Nirosh and Vineetha are the New Men and Women National Champions
Nirosh De Silva clinched the National title in a tensed last round battle with VACC's Thiwanka Mallawarachchi. Mallawarachchi who had a smooth run until the 13th and last round faltered agaist Nirosh to finish as the second runnerup. Last years Champion Luxman took the 3rd spot after a superior tie break with Dimuthu.

In the women's section it was an easy victory to Vineetha Wijesuriya who took her 4th title and the 3rd in a row. Promising teenager Thushari Mahawatte finished at the second spot half a point behind Vineetha after leadind the field till the 9th round. Sri Lanka's only active Internationally Rated player Chandra finished on the number 3 spot.

Final Standings

Men:
Nirosh 9.0, Mallawarachchi 8.0, Luxman 7.5, Dimuthu 7.5, Dulan 6.5, Nuwan 6.5, Danuka 6.0, Anuruddha 6.0, Manjula 5.5, Amarasinghe 5.0, Kaushika 4.5, Konara 4.0, Lakmal 2.0

Women:
Vineetha 10.0, Thushari 9.5, Chandra 8.0, Chandima 7.0, Anupama 7.0, Chathuri 6.5, Bandara 6.0, Ayodya 5.5, Rajitha 5.0, Amarasekera 4.5, Gunarathna 3.5, Harshini 3.5, Nirmanthi 2.0

[Event "Sri Lanka National Chess Championship 2001"]
[Site "Colombo"]
[Date "2001.11.18"]
[Round "13"]
[White "N.H. De Silva"]
[Black "T. Mallawarachchi"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6
6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. f4 Qc7 9. g4 Be6 10. g5 Nfd7
11. f5 Bc4 12. O-O Bxe2 13. Qxe2 Nb6 14. Be3 Nbd7 15. a4
Qc6 16. a5 Nc4 17. Bc1 Bd8 18. Kh1 b6 19. Qg4 bxa5
20. g6 Nf6 21. Qh4 d5 22. exd5 Nxd5 23. Qe4 Nb4 24. gxf7+
Kxf7 25. Nd2 Qxe4+ 26. Ndxe4 Nxc2 27. Ra4 Nb4 28. b3
Nb6 29. Rxa5 Be7 30. Rxe5 Nd3 31. Re6 Nxc1 32. Rxb6
Nd3 33. f6 gxf6 34. Nxf6 Rhc8 35. Nfd5+ Ke8 36. Rb7
Bd8 37. Rxh7 1-0

Chandima 8th at The Asian Under 16 in Malaysia !
Chandima Wijewardana did Sri Lanka Proud When she scored 5/9 at the Asian Under 16 held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 22-29 December 2001. She drew her 7th round game with the Vietnamese girl who finally finished on top with 6.5/9.