Sri Lanka eye top-three finish at World Chess Olympiad

Sri Lanka will participate in the Level-3 according to the initial rankings and will face Nepal, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Fiji, New Zealand and Japan.

The Sri Lanka Team consists of two men, two women, one Under-20 Junior Boy and one Under-20 Junior Girl with the same number of reserves.

The Chess Federation of Sri Lanka (CFSL) has appointed Grandmaster Alexie Barasov as Coach of the team while Luxman Wijesuriya, President, CFSL will work as the Team Manager for the event.

Sri Lanka has a strong team this year and are expected to finish among the top three to advance to the Level-2 event, which will be held next week

Who’s who of the Sri Lanka Chess Team:

Ranindu Liyanage – The current Sri Lanka national champion. He is the first player to represent Sri Lanka at the FIDE Chess World Cup in 2021. He was selected for the final round of the FIDE Online Youth World Cup 2021. He is a schoolboy of Ananda College, Colombo. He represented Sri Lanka at the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2020.

Minul Doluweera (FIDE Master) – Sri Lanka National champion 2017. He is the best player produced by Royal College, Colombo and is a student of the Medical Faculty of the University of Colombo. He represented Sri Lanka at the FIDE Chess Olympiad in 2018 and at the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad in 2020.

Susal de Silva (FIDE Master) – The strongest youth chess player in Sri Lanka at present. He was placed third at the last Sri Lanka National Chess Championship and has qualified for the second round of the FIDE Online Youth Chess World Cup 2021.

Dinushki Premanath (Women’s FIDE Master) – She won the Sri Lanka Women’s National Chess Championship twice in 2010 and 2018. She is one of the most experienced Women’s chess players in the country with the participation of few Chess Olympiads.

Sachini Ranasinghe (Women’s International Master) – She is the first player to achieve the Women’s International Masters title and the only player to win the Asian Zonal Chess Championships in 2011. She is the first and only Sri Lankan chess player to compete at the FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup 2012. She has won the Sri Lanka Women’s National Chess Championships four times in 2009 and from 2011 to 2014 and has represented the country in many Chess Olympiads.

Sanudula Dahamdi – She is the most promising female chess player in the country. She won a Silver Medal at the FIDE Queen’s Chess Festival recently.

She won the Sri Lanka Women’s Grand Prix 2021 as well. 14-year-old Dahamdi studies at Musaeus College, Colombo.

Isuru Alahakoon – The most experienced player who is from the Sri Lanka Navy. He won the Sri Lanka National Chess Championship four times from 2012 to 2014 and 2018. He has represented the country in many events including several FIDE Chess Olympiads.

Rasika Samaranayake – A newcomer to the team. He played in the last National Chess Championship.

Tharushi Niklesha – One of the strongest female chess players in Sri Lanka. She has represented the country at the FIDE Chess Olympiad/Online Chess Olympiad as well. She is a student of Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo.

Sandeepani Tharushi – She is a student of Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Colombo. She won the Silver Medal at the last National Chess Championship.

Ashvini Pavalachandran – She is a student of Wycherley International School. She was a member of the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2020 as well. (D.R)