Musaeus'prized possession Pramodya scales great heights
 

by A.C. de Silva

Chess is a sport that is being talked off much these days in the country after the fine performance by Musaeus College schoolgirl 16 year-old Pramodya Senanayake at the 27th World Chess Olympiad in Italy.

Pramodya did the country proud by scoring 6 points out of a possible 9 points and was awarded the Women's FIDE Master's Title by the World Chess Federation. She was a member of the Sri Lanka team that went for the important tournament and with her exceptional performance, she became the first Woman FIDE Master in the country.

Though the great honour was won by the teenage Musaeus College girl, she was very humble indeed at the felicitation ceremony accorded to her by the school on Thursday at the school hall.

"I do not consider it a personal accomplishment. But instead I consider this as a honour to my country and school", she said at the ceremony.

Speaking about her progress in chess, Pramodya said that she started to play chess at the age of 7 years under the guidance of her mother and now she has played chess for the last 10 years. Having learnt the rudiments of the game under her mother, she went over to Sweneetha Wijesuriya who guided the young prodigy into a champion player. "I owe a lot of gratitude to Mrs. Wijesuriya", said Pramodya. There were other coaches that helped the girl to make quick advances and she had a word of thanks to all of them.

The school that one attends is the place that no boy and girl will forget. Pramodya was no exception. "I owe a great deal to my school Mother Musaeus where many opportunities were given to me to fulfil my ambitions. I feel privileged to be a student there. I think as students of Musaeus, it is our duty to make the most out of these opportunities and take Mother Musaeus on top with our achievements", she said.

At school, I think our duty is to be thankful to what we have got and I extend my thanks to our Chairman Mr. Ajitha de Soysa for providing us the resources we need. There is also our dynamic Principal Mrs. N.K. Pilapitiya and her wonderful staff. "I as an individual, I am greatful to Principal Mrs. Pilapitiya for the motivation that I received and it played a great role in my victory". Principal Mrs. N.K. Pilapitiya seemed overjoyed with the success gained by student Pramodya Senanayake in the field of chess. "This is a very special day which is unusual for Musaeus. It is not everyday such an occasion comes up to honour and felicitate one who is very special and one who is our very own", Mrs. Pilapitiya said.

The title Women FIDE Master - the first-ever woman to achieve this title has fallen on a girl from Musaeus College and it is a great honour for the school and also for Sri Lanka.

"She is one of our very own daughters - she is only 16 years old and a student in grade eleven. It is very creditable and commendable that she has achieved this great title", the Principal said, and paid a rich compliment to the unassuming young girl when she said": "She is not only a good student. She excels in studies too and we hope that she will get exceptional results at the 'O Levels' and become the first in the island there too".

Headgirl Neranja Gunawardena, speaking at the felicitation ceremony, said: "Chess and Pramodya go together. Chess has become part and parcel of Pramodya's life. The tiny tot who started chess at the tender age of 7, has now become a FIDE Master at the age of 16".

This is regarded as the highest achievement gained by a chess player in Sri Lanka so far and her name goes down in history as the first Sri Lankan woman chess player who has brought this glory to mother Lanka.

Speaking further, headgirl Neranja said: "You have not only made your parents proud, you have also done the school and the country proud".

She is the only child in the family. She learnt her ABC in chess under Mrs. Sweneetha Wijesuriya who was coach of Musaeus College then and you benefitted with the knowledge from the other coaches as well.

Pramodya started playing tournaments at the age of 12 and since then has gained many achievements. She was the under 14 champion in 2004 and in the same year she got the opportunity to represent Sri Lanka as a member of the women's National Team at various international tournaments. She has also become the under 15 champion of Sri Lanka and won the Bronze Medal for the country at the Asian Schools Tournament held in Singapore.

That was the first medal that Sri Lanka students have won for chess at International Level.

Pramodya who has also participated at the 36 Olympiad Chess Tournament managed to reign supremeat the 37th Olympiad Chess Tournament in Italy this year. She managed to win 6 out of 9 rounds and gain the title FIDE Master.

However, despite all the many achievements she has gained throughout the years, I must mention the fact that she is a very down to earth person. I noticed this personally because I was in the team senior to her. A quality that I admired most in Pramodya is the respect for her elders and she managed to maintain a close relationship and a friendship with all of us who played for the school teams.

Addressing Pramodya, she said: "I must say that you have been rewarded for your good qualities."