North East Champion holds former Russia Champion in Round 2 of Kathmandu Open 2018

by Shahid Ahmed - 13/04/2018

Reigning North East 2018 champion Rahul Gurung drew with the top seed of the tournament, former Russia champion, GM Sergey Volkov in the 2nd round of Kathmandu Open 2018. Rahul was ahead by a knight but the Russian Grandmaster managed to squeeze a draw in the endgame. The tournament started today with 166 players from 12 different countries including 9 Grandmasters and 9 International Masters. Top seeds had smooth sailing in the first round as there was no upset. We bring you photos, videos and games from both Round 1 and 2 of the tournament. Photo: Nongsha Angom

Untitled Rahul Gurung held GM Sergey Volkov to a draw

Despite having a rating difference of 636, playing with Black pieces against the top seed of the tournament would definitely shake anyone's confidence but that was not the case with Rahul Gurung, reigning North East Champion. He got material advantage in the middle game, however the experienced GM who is also the former Russia Champion managed to save the game.

Reigning North East 2018 champion Rahul Gurung speaks after drawing with top seed of the tournament, GM Sergey Volkov

Round 1 highlights

Sergey Volkov had an easy first round against Sarthak Rawat | Photo: Nongsha Angom

You never know whom you are going to face, Sandipan faced Uttam Dhungel, the guy who went to receive him at the airport

Deep Sengupta made a clinical finish against Dr. Kakshapati Prayash Shrestha | Photo: Nongsha Angom

Tarlev Konstantin of Ukraine got a pawn in the opening and converted it into an easy win against Sunil Bahadur Koirala

Azer Mirzoev of Azerbaijan converted his advantage of a pawn beautifully against Kunwar Ranjan

Round 2 highlights

Sandipan Chanda made a quick work of Rajbhandari Rijendra in Caro-Kann Defence | Photo: Nongsha Angom

Prince Bajaj defeated yours truly from a seemingly equal position, arising out of Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation | Photo: Nongsha Angom

Padmini won her second round game in Sicilian Defence, after her first round opponent did a no-show

Round 3 on 2018/04/14 at 09:00 NST

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	2	GM	Sandipan Chanda	2579	2		2	CM	Thing Bibek	2263	22
2	23		Patil Pratik	2258	2		2	GM	Sengupta Deep	2579	3
3	4	GM	Tarlev Konstantin	2549	2		2	IM	Suvrajit Saha	2234	24
4	27	FM	Mohammed Abdul Malek	2171	2		2	GM	Mirzoev Azer	2504	5
5	6	GM	Greenfeld Alon	2490	2		2	FM	Jaiswal Rupesh	2121	29
6	28	FM	Shantharam K.V.	2163	2		2	GM	Kasparov Sergey	2462	7
7	8	IM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2424	2		2		Harshita Guddanti	2064	37
8	30		Harshavardhan G B	2119	2		2	IM	Llaneza Vega Marcos	2422	9
9	10	IM	Gusain Himal	2413	2		2	FM	Hamal Manish	2058	38
10	34	CM	Shrestha Keshav	2094	2		2	IM	Prince Bajaj	2409	11
11	12	GM	Sriram Jha	2392	2		2		Anustoop Biswas	2039	40
12	36		Subhayan Kundu	2079	2		2	GM	Fominyh Alexander	2391	13
13	14	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	2385	2		2		Kavinda Akila	1996	42
14	16	IM	Padmini Rout	2360	2		2	CM	Niraula Bhupendra	1994	43
15	41		Nepali Badrilal	2020	2		2	IM	L'ami Alina	2316	18
16	19	FM	Gajwa Ankit	2292	2		2		Panta Sumit	1993	45
17	44		Puri Rajan	1994	2		2		Navalgund Niranjan	2286	20
18	21	IM	Deshmukh Anup	2282	2		2		Chaulagain Purushottam	1967	48
19	1	GM	Volkov Sergey	2598	1½		2		Dangol Maheshwor Lal	1702	83
20	84		Aryan Ranjan	1697	1½		1½		Neelash Saha	2212	25

Complete Pairings