“The significance in Chess is that it’s a game for everybody: rich or poor, girl or boy, old or young. It’s a fantastic game which can unite people and generations! It’s a language which you’ll find people “speak” in every country.” – Judit Polgar

Chess, the King of games, as legends state, is known to be played by those who are of Royal blood. Living up to that statement it is the Royal College Chess club who are in the forefront in organizing school based Chess tournaments in Sri Lanka, having organized the Oldest Consecutive Chess tournament to be conducted by school students. The “Battle of the Kings” organized for the 19th consecutive occasion is the All-island under 20 inter-school chess tournament organized by the Royal College Chess Club since 1996.

This year, the tournament which is to be recorded under the year 2014, was conducted on the 23rd, 24th & 25th of January 2015 from 7.00am onwards at the College premises, with the participation of over 35 schools consisting over 250 chess players both boys and girls. The players who represented all parts of the island, were united for the lone goal of bringing glory to their alma mater, here at the heart of Colombo, at this historical battle; the battle of the Kings.

Kingdoms fall every day. The highlight of the 19th Battle of the Kings was the breaking of streaks. The teams who were Champions for the past 2 years in both categories (boys’ & girls’), failed to make it to the top this time around, paving the way for two new schools to enter the limelight. At the end of the 3 day campaign, the chess team of Nalanda College emerged champions in the boys’ category breaking the 2 year streak of Dharmasoka College while the girls’ team of Dharmasoka College barred the Visakhians from achieving a Hat-trick.

The awarding ceremony of the tournament was held shortly after the conclusion of the last round, at dusk on Sunday the 25th of January 2015, and the following teams were crowned Champions, 1st Runners up and 2nd Runners up under the two categories.

Boys

Champions : Nalanda College, Colombo
1st Runners up : Devapathiraja College, Galle
2nd Runners up : Vidyartha College, Kandy

Girls

Champions : Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda
1st Runners up : Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo
2nd Runners up : Girls’ High School, Kandy

 

Going through past records, these schools were gallant Knights to conquer the Royal Crown at the past encounters of the Battle of the Kings.

Boys

1996  Vidyartha College, Kandy
1997  Royal College, Colombo
1998  Royal College, Colombo
1999  Vidyartha College, Kandy
2000  Vidyartha College, Kandy
2001  Dharmaraja College, Kandy
2002  St. Sylvester’s College, Kandy
2003  Royal College, Colombo
2004  Royal College, Colombo
2005  Royal College, Colombo
2006  Royal College, Colombo
2007  Royal College, Colombo
2008  Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda
2009  Royal College, Colombo
2010  Royal College, Colombo
2011  Ananda College, Colombo
2012  Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda
2013  Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda
2014  Nalanda College, Colombo

Girls

1996  Girls’ High School, Kandy
1997  Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Colombo
1998  Girls’ High School, Kandy
1999  Mahamaya Girls’ College, Kandy
2000  Girls’ High School, Kandy
2001  Girls’ High School, Kandy
2002  Girls’ High School, Kandy
2003  (Not Awarded)
2004  Pilimathalawa Central College
2005  Musaeus College, Colombo
2006  Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo
2007  Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo
2008  Sirimavo Bandaranaiake Vidyalaya, Colombo
2009  Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo
2010  Musaeus College, Colombo
2011  Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda
2012  Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo
2013  Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo
2014  Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda

With the awarding of the awards and certificates to the winners and participants, the proceedings of the 19th Battle of the Kings tournament were officially concluded.

“If you wish to succeed, you must brave the risk of failure.” – Garry Kasparov