PSPB off to flying start

Pre-match favourites Petroleum Sports Promotion Board started their campaign in style at the National Club Open Team Chess Championship at DAV Public School as they overcame their rivals in the first two rounds with an identical score of 4-0 without much trouble. PSPB rested their top-ranked player Grandmaster Sasikiran for the first two rounds before walking away with perfect scores against Delhi and Punjab.

Meanwhile,Kerala,seeded 11th,registered the first major upset of the tournament as they stunned sixth seed Tamil Nadu in a closely contested second-round match. Seasoned campaigner OT Anil Kumar gave Kerala the perfect start as he overcame higher-rated Ramnath Bhuvanesh. While Ganesh Bhat and FIDE Master P Maheswaran split the point on second table,Venkat Sundram registered a decisive result for Tamil Nadu against Ameer PS on the third board. Young Salil Kumar made the day memorable for Kerala as he beat H Venkatesh to register a 2.5-1.5 win for his team.