Nat'l chess

Masuda Begum emerged champion in the preliminary round of the 31st National Chess Championship after beating Titli in the eighth and final round at the Bangladesh Chess Federation Hall Room yesterday.
Masuda of Barisal earned 6.5 point from seven outings. Nazrana Khan Eve of Manikganj became runner-up and WFM Zakia Sultana finished third through tiebreaker after both earned six points each.
Top seven players Masuda, Eva, Zakia, Runu, Protiva, Shimmi and Moly of the championship will join direct qualifiers reigning champion WFM Shamima Akter Liza, runners-up Sharmin Sultana Sharin, IWM Rani Hamid, rated WFM Syeda Shabana Parveen Nipa and WFM Tanima Parveen in the Swiss-League final phase.