KATHMANDU, March 16: The Asian Zonal 3.2 Chess Championship, which is also the qualifiers for Chess World Cup, is set to be held in Kathmandu from March 18 to 28. The tournament being hosted by Nepal Chess Association (NCA) will feature players from South Asian nations including host Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the Maldives. This is the second time Nepal is hosting this tournament after holding the same event two years ago in Kathmandu.
Organizing a press meet in the capital on Wednesday, the tournament coordinator Narayan Das Gamal said that 40 players from the country will compete in the tournament. Top 20 rated male and female players along with top 20 finishers of the Seventh National Games held some three months ago will participate in the championship.
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Similarly, 12 players from Bangladesh, two each from Sri Lanka and Pakistan and one from the Maldives will also take part in the championship.
The winner of this championship will be awarded International Master (IM) title and also qualify for FIDE World Cup to be held in Tbilisi, Georgia in September. Similarly, players garnering 65% and 50% points from nine matches will be rewarded with FIDE Master and Candidate Master titles respectively.
Gamal also informed that the total budget of the 10-day event is Rs 3 million and World Chess Federation has provided $ 5,000 to conduct the event.
Poor preparation of Nepali players
Gamal also informed that home team Nepal expects to win at least two FIDE Master titles. However, Nepal hasn’t made proper preparation for the championship as NCA failed to conduct any special camp for the players. “We couldn’t hold special camp as we had very short preparation time but we still expect them to do well in the event,” said Gamal.
