It's a joy to play at the Bhopal Open 2016

by Sagar Shah - 23/12/2016

The fourth Bhopal Open is being held from the 20th to the 25th of December 2016 at Bansal Institute of Science and Technology. GM Sriram Jha is the top seed followed by IMs Ravi Teja, Anup Deshmukh and Chakravarthy Reddy. The organization of the event is excellent, with a beautiful playing venue and good accommodation facilties for the players. But most of all you will find healthy and delicious food at highly affordable rates. A pictorial report from Bhopal.

Amruta and I decided to go to Bhopal as it is considered as a city of lakes. Apart from Amruta playing at the event, we wanted to explore the city a bit and take some time off from our busy schedule. It's as if the city is cut into two halves. One part is polluted, dirty, noisy and crowded, while the other is beautiful, serene, clean and peaceful. That's what makes Bhopal quite a unique city. Spending some time near the Bhojtal lake is sure to give you a feeling of being in Switzerland! And with Bhel puri, chana masala and pani puri vendors stationed at regular intervals it gets even better!

The Bhopal Open is not one of the strongest tournaments in terms of player participation. But with good conditions being offered, and a hefty prize fund of 4,15,000, it has the potential to be one of the biggest events in the Indian chess calendar. Two more tournaments are taking place on the same dates: Hyderabad Open and RBK Open in Mumbai. Yet Bhopal witnesses a participation of 208 players. And it is always a pleasure to see a GM in action. Enjoy the pictures!

Bhopal is known as the city of lakes

The fourth Bhopal Open is being held at the Bansal Institute of Science and Technology

The beautiful and green premises of the tournament

This long tournament hall is where tables 31 to 104 play

The main playing hall with top 30 tables

Top two boards are on the podium...

And they have DGT boards

GM Sriram Jha is the top seed of the event. He drew his game in the fourth round against Ashwin Daniel and is currently on 4.5/5.

The National Challengers 2016 champion IM Ravi Teja is the second seed. Ravi recently got engaged to...

...Anu Sri. We wish both them a very happy and fulfilling life together.

IM Anup Deshmukh defeated Amruta Mokal in the fifth round and is now one of the leaders with 5.0/5. In the sixth round Anup will be against his student...

...Srinath Rao, who is also on 5.0/5

Arjun Tiwari works for Railways. He has to work seven days a week as a Ticket Checker and is also a father now. Donning so many hats, he continues his passion for chess and is currently on 5.0/5. He beat Mehar Chinna Reddy in the fifth round.

Old friend's reunion. Amruta Mokal with Arjun Tiwari and Niklesh Jain

Ankit Gajwa, the fourth seed, is on 4.5/5. The boy from Madhya Pradesh is in his last year of B.com and is trying to balance his academics and chess.

AICF CEO Bharat Singh flew down from Delhi for the opening ceremony

MP chess association Secretary and AICF joint secretary Kapil Saxena is trying his level best to provide the best possible conditions to the participants. The way he is developing chess in Madhya Pradesh is quite excellent.

The parents wait outside patiently for the children

IA Dharmendra Kumar, the chief arbiter of the event, with ChessBase India Hindi editor-in-chief Niklesh Jain. Dharmendra Kumar is one of the few people in Indian chess who earns his livelihood through being a arbiter at different events. Niklesh Jain will soon do an interview with him for our readers.

One of the best parts about playing in Bhopal is the simple yet excellent food that you get at extremely affordable rates. The above food is what is provided at the Kshitij guest house where players are residing. Aloo Methi, Chana Masala, Dal and Roti - unlimted, for just Rs.50.

A ChessBase workshop was held at the venue. You will read more about it in a separate article.

Rank after Round 5

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	5	FM	Srinath Rao S.V.	IND	2250	MAH	5,0	0,0	5,0	14,5
2	6	IM	Deshmukh Anup	IND	2234	MAH	5,0	0,0	5,0	13,5
3	11		Tiwari Arjun	IND	2146	Railway	5,0	0,0	5,0	13,0
4	7	IM	Chakravarthi Reddy M	IND	2230	AP	4,5	0,0	4,0	15,5
	9		Gandhi Anish	IND	2167	MAH	4,5	0,0	4,0	15,5
6	1	GM	Sriram Jha	IND	2426	LIC	4,5	0,0	4,0	14,5
	2	IM	Ravi Teja S.	IND	2384	RAILWAY	4,5	0,0	4,0	14,5
8	4	FM	Gajwa Ankit	IND	2279	MP	4,5	0,0	4,0	14,0
9	16		Aishwin Daniel	IND	1966	MP(Bhopal)	4,5	0,0	4,0	13,0
10	14		Subhash Srivastava	IND	2027	MP	4,5	0,0	4,0	12,5

Complete results and pairing