chandigarh; Jawaharlal University, Bundelkhand University, Jhansi, Kurukshetra University, Punjab Technical University and others.
Mr. Bharat Chauhan, Chief Executive Officer, World Chess Federation (FIDE) praised Dr. Ashok K Chauhan and Amity for extensively promoting Chess and other sports in the country. He shared that India leads the world with highest number of rated Chess players. He encouraged and motivated players to keep practicing hard since participation in Tournaments is more important than winning or loosing.
Addressing the gathering, Dr. Ashok K Chauhan- Founder President, Amity Group said that Sports are very important for holistic grooming and Chess inculcates lot of virtues in players such as confidence, leadership skills, decision making, and healthy competitive spirit. Dr. Chauhan announced the launch of “Amity Chess Club” at Amity University which would act as a “Centre of Excellence for Chess”. He shared that the key objective of Club would be to identify the potential star players of Chess and would provide them requisite infrastructure and training to excel at National and International Tournaments. A 5 member Committee has also been instituted to initiate the functioning of Amity Chess Club.
Dr. Gurdeep Singh, Jt. Secretary (Sports), Association of Indian Universities (AIU) thanked Amity University for scientifically and professionally hosting the Tournament. He stressed that Sports is a great practical education; a player admits the mistakes he commits in the field, learns from them and is strong enough to overcome his weaknesses. He called upon the students to take up Sports for career, recreation and entertainment and advised them that winning and loosing is part of the game; most important is how much heart and soul is poured in while striving for success.
The 6 round Tournament was played as per Swiss league system, wherein all the teams played all rounds without any knock out. The winning team was declared after the last round by amassing the scores gathered in different rounds by the concerned team members. More than 41 FIDE rated players participated in the tournament. Over 4 Arbiters from Delhi Chess Association and 4 Arbiters from UP Chess Association were roped in to ensure the fair playing.