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After 10 straight wins, the Laguna Heroes team jumped to solo 3rd after beating Cordova Dagami Warrios, 16-5, at the start of the 2nd phase of elimination round of the Northern Division Professional Chess Association of the Philippines All-Filipino Cup at the lichess platform.

The Laguna Heroes composed of woodpushers two-time Asian Junior Champion Grandmaster Rogelio “Banjo” Barcenilla Jr., Fide Master Austin Jacob Literatus, Woman National Master Jean Karen Enriquez, Fide Master Jose Efren Bagamasbad, Grandmaster John Paul Gomez, Vince Angelo Medina, Kimuel Aaron Lorenzo, Candidate Master Arjie Bayangat and Team Owner-Playing Coach Arena Grandmaster Dr. Alfredo “Fred” Paez (in photo above), proved steadier in the end to beat the determined Dagami Warrios team.

With their victory, the Laguna improved to a 11-2 win-loss record in the Northern Division PCAP All-Filipino Cup while Cordova dropped to 6-7 in the Southern Division.
“We have been treating each round like a championship round,” said Team Owner-Playing Coach Arena Grandmaster Dr. Alfredo “Fred” Paez.

In the Blitz portion versus the Dagami Warrios, the Heroes started well via a 4-3 close decision wins from FM Literatus, GM Gomez, Medina and Bayangat.
However, they proved too tough for the Dagami Warrios in the Rapids as FM Literatus, WNM Enriquez, GM Gomez, Medina and Lorenzo convincingly beat Allan Pason, Woman International Master Bernadette Galas, Rex Androe Cabuncal, Francisco Rivera and Dione Patrick Minoza.

The Laguna Heroes also made up as Engr. Jonathan Mamari, Mr. Benjamin Dy and Mr. David Nithyananthan crushed Cebu City Machers, 20-1.

Only National Master Lincoln Yap was able to score for City Machers after beating FM Bagamasbad  in their blitz encounter.

The Laguna Heroes opened their bid in a high note after demolishing Rizal Batch Towers (17.5-3.5) last January 16.

The Laguna Heroes tasted their defeat at the hands of San Juan Predators (9-12) and Caloocan Loadmanna Knights (10-11) last January 20.
Then they beat Cavite Spartans (14-7) and Olongapo Rainbow Team 7 (18-3) last January 23; Pasig City King Pirates (12-9) and Antipolo Cobras (14-7) last January 27; Cagayan Kings (16.5-4.5) and Isabela Knight Raiders (11-10) last January 30; Manila Indios Bravos (11.5-9.5) and Quezon City Simba’s Tribe (19-2) last February 3.
The Laguna Heroes look to extend their winning streak Wednesday night (February 10, 2021) when they face Iloilo and Iriga.
Action will begin at 7pm (Manila time) with the Heroes facing the Kisela Knights first then the showdown against the City Oragons will be at 8:20PM.
Each player competes in blitz or rapid chess every match. A win in rapid chess is worth 2 points, while victory in blitz chess is 1 point. A draw in rapid chess is one point, while it’s half a point in blitz chess.
The 24-team tournament is organized by PCAP, headed by Chairman Michael Angelo Chua and President/Commissioner

Minul Doluweera (photo above) of Royal College won 1^st place in the Round Robin Event of the 8^th Sri Lanka Chess Grand Prix 2021 by making a draw with his schoolmate, Isara Banindu Dahanayake in the final Round played Saturday 6th February at the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka.

Minul tied with Ranindu Dilshan Liyanage (photo above) with 9 ½ points and won 1^st place on the better tie breaker. Both Minul and Theekshana had only three draws and won all other 8 games out of 11 possible. Ranindu Liyanage of Ananda College started the final round a half a point behind Minul and managed to beat Jude Dorison of Jaffna to reach Minul. He had to satisfy with the 2^nd place.

Earlier in the morning, the penultimate round both Minul and Ranindu scored full points against Elath athanga De Silva and Senuka Ashvin Ahangama respectively.

The game between Theekshana Denuwan (above left) of Ananda College and S Sivathanujan (above right) of Kokavil Hindu College ended in a draw leaving both players tied at 8 points each. Sivathanujan placed 3^rd on the better tie breaker while Theekshana had to satisfy himself with the 4^th place. In the 10^th round Sivathanujan beat Jude Dorison and Theekshana  beat Madushan Sameera Dissanayake.

The 8th Sri Lanka Chess Grand prix 2021 conducted by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka is in progress from 28th January 2021 to 7th February 2021 with the strict health guidelines. The Chess Federation of Sri Lanka has offered a cash award of Rs. 110,000/= to the winners with other attractive awards.

The 1^st four players are meeting each other as below in the Semi Finals to be played as a double round matches with alternative colours tomorrow. If a player reach 1 ½ points or more he will get in to the finals. If it becomes 1 point each then two Rapid Chess Games of 15 minutes + 10 seconds will be played. If a player get 1 ½ or more he will get through to the finals. But in any case if the Rapid Games are also tied 1 point each, two Blitz games with 3 minutes + 2 seconds will be played as same way as Rapid Chess. If any player wins 1 ½ or more he will be the winner to play the finals. If still a 1 – 1 draw, a Sudden Death game giving 5 minutes to White and 4 minutes to Black  will be played tossing for the colour. The winner will get through to the finals. Draw in a Sudden Death game means a win for Back.

Semi Final 1 – Winner, Minul Doluweera  Vs  4^th, HG Theekshana Denuwan

Semi Final 1 – Runner Up, Ranindu Dilshan Liyanage Vs 3^rd, S Sivathanujan

The finals will be played in the same manner as above on Sunday, the 7^th of February 2021 between the winners of the Semi Finals while losers will play the consolation finals.

All games in the Semi Finals and Finals are webcasted live in each round and a live streaming of Finals will be arranged at CFSL YOUTUBE Chanel with commentaries by Former National Champion, Mr. Dulan Edirisinghe and National Chess Player Mr. Akila Kavinda.

Final Round Results

Final Standings

Rk. Name Pts.

1. FM Doluweera Minul Sanjula   (Royal College)           9.5
2. CM Liyanage Ranindu Dilshan (Ananda College)       9.5
3. Sivathanujan S                         (Kokavil Hindu College) 8.5
4. Theekshana H G Denuwan        (Ananda College)      8.5
5. Liyanage Pesandu Rashmitha (DS Senanayake College) 7.0
6. De Silva Elath Mathanga           (IFS R&D International)  6.0
7. CM Dahanayake Isara Banindu (Royal College)      6.0
8. CM Amarasinghe A A C B        (USJP Chess Club) 4.0
9. Ahangama Senuka Aswin          (DS Senanayake College) 3.5
10. Nabil Nazar Mohamed               (Gateway College, Dehiwala) 2.0
11. Dorison G Jude                           (Jaffna)  1.5
12. Dissanayake D M Madushan Sameera (Super Fighters CC) 0.0

Live games can be seen from the following link:

Link https://view.livechesscloud.com#d822d527-92a7-42f9-aaed-29c5c4ae7c66

You may see a review of the 1st session at the CFSL YOUTUBE Chanel in the following link:

Link – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpjEJNqgPUdWXVRECJaJUDw

Due to Corona Virus Covid-19, the organization of the Youth Championship in Dhaka last March 2020 and all other over-the-board chess competition were stopped in Bangladesh and all over the world. Finally, from this year 2021 the Bangladesh Chess Federation adopted a plan to organise an over-the-board chess competitions in compliance with the health rules of the Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

At left, Shafiqul Islam, BPM (Bar) and Brigadier General (Retd) Shahidullah Chowdhury.

To this end, the Mujib Year Invitational International Chess was held from 9 to 16 January 2021 under the auspices of Abul Khair Group. 44 invited players participated in the event including one Grand Master, 3 International Masters and 1 Woman International Master. The competition was inaugurated on January 9 by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Md. Shafiqul Islam, BPM (Bar) as the chief guest. Brigadier General (Retd) Shahidullah Chowdhury, Executive Director of Abul Khair Group, was present as a special guest at the inaugural function. Syed Shahab Uddin Shamim, General Secretary of Bangladesh Chess Federation and President of FIDE Zone 3.2 spoke on the occasion presided over by KM Shahidullah, Vice President of Bangladesh Chess Federation.

At left, Zone 3.2 President Syed Shahab Uddin Shamim, and KM Shahidullah.

GM Ziaur Rahman won the title with seven and a half points in nine games in the 9-round Swiss-League event.

GM Ziaur Rahman (right) vs. Anata Choudhury and IM Mohammad Minhaj Uddin vs. IM Fahad Rahman.

Anata Choudhury was runner-up with seven points and FM Mehdi Hasan Parag was third with six and a half points. IM Abu Sufian Shakil became fourth with six points and IM Mohammad Minhaj Uddin came fifth with same points. Nine players earned 5½ points each. Their positions are in tie-breaking: 6^th-IM Mohammad Fahad Rahman, 7^th-FM Sheikh Naser Ahmed, 8^th-FM Subrata Biswas, 9^th-Md. Shariatullah, 10^th-CM Sohel Chowdhury, 11^th-CM Tahsin Tajwar Zia, 12^th-FM Mohammad Javed, 13^th-CM Manon Reja Neer and 14^th-Md. Masum Hossain. Among the women, Rani Hamid got four and a half points and became the first among the female players. Ahmed Walija, Nazrana Khan Eva, Kazi Jarin Tasnim and Noshin Anjum received special women’s awards.

The prize giving ceremony of the competition was held at the Utsab Hall, Ground Floor, Radisson Blu Dhaka Water Garden, which is a five star hotel in Dhaka city. Mr. Md. Zahid Ahsan Russel, MP, Honorable State Minister, Ministry of Youth & Sports, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh was present as the Chief Guest and distributed prizes among the winners. Mr. Abdul Karim, ndc, Additional Secretary, Minister, Ministry of Youth & Sports, Government Republic of Bangladesh and Freedom fighter Brigadier General Shahidullah Chowdhury,ndc (Retd.) the Executive Director of Abul Khair Group were present as special guests. Mr. K M Shahidullah Vice President of Bangladesh Chess Federation presided over the ceremony. Syed Shahab Uddin Shamim, General Secretary of Bangladesh Chess Federation & President, FIDE Zone-3.2 and Dr. Shoeb Reaz Alam, Joint Secretary of Bangladesh Chess Federation and Additional DIG of Bangladesh Police gave speeches. Mr. Gazi Shayiful Tarique, former General Secretary of Bangladesh Chess Federation and Masudur Rahman Mallick Dipu, Joint Secretary of Bangladesh Chess Federation were present on the stage. The winners of the competition were awarded a total of four thousand three hundred US dollars.

After successfully completing the Invitational International Rating Chess, the Mujib Borso Marcel 2^nd Division Chess League 2021 (photos above) was held from 20^th to 28th January 2021 under the auspices of Bangladesh Chess Federation and sponsored by Walton Group. The 2^nd Division Chess League this time with a huge response. A record number of 42 teams participated in the team chess event.

Earlier, the number of teams participating in the 2^nd Division Chess League was 33. Shahnoor Khan Smiriti Sangsad won 16 points in 9 matches in this year’s Marcel 2^nd Division Chess League held in 9 round Swiss League system. Sports Bangla got 15 points and became runners-up. Grassroots Sports Academy came third with 14 points and BD Chess in School became fourth with same points. Bangladesh Chess Arena (Green) came fifth with 12 points and Legend Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain Chess Team became sixth. Latif Travel Chess Club, Sylhet, Tangail Chess Club, Elegant International Chess Academy (Elite), Rangpur Chess Players Welfare Association, Arthur Yusupov Tanning Group and Bangladesh Police Prime Team secured seventh to twelfth position with 11 points each respectively.

F. M. Iqbal Bin Anowar

The Prize distribution ceremony of the event was held on 30^th January, 2021 at Bangladesh Chess Federation hall-room. F. M. Iqbal Bin Anowar (Dawn) , Executive Director and Head of Games & Welfare of WALTON Group distributed prizes among winners as chief guest. IO Syed Shahab Uddin Shamim, General Secretary of Bangladesh Chess Federation and President, FIDE Zone 3.2 was present as special guest. K M Shahidullah Vice President of Bangladesh Chess Federation presided over the ceremony. Masudur Rahman Mallick Dipu, Joint Secretary of Bangladesh Chess Federation and Secretary Chess League Committee, International Arbiter Md Haroon Or Rashid, Jakir Ahmed, Executive Member of Bangladesh Chess Federation, IO Mahmuda Hoque Chowdhury Moly, Executive Member of Bangladesh Chess Federation, Mohammad Amir Ali Rana. General Secretary of Association of Chess Players of Bangladesh and Shakil Abdullah of Bangladesh Chess Arena gave speeches in the ceremony.

Bangladesh Chess Federation decided to continue over the board chess events. Already they announced schedule of the WALTON 1^st Division Chess League-2021. It will be held from 25^th February to 7^th March, 2021.

K M Shahidullah Vice President of Bangladesh Chess Federation will preside over the ceremony. Syed Shahab Uddin Shamim, General Secretary of Bangladesh Chess Federation, Dr. Shoeb Reaz Alam (at podim in photo above), Joint Secretary of Bangladesh Chess Federation and ADIG of Bangladesh Police gave speeches. Mr. Masudur Rahman Mallick Dipu, Joint Secretary of Bangladesh Chess Federation, Mr. Gazi Shayiful Tarique.

Kavishka Gimhan Laksiri (in photo) won the CFSL Online Youth Rapid Chess Championship 2021 – Under 14 Yrs convincingly by scoring a total 8.5 points out of possible 9 games. He scored 8 out of 8 points in the first 8 rounds by scoring wins against Pansilu Karunarathne, Senith Gunarathne, Rashmitha Mettanmanda, Yemith Gunaratne, Oneli Withanawasam, CM IPTS Gunawardena, SMMP Kulathilake and WCM Sanindula Dahamdi and got a draw in the final round to win the Championship.

The CFSL Online Youth Rapid Chess Championship for under 14 years was held on 23^rd and 24^th of January 2021 at the Chess.com platform under the Swiss System with 9 rounds. The players below under 14 years by 1^stJanuary 2021 were eligible to participate. The time control was fifteen minutes with additional 10 seconds per each move played. A total of 295 players took part in the event.

The event was held with strict anti-cheating regulations where all players were observed from a zoom meeting when they are playing. The players are allowed to play with laptops & Desktops only.

Sanidula Dahamdi (in photo above) of Musaeus College performed very well to win the Silver medal scoring 8 points out of 9 games, just losing to the winner.  This is very rare that a girl perform to this level in an open event and her achievements is excellent to reach this far.

JM Daham Jayasundara (in photo above) also tied with Sanindula with 8 points at the end. But, he had to satisfy with the Bronze medal due to the less tie breaker points he had. The top three players will receive the Medals and certifiactes while the Champion will receive the trophy. The merit certificates are issued to the first 38 players. Await the other age group events!

The Chess Champs Academy Team led by Thilini Koswatte (in photo above) won the the maiden CFSL Online Women’s Rapid Teams Chess Cup 2021 conducted by the Chess Federat5ion of Sri Lanka convincingly.

At the grand finals, which was held in double rounds giving each layer a Black and a white, Chess Champs scored 3 match points while their rivals could score only one match point in first round.

(left to right) WIM Isha Sharma,  Saumy Zainab, Prasansa Premanath, Dinushki Premanath

In the first round The Women Grand Master from Kazakhstan, Gulmira Dauletota and Tharushi Sandeepani scored the points for passed pawns while Women International Master from India Isha Sharma and Saumy Zainab scored points to Chess Champs Academy Team. But, in the 2nd round Thilini played a captains inning by outplaying strong Kazakhstan WGM Gulmira at a critical stage where their WIM Isdinushha Sharma had suffered a loss from Sri Lankan Women International Master Sachini Ranasinghe. Dinushki Premanath and Saumy Zainab, both former National Champions scored full points for their Team. So, the Chess Champs beat passed pawns 3-1 in the 2nd round to win the Championship.

A total of 275 players belonging to 55 teams from all over the country participated in the tournament and teams were categorized into three categories according to their players’ ratings. Then the Division C was played on 14th of January 2021 with the last 27 teams according to the Ranking. The three to Top teams in Div C advanced to the Division B to play with next ranked 23 teams on 16th January 2021. The top three Teams of Division B were advanced to play a Round robin event with top five Ranked Teams of 55 Teams on 17th of January 2021 as the Division A event.

The top four teams of the category A were paired according to the double knock out method as final stage today and from the beginning to the end it looked more interesting. Following are the Results

Passed Pawns CC consists of WIM Sachini Ranasinghe(Catain), WGM Gulmira Deltoteva, Dasuni Mendis, Pasindi Yathra Wijesuriya and Sandeepani M Tharushi, the Champions of Division A beat the Fischer Chess Club A team who became 4th in Div A with Nethmi Fernando (Catain), WIM Nelunika Methmani, Ashvini Pawalachandran, Niklesha Tharushi & Esha Pallie in the first Semi Finals with 3 match points to 1.

Chess Cham Academy team, 1st Runner up in Division A led by Thilini Koswatte with Dinushki Premanath, WIM Isha Sharma, Saumy Zainab & Prasansa Premanath beat the Fisher Chess Club A (3rd Place in Div A) team with Chamodya Yapabandara, WFM Manisha Gunaratne, Rumethma Tennakoon, WMMN Wijesingha & Chanethma Marasinghe 3 match points to 1 in 2nd Semifinals.

The games were played under high-anti-cheating rules and regulations according to FIDE standards on Chess.com platform. Also the games were commentated by FIDE Master Rajeendra Kalugampitiya and Dulan Edirisinghe, both former National Chess Champions through CFSL YouTube channel.

The Chess Federation of Sri Lanka is awarding a total prize fund of Rs. 40,000= and has organized a virtual Awards Ceremony on 25th January 2021.

In thy Consolation Finals Fisher Chess Club A beat Fischer Chess Club B in the first Round 3 -1 while Fischer Chess Club B beat Finals Fisher Chess Club A in the Round 2 2 ½ to 1 ½ . So the Fischer Chess Club A won the Bronze medal with highest Game Points.

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.