The second edition of the Ecobank National Schools’ Team Chess Championship came to a rousing conclusion on Saturday, with the University of Lagos laying claim to the tournament trophy, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
A total of 31 tertiary institutions from across the country participated in the tertiary category. After six hotly contested rounds of action, the University of Lagos finished first and went home with the gold medal and the winner’s trophy ahead of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, who ended with the silver medal as runners-up while Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife settled for third place and the bronze medal.
The University of Benin, Edo State finished just outside the podium places in fourth position, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan came fifth, Delta State University Abraka settled for sixth, Lagos State University, Ojo Campus placed seventh while Lagos State University of Science and Technology, Triple E Chess Academy and Chess in Slums Africa make up the top ten positions.
Notable mentions are the University of Ibadan who came 14th, Federal University of Technology, Owerri placed 15th, Yaba College of Technology finished in 20th spot, Redeemers University came a distant 29th, while the University of Nigeria, Nsukka ended in 30th position.
The competition, which is in its second edition, ran for three days. It first began on Thursday with 197 schools contesting the primary schools category, with Jareb Private School emerging as champions.
Day two action went down on Friday and it saw 134 secondary schools from across the country taking part, with Platform School winning the title. Saturday’s action brought the event to a close with UNILAG earning the right to be called national champions. Asides a prize pool of N20 million which was shared by the top ten schools in each category, there were gifts and cash prizes for all the board games numbering 1-5.