Sachini wins chess title

S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy Sports Corre.

Eighteen-year-old Sachini Ranasinghe of Musaeus College, Colombo, has won the title as the Women International Master (WIM) perhaps she is the first lady to win this title from Sri Lanka, in the Women's Nationals.

Sachini Ranasinghe who won the Chess Nationals organized by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka in 2011 after scoring a total of 12 points out of maximum possible 13 points and gave away only a couple draws throughout the tournament.

Sachini Ranasinghe one of the brightest prospects in the field of chess for women represented Sri Lanka at the Chess Olympiad in 2010 and she also won Asian Zone 3.2 in March, 2011 in Sri Lanka to earn the Women International Master title and booked a berth for herself for the next World Championship to be held in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia in 2012.

The standings after the last Women's Nationals are Sachini Ranasinghe 12, Dinushki Premanath (Girls High School) 11, Naduni Abeywardena (Ferguson High School) 8, Tiumi Yashora (Visakha Vidyalaya) and Thilini Koswatte (University of Peradeniya) 7 each, Pramodaya Senanayake (University of Moratuwa and Panchali Perera (Musaeus College) 6.5 each, U G Y Methmali (University of Sri Jayawardenapura) 6.