KATHMANDU, April 18: India’s international master Harsha Bharathakothi (2424) has won the Kathmandu GM International Open Chess Tournament held in Kathmandu.
Bharathakothi won the title with a 7.5 points difference as he drew with Azerbaijan’s 2504-rated grandmaster Mirjorv Azar at the end of the ninth round of matches.
Bharathakothi takes seven-point lead
With the win, Bharathakothi took home Rs 200,000. In the five-day tournament, Bharathakothi won six games, while he shared points in three matches. Azar won five and drew four and was rewarded with Rs 120,000. He had seven points. Ukraine’s 2549-rated grandmaster Tarlev Constantine became third with seven points but came behind Azar on tiebreak rule. He received Rs 80,000. Tarlev drew with India’s 2413-rated international master Himal Gosain in the ninth round.
Likewise, India’s 2285-rated international master P Shyam Nikhil secured fourth place, Israel’s 2490-rated grandmaster Greenfield Alon got fifth. Nikhil was prized with Rs 50,000, while Alon won Rs 30,000. Gosain became sixth, Russia’s grandmaster Valkov Sargei became seventh, Spain’s international master Bhega Marcos became eighth, Russia’s grandmaster Alexander Fomini claimed the ninth place and India’s grand master Sandeepan Chanda remained on the tenth place.
Forgettable performances
Nepali players showcased forgettable performances in the tournament organized by Homeland Sports under the main sponsorship of KNP Japan. Nepali players could not even get to the top 20.
Rupesh Jaiswal became first among the Nepali players with six points and got Rs 15,000, while Nepal’s highly-rated 2263 player Bibek Thing secured the second spot and received Rs 10,000. Former Nepali champion Keshav Shrestha was third. Badri Lal Nepali was third in over 50-year age category. Also, in under 1800 rating category, Mani Raj Dangi became third, while in best unrated category, Pranit Amatya became third.
In U-18 women’s age category, Tejaswini Tamang secured third position, while in U-14 women’s age category, Marshal Tamang became first. Among the Nepali women, Kripa Adhikari, Shanti Dhimla and Khusbu Thapa secured the first, second and third places respectively.
