2008 Indian Women's National 'A' Chess Championship

Women's National ‘A’ Chess Championship begins this Friday (Begins May 16, 2008) The apex tournament of the women's chess calendar, the Women's National A Chess Championship will begin on May 16 at Majestic Tourist Hotel, Ampitiya Kandy and will see the top female players in the country pitting their wits against one another. Defending Champion and winner of many national titles, Vineetha Wijesuriya will be challenged by a host of young players led by Supeshala Thilakawardena who won the National B title ahead of the more-fancied Dilini Umesha (last year's runner-up) and Sachini Ranasinghe (last year's second runner-up). The tournament, organized by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka is an all-play-all affair held over 13 rounds on May 16, 17, 18, 24, 25, 26 and 27, 2008. The top performers will be selected to represent the country at the forthcoming Chess Olympiad in Germany. The following are the 14 players who will be in the fray: Vineetha Wijesuriya, Supeshala Thilakawardena, Ayodya Liyanagedara, Navodya Selvaratnam, Anjana Perera, Lihini Wawlallawita, Harshani Konara, Lumbini Ambanwela, Samanthi Wettasinghe, Sachini Ranasinghe, Dinushki Premanath, Mihirani Jayathilake, Iridu Basnayake and Dilini Umesha. The men's National A will begin the following weekend and last year's champion G.C. Anuruddha is expected face a stiff challenge from a host of promising young players in addition to several 'veterans'. Prasanna Kurukulasuriya was the surprise winner of the National B title, coming ahead of former national champion, Athula Russell. Akhila Kavinda (St. Anne's College, Kurunegala) who performed extremely well at the Sri Lanka Open in March, beating one Indian International Master and holding another to a creditable draw is among several young players expected to perform well at the tournament. Other schoolboys Chathura Rajapakse and Y.D.B. Madugalle (both from Dharmaraja) and Osheen De Silva (Devananda) will not find things easy against 'veterans' Thivanka Mallawarachchi and former national champions Luxman Wijesuriya and T.D.R. Peiris. Incidentally, T.D.R. Peiris' son, Gayan Peiris is also a promising player expected to perform well. This is probably the first time that a father-son combination played in the 'Nationals' together. Romesh Weerawardena, P.M.R.L. Bandara and C.K.D. Fonseka make up the 14 and these three are also seasoned and talented players quite capable of upsetting the form book. The Men's event will be held on May 24, 25, 26, 26 and 31, and June 1 and 2, 2008 at the same venue.