GM Abdulla Al Rakib qualifies for the World Cup 2017

by IA Dharmendra Kumar - 20/04/2017

Asian Zonal 3.2 championship was held in Kathmandu, Nepal. The countries eligible to take part in this event are Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives. The best players from Bangladesh showed a clear domination in both open and women's category. GM Abdulla Al Rakib pipped Ziaur Rahman at the finish line to take the lone World Cup spot, while in the women's section it was the indomitable 73-year-old Rani Hamid who emerged victorious. We have a beautiful report sent to us by IA Dharmendra Kumar.

Asian Zonal 3.2: GM Mollah Abdulla Al Rakib qualifies for World Cup

Twenty players from Asian countries are qualified for the prestigious FIDE World Cup. India and China being powerhouse nations, have separate chess zones. Two players from China, and one player (National Premier Champion) from India, secure berths in the World Cup. Remaining 17 players are qualified through Asian Continental and Asian Zonal championships.

The Asian Zonal 3.2, featured players from South Asian nations including host Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the Maldives. India doesn't fall in this zone. It was held in Kathmandu from March 18 to 28 with a total prize fund of $6500.

Nepal Chess Association (NCA) hosted this championship.

Hotel Yellow Pagoda, the venue of the tournament

The tournament was inaugurated by Mr. Jhalnath Khanal, Former Prime Minister of Nepal and Rajesh Joshi, Zonal President. 3.2 Zone

Introduction of arbiter's team by Chief Arbiter IA Dharmendra Kumar (the author of this report)

A vibrant opening ceremony!

GM Molla Abdulla Al Rakib (2492) of Bangladesh

GM Abudulla Al Rakib remained undefeated throughout the tournament. He scored 8.0/9 points, drawing two games against GM Rahman Zaur and FM Rahman Syed Mahfuzur respectively. In the final round, he registered a crushing victory against experienced GM Hossain Enamul.

[Event "Asian Zonal 3.2"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.03.27"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mollah Abdullah , Al Rakib"]
[Black "Hossain, Enamul"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "2492"]
[BlackElo "2474"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2017.04.19"]
[SourceDate "2017.04.19"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 c5 3. d5 Qb6 4. Nc3 Qxb2 5. Bd2 Qb6 6. e4 d6 7. f4 e6 8. Rb1
Qd8 9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. dxe6 fxe6 11. e5 Nd5 12. Qh5+ g6 13. Qg4 Qe7 14. Ne4 Qf7
15. c4 Nb4 16. Nf3 N8c6 17. Nf6+ Kd8 18. Bxb4 cxb4 19. Ng5 Qe8 20. Rd1 h6 21.
Rxd6 hxg5 22. Rxd7+ Qxd7 23. Nxd7 Kxd7 24. Qxg5 Be7 25. Qxg6 Rag8 26. Qe4 1-0

Top-seeded GM Rahman Zaur, a regular in the Indian circuits settled for second place. He scored 7.5/9 but lost his game against GM Niaz Murshed.

Niaz Murshed was naturally thrilled at having beaten his long time rival and friend Ziaur Rahman

Unherlded Kalugampitiya RS of Sri Lanka finished fourth and achieved FIDE Mater title.

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	2	GM	Mollah Abdullah Al Rakib	BAN	2492	8,0	0,0	44,0	48,0
2	1	GM	Rahman Ziaur	BAN	2520	7,5	0,0	45,5	50,0
3	4	GM	Murshed Niaz	BAN	2422	6,5	0,0	46,0	50,5
4	9		Kalugampitiya R S	SRI	2129	6,0	0,0	35,0	38,0
5	7	FM	Hasan Mehdi	BAN	2263	5,5	0,0	44,5	45,5
6	8	FM	Rahman Syed Mahfuzur	BAN	2250	5,5	0,0	44,0	47,0
7	10	CM	Kayastha Madan Krishna	NEP	2099	5,5	0,0	41,5	45,0
8	12	CM	Shrestha Keshav	NEP	2077	5,0	0,0	45,5	50,0
9	3	GM	Hossain Enamul	BAN	2474	5,0	0,0	45,0	49,5
10	6	FM	Rahman Md. Taibur	BAN	2341	5,0	0,0	40,5	44,5

Complete list of final rankings

Women's Section

WIM Rani Hamid of Bangladesh is the Zonal Queen. She is 73yrs old! Her love for chess is astonishing.

Runner-up Shamima Akter of Bangladesh. As she is already a WIM, second runner-up Nazrana Khan earned a WIM norm.

[Event "Asian Zonal 3.2"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.03.27"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Shamima, Akter"]
[Black "Shrestha , Sabina"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D14"]
[WhiteElo "2077"]
[BlackElo "1405"]
[PlyCount "49"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Bf4 Bf5 7. e3 e6 8. Qb3
Qd7 9. Ne5 Qc8 10. Bb5 Bd6 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bxd6 Qd7 13. Ba3 cxb5 14. Nxb5 Qc6
15. Qb4 Kd8 16. Qe7+ Kc8 17. Nd6+ Kb8 18. O-O Qd7 19. Nxf5 exf5 20. Qb4+ Qb7
21. Qd6+ Qc7 22. Qa6 Ne8 23. Rac1 Qd7 24. Rc3 Nc7 25. Rb3+ 1-0

A video showing the settings of the Asian Zonal 3.2. It was a nice feel to see that Men and Women played in the same hall.

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	3	WIM	Hamid Rani	BAN	1990	8,0	1,0	42,0	44,0
2	1	WIM	Shamima Akter	BAN	2077	8,0	0,0	42,0	42,0
3	4	WFM	Khan Nazrana	BAN	1904	6,0	0,0	42,0	42,0
4	5		Sharmin Samiha Shimmi	BAN	1842	5,5	1,0	40,5	40,5
5	2	WFM	Sultana Sharmin Shirin	BAN	1998	5,5	0,0	40,5	40,5
6	6		Saumy Zainab	SRI	1788	5,0	0,0	43,0	45,0
7	7	WCM	Chowdhury Mahmuda Hoque	BAN	1740	4,0	1,0	39,5	39,5
8	9		Thapa Shanta	NEP	1626	4,0	1,0	39,0	39,0
9	12		Shrestha Sabina	NEP	1405	4,0	1,0	38,5	38,5
10	8		Kusi Matina	NEP	1701	2,0	1,0	38,0	38,0

Complete list of rankings

Closing ceremony

Welcome to Nepal! Deputy President of Asian Chess Federation and Chairman of FIDE Technical commission Mr. Bharat Singh Chauhan receives a warm welcome!

The FIDE Anthem in progress!

WIM Hamid Rani ecstatic with her win

GM Abdulla Al Rakib has successfully qualified for the FIDE World Cup to be held in Tbilisi, Georgia in September.

Sightseeing in Nepal

Participant in the local traditional shop

Deputy President of Asian Federation & AICF CEO Mr Bharat Singh Chauhan, along with his wife visited famous Darbar Square Area

Bangladesh players during sightseeing

Women's Champion WIM Hamid Rani enjoying the cable ride

Cable rides enable tourists to indulge in Nepal's serene and scenic mountains.

About the author

IA Dharmendra Kumar is one of the most well known and respected arbiters in India. He is perhaps the only person in the country, who makes a living out of being an arbiter. Visiting new places, witnessing the natural beauty and spreading the game of chess are his main interests. He is also an author for the ChessBase India Hindi newspage.