Kathmandu Open 2018 Day 1: Inauguration Ceremony & Preview

by Shahid Ahmed - 12/04/2018

Nepal is hosting the first international chess tournament in the nation's capital, Kathmandu. Total 199 players including 9 GMs and 11 IMs are participating from 17 different countries. This tournament will give a huge boost to the Nepali players as for the first time they will get exposure to play against strong foreign chess players in their home soils and get an opportunity to make their mark. The tournament will take place from 12th to 17th April in Park Village Resort with total prize money of Nepali Rupees 6 Lacs. Team ChessBase India is present at the venue and they will bring you detailed coverage of the tournament.

Nepal might be a small country but Kathmandu Open is as big as it gets

The big flex outside of the hotel reception displays it all. Can you name all the countries?

Nepal is known for its scenic beauty and beautiful Himalayan range. The picture below, just outside the airport terminal is evident of it.

Team Bengal (L to R: GM Deep Sengupta, IM Suvrajit Saha, GM Sandipan Chanda, Suvrajit's son and wife) arrives at Kathmandu, Nepal

Old foes, Sandipan Chanda and Alexander Fominyh are having a friendly chat

Inauguration ceremony is in progress

Draw of the colors was done by GM Tarlev Konstantin of Ukraine

The man of the hour, the pillar of Indian Chess, Mr Bharat Singh Chauhan was present for the inauguration in person

Bharat Singh Chauhan talks about encouraging international activity in the neighborhood countries and many more

A stroll in the evening around the hotel campus revealed a lot of things:

There is this well-lit Waterfront Garden Restaurant. It truly lives up to its name.

No matter whichever part of the world you are from, this crossroad signs points it towards many popular destinations

In case you get lost in the campus, there is this blueprint to guide you where you are and where everything else is

If you are into local music, then you can listen to the live performance as Nepali New Year is just a couple of days away

The first round starts tomorrow at 9 a.m. Nepal Standard Time (8.45 a.m. IST)

Here is the starting lineup of top 30 players:

Starting rank

No.		Name	FideID	FED	RtgI	sex
1	GM	Volkov Sergey	4122763	RUS	2598
2	GM	Sandipan Chanda	5004225	IND	2579
3	GM	Sengupta Deep	5008352	IND	2579
4	GM	Tarlev Konstantin	14114089	UKR	2549
5	GM	Kiriakov Petr	4119231	RUS	2520
6	GM	Mirzoev Azer	13400304	AZE	2504
7	GM	Thejkumar M. S.	5009154	IND	2493
8	GM	Greenfeld Alon	2800039	ISR	2490
9	GM	Kasparov Sergey	13500481	BLR	2462
10	IM	Harsha Bharathakoti	5078776	IND	2424
11	IM	Llaneza Vega Marcos	2253585	ESP	2422
12	IM	Gusain Himal	5033861	IND	2413
13	IM	Prince Bajaj	5045150	IND	2409
14	IM	Sardana Rishi	25004301	AUS	2407
15	FM	Rajdeep Sarkar	25007963	IND	2393
16	GM	Sriram Jha	5001668	IND	2392
17	GM	Fominyh Alexander	4100590	RUS	2391
18	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	5024218	IND	2385
19		Kaustuv Kundu	5056900	IND	2381
20	IM	Padmini Rout	5029295	IND	2360	w
21		Srijit Paul	5094798	IND	2351
22	IM	L'ami Alina	1210246	ROU	2316	w
23		Saurabh Anand	5094496	IND	2294
24	FM	Gajwa Ankit	5077834	IND	2292
25		Navalgund Niranjan	5030854	IND	2286
26	IM	Deshmukh Anup	5000564	IND	2282
27	CM	Thing Bibek	12303135	NEP	2263
28		Patil Pratik	5038758	IND	2258
29	IM	Suvrajit Saha	5002532	IND	2234
30		Neelash Saha	5094160	IND	2212