Moratuwa and Colombo Universities win titles

Inter University Online Chess Championships 2021

University of Moratuwa and University of Colombo won the men’s and women’s titles of the Inaugural Inter University Online Chess Championships concluded on Sunday.

University of Moratuwa scored full 12 points to win the Men’s Chess Championship convincingly. They beat Universities of Wayamba (6 – 0), University of SL (5 1/2 – 1/2), University of Peradeniya (4 – 2), University of Colombo (4 ½ – 1 ½), Sabaragamuwa University (3 ½ – 2 ½) and Uva Wellassa University (6-0) to accomplish the target. Kaveen Ishara and Chathulanka Gamage scored full six points while HMAK Herath and Rahul Jeyanthan scored 5 ½ out of six for University of Moratuwa.

University of Colombo (Women) also had a great event as they won 10 points out of 12.

University of Colombo were the winners of the women’s championship

Though University of Ruhuna led the points table till the fourth round their loss against Sabaragamuwa University affected them badly. University of Colombo women’s team beat University of Jaffna (6 -0), Sabaragamuwa University (4-2), University of Moratuwa (4-2), University of Kelaniya (3 ½ – 2 ½ ) and University of Sri Jayawardenapura (4 ½ – 1 ½) and lost to University of Ruhuna (2 -4) to win the Championship on better tie breaker. University of Ruhuna beat Uva Wellassa University (5 -1), University of Peradeniya (4-2), University of Colombo (4-2), Eastern University (4 – 2) and Rajarata University (5 – 1) and lost to Sabaragamuwa University in the penultimate round (1-5) which ruined their chances.

University of Peradeniya beat Eastern University (6-0), University of Jaffna (5-1), University of Kelaniya (5-1), University of Colombo (4 – 2) and University of Sri Jayawardenapura (4 -2) and lost to University of Moratuwa (4 -2).

University of Sri Jayawardenapura were placed third in the Men’s Championship while Sabaragamuwa University were placed third in the Women’s Championship.

The Sri Lanka Universities Sports Association (SLUSA) was unable to organize sports events for university students due to the pandemic and they decided to conduct three possible sports events namely, Chess, Taekwondo and Karate to fill the absence. University of Moratuwa organized the chess event on behalf of the Sri Lanka Universities Sports Association with the support of the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka.

The Inter University Online Chess Championships was held on the Tornelo Platform according to the Swiss System in six rounds.. The event was held with a participation of 28 teams (Boys 14 and Girls 14) from 14 Universities namely, Universities of Colombo, Peradeniya, Sri Jayawardenapura, Kelaniya, Moratuwa, Ruhuna, Jaffna, Eastern, Sabaragamuwa, Rajarata, Wayamba, Vishual and Performing Arts, Uva Wellassa and one of the newest Universities Vavunia University.