Sri Lanka hosts Asian Junior Chess Championships from Friday

Chess Federation of Sri Lanka will host eight of their Asian counterparts when the Asian Junior Chess Championship is held here from Friday. The event conducted by the Asian Chess Federation will be organized by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka. It will be worked off from December 17 to 23 at Citrus Hotel, Waskaduwa.

The event is for players in the Under 20 age category and will be held according to the Swiss System in nine rounds. The Chess Federation of Sri Lanka ranks the event as the most prestigious chess event for players in the under 20 category in Asia.

Eight countries, India, Iran, Maldives, UAE, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan have registered for the event despite the problems associated with the Covid 19 pandemic.

Sri Lanka will field a team of 25 players in both boys and girls events under the captaincy of Ranindu Liyanage. The Anandian Liyanage, Nalanda College’s Susal de Silva and Dharmasoka College Ambalangoda player Sasith Nipun Piyumantha are the top chess players representing Sri Lanka. In the girls’ category, Musaeus College’s Sanudula Dahamdi and Tharushi Niklesha of Visakha Vidyalaya are the leading national players, while Under 10 World Youth Champion Oshini Gunawardena is also taking part.

Chess Federation of Sri Lanka is planning to live stream all games in the CFSL website. The CFSL said that the link will be shared soon.