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| Sunday, 27 February 2005 |
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CHESS Three Indian Grand Masters and AKCC raise Rs. 3 lakhs for Southern Province There was a very interesting period in the history of chess in Sri Lanka while three Grand Masters visited Sri Lanka by accepting the invitation made by Mrs. Suneetha Wijesuriya, the President of the Anatoly Karpov Chess Club (AKCC) to arrange simultaneous chess exhibitions to help the chess players in Galle who were badly affected by the tsunami disaster. Grand Master R. B. Ramesh, Women Grand Masters Arthie Ramaswamy and W. G. M. Meenakshi Subbaraman were the three Masters who were here for six days and their tour was coordinated by the first Indian International Master and nine times All-Indian National Chess Champion, the General Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Chess Association. The Colombo Continental Hotel sponsored the Grand Masters five days stay in Colombo. The Indian Airlines office of India had given the support towards this valuable project by sponsoring both women Grand Masters. Arthie Ramaswamy and Meenakshi Subbaraman who works in Indian Airlines office in Chennai to visit Sri Lanka. Mahaweli Reach Hotel also helped the local authorities a great deal. Anatoly Karpov Chess Club organised the first simultaneous chess exhibition matches in Colombo at St. Joseph's College Sports Complex and there were 214 chess players who participated. The best active Grand Master R. B. Ramesh played against 64 Sri Lankan chess players and Grand Master won 55 games and drew 8 and lost only one to our player Dineth Sunera of St. Joseph's College who also is a member of the Anatoly Karpov Chess Club. Dineth's performance is creditable to our country and also he became an International Rated Player after completing the Fide Rating Tournament conducted by Dindigul Chess Association in India. Woman Grand Master Arthie Ramaswamy played with 37 players and she won 36 and one drew, one-while Meenakshi Subbaraman played with 33 and won 31 games and drew one and also lost one. All these Chess Grand Masters are very active master players in India and they are preparing for the forth-coming Commonwealth Chess Championship at the end of this month. The organisers of this chess event wish to thank all these three Grand Masters on behalf of all of Sri Lankan chess players and chess enthusiasts for their valuable support in this tsunami relief program. Sri Lanka had given the opportunity for six best chess players of Southern Province (Galle) who were badly affected from this tsunami disaster to come and play in this simultaneous chess exhibition matches with these Grand Masters. Nuwan Sameera of Devapathiraja Vidyalaya, Rathgama won his game with W. G. M. Meenakshi Subbaraman and two received drawn games. Other than these Indian Grand Masters, Sri Lankan two Fide Masters Dr. Harsha Aturupane and Harinlal Aturupane and Asian Gold Medal Winner Lakshman Wijesuriya also supported this program by playing at the simultaneous chess event held in Colombo. Dr. Harsha Aturupane played against 38 players and Harinlal Aturupane with 20 players and Lakshman Wijesuriya played with 22 players and all the games won by them. The organisers had also given the opportunity to the players in the Central Province by inviting the Central Province Chess Association to arrange a similar program with the help of these best Grand Masters, but unfortunately there were only 10 and they contributed Rs. 20,000/- for this project. Another simultaneous chess display was arranged in Colombo at the National Institute of Sports and Science and forty chess players participated. Grand Master R. B. Ramesh won all the games he played with 24 players. Women Grand Master Arthie Ramaswamy also won all her 16 games played with our chess youngsters. There was a special chess coaching camp and there were 64 players who participated. Mrs. Suneetha Wijesuriya, who was the chief organiser of these valuable simultaneous chess program, mentioned that with the help of the members and the parents of the Anatoly Karpov Chess Club they managed to have a successful and historical chess event within two weeks notice and collected Rs. 300,000/-. We recieved Rs. 280,000/- from contributions from Colombo and Rs. 20,000/- from Kandy. The objective behind this project is to give the opportunity to chess players of Southern Province who have shown great enthusiasm for chess. The organiser, Anatoly Karpov Chess Club has decided to put up a centre, which can give recreational facilities for these chess players by using these funds. The club welcomes donors who can donate land and join hands with the club to put up this chess centre for the benefit of the chess players in Southern Province. |
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