Royal College Colombo won the 2026 Western Province schools team chess tournament, taking the championship in every age group contested.
The tournament was held at Kottawa Dharmapala Vidyalaya on 31 October and 1 November, Hiru News reported.
Royal’s players secured the titles in the under-10, under-16 and under-20 age categories — a clean sweep of the three divisions named in the report.
The field
A large number of players from schools across the Western Province took part, representing the province’s schools, and the broadcaster described sharp competition throughout the tournament.
The Western Province is the deepest schools chess pool in the country, taking in the Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara districts and most of the established chess-playing schools. A sweep of every age group in that field is an unusually complete result.
What the photographs show
The images published with the report corroborate the essentials independently of the text. They show Royal College’s entrance arch bearing the school motto DISCE AUT DISCEDE — “learn or depart” — confirming the school, and two separate team groups on a stage holding certificates and wearing medals: one of young boys consistent with the junior age group, and one of older students in whites. The two distinct squads match the report’s account of titles won across more than one age band.
Not reported. The filing does not name any individual player or the team captains, does not say how many schools competed, does not give the runners-up in any division, and does not state the format or number of rounds played. It does not say whether age groups other than under-10, under-16 and under-20 were contested — the three named skip the under-12, under-14 and under-18 bands common in Sri Lankan schools chess, and the report does not explain whether those were held and won by other schools, or simply not part of this tournament.
Nor does it say whether the result feeds into a national schools championship.
This report rests on a single verified source. Schools chess results are rarely carried by more than one newsroom; no other verified outlet had filed at the time of writing.