Susal and Chanindi secure gold medals
Susal de Silva of Nalanda College bagged yet another championship to his title collection, when he won the Open segment of the Sri Lanka National ‘B’ Chess Championship 2021 convincingly scoring 7½ points out of 9 possible games with an unbeaten streak.
Susal had no hesitation from the beginning and led the event from the first round to the end just conceding three draws to Denuwan Theekshana, Chehan Weerasinghe and Isara Banindu Dahanayake. He beat six players -- Surath Wijerathne, S.D.B.K. Senevirathna, Sanudula Dahamdi, Buddhika Amarasinghe, Osheen de Silva and Nabil Nazar.
Chanindi Mewna Attanayake of Devi Balika Vidyalaya reached a milestone of her chess career when she beat the alltime leader Desandi Dihansa Gamage to reach the top of the women’s event with a score of 7 points. She lost only one game to Janandani Abeysinge, drew against Chethani Chamathka and Tharushi Niklesha and beat Anujana Sendanayaka, Sathini Liyanage, Minethma Wickramasinghe, Oshini Gunawardena, Dasuni Hansika Mendis and Dehansa to reach 7 points and secure the gold medal.
Theeksana Denuwan of Ananda College had a decent run, which he maintained from the beginning to win the silver medal. Theekshana scored full points against Thisarindu Induwara, Kalindu Deshapriya, Senuka Ahangama, Chehan Weerasinghe, Yasantha Jayaweera and Sanudula Dahamdi. He drew with Susal de Silva and Osheen de Silva, and recorded the only loss against Nabil Nazar in order to settle in at second position.
Nabil Nazar of Gateway College, Colombo had his best event, where he scored 6½ points out of 9 games. He beat Kethushan Janarathnan, Thisal Piyumantha, S. Sivathanujan, Isara Dahanayake and Theekashana Denuwan and drew with T.N. Alahaoon, Chehan Weerasinghe and Senuka Ahangama. His only loss came against Susal de Silva, the champion.
Desandi Dihansa Gamage of Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya had a remarkable event, where she led the event till the penultimate round with 6½ points. She had to be satisfied with the silver medal after a last round loss. She beat Sithuli Sithumya, Kavisha Indrajith, Dasuni Mendis, Nemindi Ramanayake and Esandi Nevansa and drew with Janandani Abesinghe, Oshini Gunawardena and Tharushi Niklesha. Her only loss was in the final game against Chanindi Attanayake.
Tharushi Niklesha also scored 6½ points, and had to settle with the bronze medal due to a poor tiebreaker. She beat Jayandi Bimansa, H.M.R.M.K. Herath, Esha Pallie, Tharuli Ranganath and Janandani Abeysinghe. Tharushi drew against Chethani Chamathka, Chanindi Attanayake, Desandi Gamage and lost to Oshini Devindya Gunawardena.
The Sri Lanka National ‘B’ Chess
Championship the event was held to select players for the Sri Lanka National Chess Championships 2021, that is organised by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka. The competition was held according to Swiss System in nine rounds. The event was internationally rated and was held with the usual time control is 90 minutes and 30 seconds per move.
The reigning national champion, Ranindu Dilshan Liyanage and national top ranked Harshana Thilakarathne qualified directly to play the finals of the National Championships 2021. The top 12 players of the open event will also qualify for the National Championship 2021, alongside 14 players from the Women’s segment, since Nethmi Fernando, the reigning Women’s national champion, has opted not to play in the upcoming finals.
The finals of the National Chess Championships 2021 will be held from December 24 to 31 according to the round robin basis of 13 rounds.