Susal and Niklesha win Sri Lanka championship
16-year-old Susal De Silva of Nalanda College won the Sri Lanka National Chess Championship after a heavy battle with his rival main Ranindu Dilshan Liyanage of Ananda College, the National Chess Champion 2020. After the penultimate round, Susal led the field with 11 points, a half a point ahead of Ranindu. Susal drew the final round direct encounter against Ranindu and clinched National Chess Championship. He received Rs. 100,000/= in cash with the Gold Medal and the championship trophy. Ranindu Dilshan Liyanage (Ananda College) also had a good event where he dropped only 2 points (making four draws) and netted 11 points. He was awarded the Silver Medal with Rs. 50,000/=. Young Thumula Kiriella (Ananda C) performed remarkably well to win bronze 8 points and Rs. 30,000/=. Final standings open: 1 De Silva L M S T (FM) 2131 12 2 Liyanage Ranindu Dilshan (FM) 2300 11 3 Kiriella K G T S D 1608 8 4 De Silva Osheen 1806 7½ 5 Theekshana H G Denuwan 2045 7½ 6 Sivathanujan S 1828 7 7 Weerasinghe C C 1784 6 8 Dahanayake Isara Banidu (CM) 1721 6 9 Sanudula K M Dahamdi (WCM) 1653 6 10 Senevirathne S D B K 1660 6 11 Piyumantha M Thisal Manjith 1818 5½ 12 Ahangama Senuka Aswin 1654 3½ 13 Nabil Nazar Mohamed 1499 3 14 Gunathilake M D Vinuda Shenal 1415 2½ Niklesha Tharushi of Visakha Vidyalaya convincingly won the Women’s National Chess Championships. After a bumpy start, losing the first two games, Niklesha came back strongly to finish on 9 points out of 13 games. Niklesha beat Chethani Chamathka, Esha Pallie, Oshini Gunawardena, Sayumi Gamage, Nemindi Ramanayake. Niklesha received Rs. 60,000/=, gold medal and the championship trophy. Young Esandi Newansa of Dharmasoka College also did a good job beating the bronze winner Dasuni in the penultimate round to earn silver and Rs. 30,000/= with 8½ points out of 13. Dasuni slipped on the final day, losing two games and getting out of the contest for gold, but she scored 8 points to get Rs. 20,000/= with the bronze medal. Final standings women: 1 Tharushi T H D Niklesha (WCM) 1711 9 2 Newansa M Esandi 1163 8 3 Mendis Dasuni Hansika (WFM) 1664 8 4 Pallie Ehsha Mishela (WCM) 1533 7½ 5 Gamage Desandhi Dhihansa 1314 7½ 6 Abeysinghe H M H Janandani 1486 7 7 Ranganath Tharuli Vihasna 1348 7 8 Ramanayake Nemindi Linaya 1328 6½ 9 Gunawardhana Devindya Oshini 1371 6½ 10 Attanayake Chanindi Mewna 1317 6½ 11 Vithanawasam Oneli 1345 6 12 Chamthka W A Chethani 1267 4½ 13 Herath H M R M K 1559 4½ 14 Gamage B K Sayumi Hasithma 1154 2½ The SL National Chess Championships 202, in a round-robin format, brought together 28 top local players competing in the open and women’s categories. The event took place from 24th to 30th of December 2021 at the Taj Samudra Hotel, Colombo, with the awards ceremony held in the presence of Mr Luxman Wijesuriya, the President of Chess Federation and Vice President of Asian Chess Federation as the chief guest. The games are available via the following links: Sri Lanka National Chess Championship – 2021: Link https://view.livechesscloud.com#7fc38dc3-fe7b-4c2f-8562-8d75478229f1 Sri Lanka Womenś National Chess Championship – 2021: Link https://view.livechesscloud.com#b15eb593-90e2-41ef-9314-4f425ef02ce9