Oshini in Under-10 Girls final
Ranindu Liyanage
Oshini Devindya Gunawardena, a nine-year-old student of Ferguson High School, Ratnapura reached the final of the FIDE Online Youth Chess World Cup, after a nail-biting finish at her tie-breaking Armageddon game.
Oshini adapted a strong style of play in her first game in the semi-final against Russian Diana Preobrazhenskaya and won the game convincingly by sacrificing her Queen to get the check-mated.
Starting the game with two Knights in defense, she sacrificed a pawn at the opening for centre play but white managed to settle the position with an extra pawn after exchanging three minorpieces. But, crafty Oshini found the mate with a Rook and a Bishop by sacrificing the Queen in time troubled situation with her Russian opponent.
Oshini Devindya Gunawardena
In the second game, which was played in the Ruylopez opening, she missed a move in the opening which resulted her losing a minor piece. But, with her active play she managed to get the Bishop back. Still she was less in pawns and lost the endgame.
Having Black pieces at the tie-break game, she outplayed her opponent totally to earn the berth in the final of the world championship.
On her way to the top Oshini beat Maryam El Harrak Maryam of Morocco, Nihira Koul of India, Purichaya Chinkulkitniwat of Thailand, V.C. Nivedita of India, Yatee Kothari of India and Myagmar Tselmeg of Mongolia. She drew against Arya Aydogan of Turkey, Megan Althea Paragua of the USA, but lost to Aadhya Jain of India, Nguyen Mai Chi of Vietnam and finished with 7 points.
In addition to Oshini, the National champion, CM Ranindu Liyanage of Ananda College and third seed Susal de Silva of Nalanda College were included in the final stage of the World Youth Chess Cup 2021. Ranindu appeared in the Under-18 Open, while Susal competed in the Under-16 Open.
Susal de Silva
Susal, one of the strongest players in the country, had the best performance among
Sri Lankans at the event, with a score of 7½ points out of 10 games in the Under-16 Open event. Susal beat Rayen Ajili of Tunisia, Anon Taulananda of Thailand, Surapaneni Chidvilash Sai of India, Arjun Sidharth of India, Balaji Aaravamudhan of England, Popov Konstantin of Russia and Diego Saul Rodri Flores Quillas of Peru. He drew against Hriday Dharmesh Sheth of India but lost to Maksim Tsaruk of Belorussia and Aaryan Varshney of India to rank 15th in his age group in the world.
Ranindu, playing against the strongest opponents of the world, managed to score 7 points out of 10 games as Oshini. Ranindu beat Salima Praise of Malawi, Lasha Kachkachishvili of Georgia, Justine Diego Mordido of Philippines, Tarun Kanyamarala of Ireland, Ayush Sharma of India and Ahmad Ahmadzada of Azerbaijan. He drew with Indians Mohan Kushagra and Anuj Shrivatri, and lost to International Master Rautela Saksham of India and Grandmaster Batsuren Dambasuren of Mongolia on his way to gain 7 points.
The FIDE Online World Cup 2021 — Youth and Cadets conducted by the International Chess Federation is organised by the Georgian Chess Federation this year. The World Cup has 10 categories of Under-10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 in Open and Girls segments. The event is held online in the Tornelo platform with 10 rounds per each category followed by a 16-player knockout stage.