Organizing a press conference in the capital on Sunday, Nepal Chess Association (NCA) said that the tournament will include players from six south Asian countries belonging to 3.2 zone of FIDE, the international chess governing body. The event will be played at Ratna Giri Resort in Kalamasi, Bhaktapur.
“Altogether 45 players including 16 in women's section and 29 in men's section have already confirmed participation in the event,” said Rajesh Hari Joshi, the president of NCA. “The winner of either section will get direct entry into the FIDE Chess World Cup to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from September 10 to October 4. The event will be held under FIDE World Chess Championship 2014-2016 Cycle.”
In addition to berth in the global event, the winner in the men's section will earn International Master (IM) title. Similarly, players to earn 65 percent point in the nine-round event will earn FIDE Master (FM) honor and 50 percent point shall fetch Candidate Master (CM) titles respectively.
The winner of women's event will earn Women International Master (WIM) title and female players earning 65 percent and 50 point points will earn Women FM and Women CM honor respectively.
“We are aiming to produce IM within a year and working accordingly. I hope the tournament will be fruitful in achieving our target of producing first IM,” Joshi told.
The event will see highest 20 participants from Nepal followed by 16 from Bangladesh, five from Sri Lanka and two each from Pakistan and Maldives. Bhutan's participation are yet to be confirmed.
Grand Master (GM) Abdulla Al-Rakib from Bangladesh is the highest rated player with 2521 rating which will see participation of four GMs and all from Bangladesh. Candidate Master Rupesh Jaiswal is the highest rated Nepali player with 2156 rating.
Shivani Airlines is the chief sponsor of the tournament. The expected cost of the event is Rs 3.2 million out of Shivani Airlines, will bear the accommodation cost amounting Rs 1.05 million.
“It is challenging to get sponsor for indoor games. Thus we decided to sponsor the event for promotion of the game in the country,” said Manindra Ranjitkar, the president of airlines.
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