Calcutta lifts Dr Karan Singh trophy

Calcutta University which had fielded six FIDE Rated players was given the top billing , followed by the defending champion , Madras and former champion Mumbai. The inaugural round was not without any hiccup when Mumbai was surprisingly held to a draw by the Kerala University. Calcutta too had a set back in the very next round when Dipanjan Das tasted a defeat at the hands of Vinod Sharma of Indore. Madras and Calicut scored a facile victory (4 - 0) over Delhi and South Gujarat respectively to share the lead with 8.0 points each. In the third round fate proved to be too cruel against the champion team Madras when its captain P Rajesh blundered away a piece against Niramal in a clearly won position. This helped Calicut to equalise the score by 2-2 , however for Madras this costly miss was the beginning of all its sufferings in the future rounds to come.

In the fourth round Madras bounced back to form by targeting a full four points to lead the table once again with 14.0 points with Calicut closely behind with 13.5 points. The fifth round too the defending champs Madras slipped, when Preetham Sharma got check mated by a pawn in a queen up position (!) against Dipanjan Das in the top board (see game). This lucky 2.5 - 1.5 victory was in fact a turning point for the top seed to soar high and eventually the second seed Madras started sliding down. End of fifth round saw the under dogs Calicut emerging as the sole leaders with 17.0 points. Calcutta and Madras shared the second spot with 15.5 each.

In the sixth round encounter, Calcutta edged out Calicut by a narrow margin of 2.5 - 1.5 to take up the lead for the first time. Half a point behind them was Madras with 17.5 points who were held to a draw by the fourth seed Nagpur University. Another dark horse of the tournament M.D.University, Rohtak anchored by national under 18 champion Himanshu Sharma, shocked last year runner up Osmania in this round to occupy the third spot with 17 points. However Calcutta halted their dream run by inflicting 3.5 - 0.5 defeat in the seventh round. In yet another crucial match Madras was beaten by Mumbai and the defending champions were almost out of the race now.

With two more rounds left, Calcutta (21.5) consolidated its lead by 1.5 points , Mumbai and Calicut were on 20.0 points each. The eighth round battle between Mumbai and Calcutta was a Waterloo for the latter when they lost by 1.5 - 2.5. But still Calcutta (23 points) topped the table with a slender half a point lead over Mumbai. Osmania defeated Calicut to move on to the third place with 22 points. They were closely followed by Calicut, Nagpur and Utkal from Orissa ( led by the national U- 25 champion Sathyapragyan ), all with 21.5 points. Going by the trend of the tournament, even at this stage it was too early to predict anything about the final outcome.

More than the expectations, Calcutta was simply impressive in the ninth and the final round when they struck a thumping 4-0 victory over Nagpur and set a winner's target of 27.0 points. Mumbai also scored a fluent 3.5 - 0.5 win over Osmania to become runner up with 26.0 points. Delhi which came from far behind finished third. Their unbelievable last round score of 4.0 against formidable Manipur University (which had routed teams like Mumbai in the earlier rounds) invited lot of protests from other teams, but nevertheless fetched them the bronze. The defending champs Madras finished well below their best at the fifth place.

The tourney more than anything catches the breath, for the historic nature of the place. Time stands still, and the feeling of touching upon a civilization that is so old, leaves a great tinge of nostalgia that is hard to describe. The city of Gaya is more than 2000 years old, and scores of foreigners flock the place to have a glimpse of the place where Prince Gautama became the "Buddha" under the well preserved Bodhi tree. Fitting the top seed Calcutta, another city that is more than three centuries old, won the title, summing up the fortnight of Inter Varsity extravaganza.

Rank	University	Pts
1	Calcutta	27.0
2	Mumbai	26.0
3	Delhi	24.5
4	Utkal	24.0
5	Madras	23.5
6	Calicut	23.0
7-9	Osmania	22.5
7-9	Maharishi Dayanand	22.5
7-9	Bharathiyar	22.5
10	Nagpur	21.5

Board	Player	University	Pts
First	Vinod Sharma	DAV Vidyalaya Indore	8.5/9
Second	Gohad Sandeep Avinash	Pune	7.5/9
Third	Debashish Mukerjee	Calcutta	8.5/9
Fourth	Rakesh Kumar	L N Mishra	8/9
Fifth	Pawan Dhanwant	Amaravathi	7/7

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