Pesandu, Pranieth, Oshini, Dulinma take top honours
View(s):With the participation of more than 1000 players, the tournament was held across both the Open and Women’s sections and the tournament stood out for some exceptional performances by a few chess prodigies who went head to head with the best chess players in the country.
The Blitz event in the Open section was won by Pesandu Rashmitha Liyanage, who scored 8.5 out of a possible 9 points. The silver medal was won by FM T.S.S. Peiris while chess prodigy, 9-year-old Chenitha Karunasena, took home the bronze medal with a similar score.
The Rapid event was won by Pranieth Chandrasekara with Chenitha shining once again to secure a well-deserved silver medal. The bronze medal was won by another youngster with 11-year-old Vinuka Wijerathna. All three medallists scored 8 out of a possible 9 points and were only separated by tiebreaks.
In the Women’s section, the Blitz event was dominated by the national champion, 12-year-old WFM Devindya Oshini Gunawardena, who dominated the field to score a perfect score of 8 points. The entire podium was occupied by young chess talent with 14-year-old AFM Dulinma Rathnayake winning silver and 17-year-old and WCM K.M. Dahamdi Sandula winning bronze. The Rapid championship was won by AFM Dulinma Rathnayake, who had earlier won the silver medal in the Blitz event. The 15-year-old Esandi Newansa took home the silver medal with both of the top two finishers scoring 7 out of 8 points. The bronze medal was taken by WCM Sayuni Jayaweera with 6.5 out of 8 points.