Chess: National Super League from February 26

The National Inter-Club Super League Chess Championship 2021, the premier competition organised and conducted by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka (CFSL) will take place from February 26 to March 2 at the Sanhinda Hall in Gangodawila, Nugegoda.

Ten teams have been identified as eligible for the Super League competition with defending champions, University of Sri Jayewardenepura coming in as firm favourites.

Other teams in fray are Kandy YMCA Chess Club, Nf3 Chess Club, Maroons Chess Club, Grand Prix Chess Club, Blue and Gold Chess Club, Anandians Chess Club, SL Navy Chess Club, Super Knights Chess Club and Pera Knights Chess Club.

Each team will comprise of six players and two reserves according to the tournament regulations. 

The event will be held on round robin for nine rounds and teams are given a deadline until February 18, to notify their respective pools of 10 players each. 

The competition organisers will then select the final eight players who will be representing their teams in the Super League.

Each team will be allowed to include two foreign players, but, they should adhere to the Government COVID guidelines.

The last two teams of the tournament after final game will automatically qualify for the Super League next year and the top two teams of Sri Lanka Inter-Club 'B' this year will be eligible to reach the Super League status in 2022.

The event will be held in accordance to the strict health guidelines issued by the Health Authorities, Sports Ministry and the Sports Medicine Institution. CFSL will offer a total of Rs. 120,000/- as cash awards in addition to other attractive awards.

The reigning champions, University of Sri Jayewardenepura Chess Club consists of skipper Chamika Perera, C.M.S. Praneeth Kumara, Buddhika Amarasinghe, Akhila Rathnayake, Laksith Randhil, K.D.T. Madushan, Chamil Priyankara and G.T.D.M. Premachandra.