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The Chess Federation of Sri Lanka is organizing the 1^st CFSL Online Women Rapid Team Chess Championship 2021 on 14^th, 16^th, 17^th and 24^th January 2020 at the Chess.com platform. Altogether 55 teams have registered in the event from all over the country. One WGM from Kazakhstan, three WIMS from India and two WIMs from Sri Lanka are in the battle. The Women National Chess Champion, Nethmi Fernando (photo above) and former Women National Chess Champions (l to r below) Sachini Ranasinghe, Saumi Zainab, Sayuni Gihansa Jayaweera & (l to r second row below) Dinushki Premanath, Dasuni Hansika Mendisare also in the battle.

The top ranked team is Ceylon Chathuranga Club consisting of Ganga Dehigama, Chandra Rathnayake, Thilini Koswatte, Chamindra De Silva and Indian WIM, Choleti Sahajasri.

The event will be held in 4 stages. The teams are ranked according to the FIDE rankings and the last 27 teams will play in the group C event which will be held on the 14^th of January 2020. Then the top three teams will advance to Division B to play with 23 teams included in Group B according to their rating. The Division B will be held on 16^th of January 2021. The top three teams of Division B will join the top 5 teams in ranking who are included in the Group A. The Division A event will be held on 17^th of January 2021 with these 8 teams as a round Robin event of 7 rounds. The top four teams of Group A event will meet in the semi finals and Finals to be played on 24^th January 2021.

The Chess Federation is awarding the Medals and Certificates to all Division winners and the top four teams will receive a cash award of Rs. 35,000/= with the trophies and Medals.

Sanjay Kapoor was elected president of the All India Chess Federation (AICF) while Bharat Singh Chauhan retained the secretary’s post in the polls held online on Monday January 4th. Kapoor, representing Uttar Pradesh Chess Association, defeated incumbent P R Venketrama Raja in a close contest. Kapoor received 33 votes as against 31 of Raja. Chauhan beat Ravindra Dongre 35-29. Naresh Sharma, belonging to the Chauhan faction, was elected as treasurer, beating Kishore Bandekar 34-30.

Left to right, President Sanjay Kapoor, Secretary Bharat Singh and Treasurer Naresh Sharma

The AICF has been split into two factions, one led by Raja and the other by Chauhan. The two have been at loggerheads for some time over various issues, including the conduct of the elections. Several legal battles were fought in the past one and a half year and there were instances when the president and the secretary suspended each other at different times.

After a long-drawn battle, a court-appointed observer Justice (retired) K Kannan presided over the election process held online because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first time since 2005 that the AICF elections saw a contest as the candidates were chosen unanimously in the last 15 years. Apart from the president, secretary and treasurer, six vice-presidents and six joint secretaries were also elected.

Kapoor said he will work for the chess players and lovers of the sport in the country. “We have created history. It is a victory for chess lovers. It is the beginning of a new era for chess players and chess lovers in the country,” Kapoor told a reporter. He said his vision was to develop the sport at the grass-root level and take it to the schools big-time.

Chauhan said it was a victory of chess and chess players as he promised to work for the betterment of the sport. “This is a victory of chess and chess players. We are going to work together…even the friends who have contested against us. We are one family. I appeal to them to work together for the sake of chess,” he said. “The new AICF will work with progressive ideas…no enmity, no hard feelings. We are going to talk about chess, we are going to work for chess,” Chauhan added.

The Sokian’s Chess Club from Ambalangoda won the CFSL Inaugural Online Rapid Chess Cup 2020 conducted by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka at Chess.com after a nail biting finish yesterday. The strongest Team, Lasker Chess Club with three National Team players and The Sokian’s with an International Master from Uzbekistan with Asian Gold Medalist Sasith Piyumantha entered the finals outscoring Marshal Chess Club and Anandian’s Chess Club respectively. The Final stage was to play two matches with alternating colours by the finalists.

The Sokian’s edged the Laskar CC 2 ½ to 1 ½ in the 1^st Final Match with the support of the Uzbekistan IM, Abdisalimov Abdimalik and Kasun Wimalasuriya scoring full points and Thisal Mankith getting a Draw in Sokian’s favour. The National Chess Champion Ranindu Dilshan Liyanage scored a full point for Laskar CC. The Finals started at 5.30 p.m. and the teams were having 1 ½ points each from a Draw beween Saith and Ranindu, Win from the IM to Sokians and LMST De Silva scoring a full point for Laskar CC. Needing a half a point to the championship for Sokian’s the marathon final game between Thisal Manjith Piyumantha Vs Akila Kavinda dragged 130 moves where Thisal managed to get the required draw.

(l to r) Thisal Manjith Piyumantha, Kasun Wimalasuriya, IM Abdisalimov, Sasity Naiupn

The Anandian’s Chess Club managed to win the Bronze Medal outplaying the Marshal Chess Club in the consolation Finals. The Indian IM Mohammad Nubairshah Sheikh scored two full points in both rounds against Athula Russel and MAAH Rathnayake respectively. Chathulanka Gamage beat DCJ Karunarathne while Lahiru Munasinghe got a Draw against KRVR Subasinghe in the 1^st round to score 2 ½ points to win the round. In the 2^nd round, Lahiru Munasinghe and Chathulanka Gamage got two draws with KRVR Subasinghe and DCJ Karunarathne to get a drawn match to win the 3^rd place. Only CMS Praneeth Kumar managed to win the both games for Marshal Chess Club.

The tournament was a great success  with the participation of 95 Teams, 475 players. The event was played in 5 Categories according to strength of the teams according to the ranking of the players where Sixth Stage was knockout finals. Each three teams which won the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place in a category was advanced to the higher category event. The event was held from 19th December 2020 to 3rd Jan 2021 and came to a grand Finish yesterday with a Rs 55,000/- Cash Awards.

The Chess Federation had arranged a live stream at CFSL You Tube Chanel with the commentaries by the strongest International Master Harshana Thilakarathne, Dulan Edirisinghe and Women International Master Sachini Ranasinghe. A virtual Awarding Ceremony was also arranged by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka with the participation of Mr. Casto Abundo, the Executive Director of Asian Chess Federation and Mr. Luxman Wijesuriya, the President of Chess Federation of Sri Lanka.

Champions

Sokians Chess Club

01.Piyumantha M Sasith Niupun

02.Abdisalimov Abdimalik

03.Wimalasuriya Kasun M

04.Piyumantha M Thisal Manjith

1^st Runner Up

Lasker Chess Club

1. Weerawardane Romesh

02.Liyanage Ranidu Dilshan

03.De Silva L M S T

04.Kavinda Akila

2^nd Runner up

Anandians Chess Club

01.Theekshana H G Denuwan

02.Mohammad Nubairshah Sheikh

03.Gamage Chathulanka

04.Munasinghe Lahiru

4^th Place

Marshall Chess Club

01.Rathnayaka M A A H

02.Russel M K A

03.Subasinghe K R V R

04.Karunarathne D C J

05.Kumara C M S Praneeth

IM Khalil Mousavi Seyed of Iran lived up to his top seeding as he won the Asian University Individual Chess Championship, finishing in first place alone with 7.5 points out of 9 rounds in the tournament organized by the Iran University Sports Federation under the auspices of the Asian University Sports Federation in cooperation with the Asian Chess Federation.

Mousavi, highest rated at 2522, is a 22 year old Sports Science student at Islamic Azad University. He beat Indian IM Al Muthaiah in the 7^th round then drew with Indonesians IM Theolifus Taher Yoseph and FM Abdul Haviz Arif in the last two rounds on the same day.

IM Lutfi Ali Muhammad of Indonesia scored 3 straight wins in the last 3 rounds against compatriot IM Novendra Priasmoro, IM Ayan Akhmetov of Kazakhstan and FM Enkhbaatar Enkhnar of Mongolia to finish in second place, alone with 7 points. Enkhnar won third place with 6.5 points, prevailing in the tie break over two other 6.5 pointers.

The champion Indonesian team, l to r, Lutfi, Priasmoro and Hafiz.

Indonesia and Iran finished in a tie with 19.5 game points each but the Indonesians prevailed in the tie break. Lutfi, 23, and IM Priasmoro, 21, Economics students at Gunadarma University, and FM Arif Abdul Hafiz, 21, an Industrial Technic student at Gunadarma, powered Indonesia to team victory with greater number of wins, 17 compared to Iran’s 16 wins. Gunadarma also won the 2019 Asian Universities Chess Championship organized by the Asian Chess Federation in Tagaytay City, Philippines.

Iran’s Mousavi, IM Mersad Khodashenas and Bardia Veisi finished team runner-up. Khodashenas, 22, is a Sports Science student at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. Bardia, 20, is a Soil Engineering student at the University of Tehran.

FM Ivan Mezentsev, 21, a Management student at International IT University, IM Ayan Akhmetov, 23, an Engineering and Technology student and FM Alen Rakhimzhan, 20, Finance Student, both at International Technology, won the team bronze for Kazakhstan with 17.5 game points.

Forty eight players from 12 countries competed in the 9-round Swiss system. The tournament is an individual championship with four players per country. Team score is calculated from the scores of the top three of each country. Teams from Indonesia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mongolia, Oman, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand competed.

Visit chess-results.com for all standings and pgn files. Replay games on chessbomb.com.

Asian Chess Federation congratulates the Officials of the Asian Universities Chess Championship:

Technical Delegates: IA Casto Abundo of the Philippines and GM Xie Jun of China

Chief Arbiter IA Abdulrahim Mahdi of the UAE

Tournament Director IA Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh of Iran

Deputy Chief Arbiter IA Haroon or Rashid of Bangladesh

Fair Play Officer IA Luxman Wijesuriya of Sri Lanka

Pairings Committee: IA Amir Erfan Hashimi of Iran

Zoom Arbiters: IA M. Reza Lajevardizadeh, IA Hamidreza Jadidi, IA Kaveh Khalili, IA Khatere Azizi, IA Saman Armand, IA Arvin Abrishami, IA Fatemeh Afshar, IA Khadijeh Sharif Nataj, FA Fatemeh Sarfaraz Shokoohi

Khulan Enksaikhan, 25, of Mongolia scored 7.5 points out of 9 rounds to win the gold medal in the individual championship and power her team to victory in the Asian University Chess Championship in Chess.com. The tournament is organized by the National University Sports Federation of Iran under the auspices of the Asian University Sports Federation in cooperation with the Asian Chess Federation.

A total of 36 players from 11 countries competed in the 9-round Swiss System. The tournament is an individual championship combined with a team competition. The individual scores of the best three players of one country count towards their team score. Players from China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Oman, Sri Lanka and Thailand participated.

Khulan (photo above) holds the men’s title of FIDE Master. Women’s International Master Nur Abidah Shanti, 19, of Indonesia (photo below) won the silver medal with 7 points prevailing in the tie break after having beaten third placer Nomindalai Tumurbaatar, 18, of Mongolia who won the bronze medal also with 7 points. Visit chess-results.com for full final standings and to download games.

Including the 5.5 score of Ulziikhishigjargal Ochirkhuyag, the top three Mongolian girls scored a total of 20 points to garner the team crown.

WFM Retno Wijayant and WIM Ummi Fisabilillah scored 5.5 points each, which adding to the 7 points of Nur Abidah Shanti gave Indonesia a total of 18 points for the silver team medal.

Host Iran won the bronze medal with a total of 16 points from the 6.5 points of Kiana Arab, 5 points of Nadernia Niki and 4.5 points of WIM Hamedi Nia Vesal.

Team results of all teams are published in chess-results.com. Leader’s games are streamed live on youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvQjSvKdKUs.

The Indian women’s team lived up to their top seed billing as they convincingly beat Indonesia twice by identical 3:1 slates in the finals to win the Asian Online Nations Cup for women in Chess.com organized by the Asian Chess Federation with the support of the FIDE Planning and Development Commission. Replay women’s final match in chessbomb.

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich honoured the winners at closing ceremonies in Zoom with the attendance of FIDE Executive Director Victor Bologan, Asian Chess Federation Deputy President Bharat Singh, Organizing Committee Chairman Hisham Al Taher and other dignitaries. Oceania Chess Federation president Paul Spiller, Zone 3.2 president Syed Shahab Uddin Shamim of Bangladesh were on hand to congratulate the winners.

The Indian women’s team was composed, from left below in board order, of WGM R. Vaishali, IM Bhakti Kulkarni, IM Rout Padmini, WGM P.V. Nandhidhaa and captain WGM Mary Ann Gomes.

Visit chess-results.com for individual and team results and to download pgn files. In the preliminaries, round by round, India beat Syria 4:0, edged Mongolia 2.5-1.5, lost to Iran 1.5-2.5, bounced back 3.5-0.5 against Myanmar, shut out Singapore 4:0, beat Indonesia 3:1, crushed the Philippines 3:1, trimmed Kazakhstan 2.5-1.5 and similarly beat Vietnam 2.5-1.5.

Ín the Quarterfinals, India blanked Kyrgyzstan 4:0 in the first round and repeated 3.5-0.5 in the second round.

In the Semifinals, India outclassed Mongolia 3.5-0.5 in the first round and completed the rout 4:0 in the second round.

In the finals India repeated their previous score against Indonesia 3:1 in the first round and did it again 3:1 in the second round to leave no doubt who is champion.

The Philippines and Mongolia tied for third while Iran, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Kyrgyzstan tied for fifth place.

Underdog Australia beat top seed India in the final duel to win the Asian Online Nations Cup Chess Team Championship Sunday in Chess.com organized by the Asian Chess Federation with the support of the FIDE Planning and Development Commission. Replay games of final match in chessbomb.

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich honoured the winners at closing ceremonies in Zoom with the attendance of FIDE Executive Director Victor Bologan, Asian Chess Federation Deputy President Bharat Singh, Organizing Committee Chairman Hisham Al Taher and other dignitaries. Oceania Chess Federation president Paul Spiller, Zone 3.2 president Syed Shahab Uddin Shamim of Bangladesh were on hand to congratulate the winners.

The Australian team was composed of, from left below in board order, GM Anton Smirnov, GM Temur Kuybokorov, GM Max Illingworth, GM Moulthun Ly and IM James Morris.

Australia, seeded 6^th among 38 teams, finished 4^th in the preliminaries with 13 match points behind Iran with 15, Philippines and Mongolia with 14 each.

Round by round in the preliminaries, Australia beat Malaysia 4:0, Lebanon 3:1, lost to Iran 1.5-2.5, beat Bangladesh 3.5-0.5, edged Sri Lanka 2.5-1.5, clobbered the Philippines 3:1, trimmed Kazakhstan 2.5-1.5, lost to Mongolia 1.5-2.5 and drew with India 2:2 to finish fourth place in the qualifying phase. Visit chess-results.com for round by round results and to download pgn files.

In the knockout phase, the top four GM players were fielded regularly. Australia beat Indonesia comfortably 3:1 in the first round of the Quarterfinals and finished them 3.5-0.5 in the second round.

In the semifinals, Australia edged Iran 2.5-1.5 in the first round and eliminated them 3.5-0.5 in the second round.

Just before the finals against India, team captain Leonid Sandler sent a message that two players in their team had electrical power problems caused by typhoons in their area. He said that one player who was in Vietnam for his wedding would try to go to a coffee shop to connect to the internet. The board 5 reserve had to replace their board 4 who also had electrical problems caused by typhoon.

In the first round of the finals, GM Anton Smirnov and GM Max Illingworth came through and beat GMs B. Adhiban and S.P. Sethuraman, respectively. GM Temur Kuybokarov held GM Sarin Nihal to a draw to clinch the 2.5-1.5 win even as reserve IM James Morris lost to Indian stalwart GM Krishnan Sasikiran.

In the 2^nd round of the finals, GM Moulthun Ly managed to play and Australia sealed the title by a 2:2 draw with India. GM Temur Kuybokarov beat GM Nihal Sarin while GM Surya Ganguly evened the score for India. Two draws on first and fourth boards were enough for Australia to take the title and the top prize of $5,000 out of a total $20,000 prize fund. India settled for $3,000.

Replay games in final matches on chessbomb.

Iran and Kazakhstan tied for third while Singapore, Mongolia, Indonesia and the Philippines tied for fifth place.,