GoldenGate players leave for Fourth Asian Indoor Games in South Korea

Seven Nepali players are scheduled to participate in three different sports events at the Fourth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games that is going to be held in Incheon, South Korea from June 29 to July 7.

Of the total players, five chess players including Manish Hamal, Keshav Shrestha, Prachanda Man Malakar, Monalisa Khamboo and Bina Jaiswal will participate in the indoor event while Swimmer Shreya Dhital and muay thai player Nawaraj Bhandari are other players to participate in the event.

National Sports Council (NSC) Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama bade farewell to the team amid a function in the capital on Tuesday.

Note: The highlighted players belongs to GoldenGate Chess Club.

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GoldenGate Chess Club claim title‚ qualify for Asian meet

Golden Gate Chess Club A have been selected for the Asian Team Chess Championships to be held in the Philippines in September after winning Man Mohan Memorial 3rd National Club Chess Tournament held from 21st June - 26th June.

Golden Gate defeated Lalitpur District Chess Association 2.5-1.5 in the final. The 2216-rated Indian FIDE Master Sauravh Khherdekar of Golden Gate defeated former Nepal champion 2119-rated Badri Lal Nepali, while 2081-rated Madan Krishna Kayastha dispatched 1961-rated Rabindra Shakya. 

Golden Gate were assured of the title when veteran Surbir Lama, a 2050-rated former Nepal Champion, played a stalemate with 1947-rated Sajin Maharjan. However, 2022-rated Golden Gate skipper Niraj Niraula suffered a loss at the hands of 1924-rated Ratna Byanjankar. 

Machhindra Club finished third defeating Battisputali Youth Club 2.5-1.5. Machhindra’s Shyam Shrestha defeated Himal Lama and Rajan Puri saw off Prakash Nepal, while Bibek Thing was held to a draw by Prachanda Malakar and Bijay Dangol lost to Purushottam Chaulagain. 

Apart from the tickets to Philippines, winners Golden Gate received Rs 50,000, while Lalitpur were restricted to Rs 30,000. Machhindra and Battisputali took home Rs 20,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively. 

Meanwhile, Punya Man Karmacharya of Makhhan, Saurav of Golden Gate, Prajjwal Raj Rajopadhyay of Chess Saving Fund and Umesh Sainju of Madhyapur Chess Club were declared the best players in each board and received Rs 5,000 each.

The participants from our club were as follows:

Team A

1. FM Sauravh Khherdekar- Rating: 2214

2. Surbir Lama – Rating:2050

3. Niraj Niraula – Rating:2022

4. Madan Krishna Kayastha – Rating:2081

5. CM Rupesh Jaiswal – Rating: 1989

Team B

1. Monalisha Khamboo – Rating: 1822

2. Tara Ghale- Rating:1744

3. Bina Jaiswal – Rating:1565

4. Purnima Jaiswal 

5. Elka

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Gaurav Kumar claimed the second Dhrubatara Open International Chess Tournament

A 12-year old India kid Kumar Gaurav claimed the second Dhrubatara Open International Chess Tournament here today. 

Kumar who marked a wonderful Nepal tour with a scalp of Nepal champion FIDE Master Manish Hamal in the fifth round accumulated 7.5 points to claim the trophy. The title made him reach by Rs 32,000. The title race went wide open when Kumar lost to local boy Prakash Nepal in the eighth round but he bounce back in the final round to shock another local player Rajan Subedi. Former Nepal champions Surbir Lama of GoldenGate Int'l College and Badri Lal Nepali finished second and third respectively. 

All top three players were tied on 7.5 points and the winner was decided applying the progressive tie break method. Surbir got Rs 20,000 and Badri La earned Rs 15,000.

Surbir registered double victories defeating Bibek Lama and Prakash, while Badri Lal fought back strong to beat Hera Kaji Maharjan and Madan Krishna Kayastha. Bibek, Saurav Anand of India, Madan, Manish, and another Indian player Raunak Mandal rounded up in the top 10 finishes.

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CM Rupesh Jaiswal - Youngest Title holder of Nepal

The Under-19 Nepal champion Rupesh Jaiswal of GoldenGate Int'l College became the Candidate Master (CM) and Prachanda Malakar stepped inch closer to getting the title as Nepal thrashed Malawi 3.5-0.5 in the ninth round of the 40th World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday.

Rupesh defeated 1859-rated Paul Khuphwathea 1859 after the 26th move to accumulate 4.5 points and earn the CM title. The 1956-rated rookie became the third Nepali CM after Keshav Shrestha and Uttam Raj Thapa Magar had achieved the title during the 39th Chess Olympiad in Russia in 2010. 

Playing with white pieces, Rupesh utilised a blunder from his opponent in the 16th move and Khuphwathea was forced to quit the match 10 moves later. 

Prachanda snatched full point against 2100-rated Joseph Xavier Nyambalo after 73 moves. Prachanda has 3.5 points and will earn a CM title if he gets one point from two remaining matches.

FIDE Master Manish Hamal beat 2116-rated CM Chiletso Chipanga after the 53rd move for his third win. Meanwhile, any remaining hopes of CM Keshav becoming the FIDE Master ended after a draw with unrated Joseph Mwale. With the third victory, Nepal have accumulated seven points and jumped eight positions up to the 117th. Nepal will play against Lithuania in the 10th round.

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Badri Nepali claimed Kailali Open Rating Chess Tournament

Former Nepal champion Badri Lal Nepali claimed the Kailali Open Rating Chess Tournament today despite being held on to a draw by U-19 national champion Rupesh Jaiswal in his final round match. 

Badri finished with 7.5 points from nine matches to finish his campaign unbeaten and earn the title that was assured after his closest contender Madan Krishna Kayastha of GoldenGate Int'l College was held to a draw by Prachanda Man Malakar. Madan ended up second with seven points. Badri grabbed a purse of Rs 25,000 and Madan got Rs 15,000.

Dhan Bahadur Bogati finished third on progressive point after he was tied on seven points with Madan. Dhan Bahadur, who defeated Saurav Prasad Pradhan in the final round today got Rs 10,000. FIDE Master Manish Hamal, Rupesh, former Nepal champion Naveen Tandukar, Purushottam Chaulagain and Prachanda Man accumulated 6.5 points and rounded up in the top eight finishes on progressive point.

Niraj Niraula and Saurav finished ninth and 10th respectively with six points apiece. Tirtha Bahadur BK (below-1900) and Prakash Ojha (below-1700) were declared the best in their respective rating categories, while Rudra Khaniya finished first among the Far-west players.

Tekraj Upadhyaya, Kabiram Tamang, Dinesh Thapa and Tika Dutta Dahal claimed top four finishes in unrated category. Kritika Ojha was best among the women participants and Nara Bahadur Bohora took veterans’ top prize. Mahesh Khadka and Sujan Dahal finished first and second respectively in the U-15 age group, while Shiva Poudel and Suresh Chand were the best local players.

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Rupesh Jaiswal - Winner of Nepal Bank Limited Open FIDE Rating Chess Tournament

U-19 champion Rupesh Jaiswal of GoldenGate Int'l College clinched the title of Nepal Bank Limited Open FIDE Rating Chess Tournament on Thursday. Jaiswal accumulated 7.5 points in the nine-round event to secure title on the basis of progressive point despite earning equal point as that of former national champion Badri Lal Nepali. 

Jaiswal bagged purse of Rs 25,000 for his feat while Nepali received Rs 15,000. This is the first title of Jaiswal in open section. 

In the round eight, Jaiswal edged past former Nepal champion Surbin Lama in the 27th move and overcame Rabindra Shakya in the 36th move in ninth round held on Thursday. 

Nepali who finished second remained lucky against FIDE Master Manish Hamal in the eighth round. In the competitive match, Nepali earned full point after Hamal was disqualified as his cell phone rang during the match. In the highly competitive last round, Nepal overcame top rated Keshav Shrestha in the 59th move. 

Madan Krishna Kayastha of GoldenGate Int'l College finished third. He received prize of Rs 10,000. Kayastha beat Shyam Sundar Shrestha and Prem Krishna Maharjan in the eighth and ninth rounds respectively. 

Nabin Tandukar, Surbir Lama, Krishna Thapa, Keshav Shrestha, Purna Raj Khadka, Shyam Sundar Shrestha and Bive Lama secured fourth to tenth places respectively. All of them received Rs 3,000 apiece. 

Krishna Prasad Shrestha of Kavre and Yaisak Khumbu secured top two positions in the unrated section while Rabindra Shakya took home veteran and Jenisha Thapa won U-15 category title. Similarly, Umesh KC was the winner of rating event below 1650 Maniraj Dangi in rating below 1850. They will all bag purse of Rs 1500 each. 

The tournament held under Swiss League format was organized on the 76th anniversary of Nepal Bank Limited.

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Madan Krishna Kayastha-Winner of Lalitpur Festival 1st Co-Operative Cup Chess Tournament

 Madan Krishna Kayastha of GoldenGate International College clinched the title of the First Cooperative Cup Chess Tournament in Lalitpur on Tuesday.

Kayastha edged past FIDE Master Manish Hamal in the final to lift the title of the first ever league-cum-knockout chess tournament in Nepal. 

Kayastha, who had defeated Hamal only once and held twice in their previous six meetings, improved his record against Hamal with the win. Kayastha won both legs of the final match on Tuesday.

Kayastha was awarded a Yamaha motorbike worth Rs 160,000 while Hamal got Rs 50,000.

Niraj Niraula of Jhapa, who had completed the league round on top of the leader-board, had to setttle for the fourth position as he lost to Rajan Puri in the third place play-off on Tuesday. Puri won the match in tie-breaker. Puri received Rs 25,000 while Niraula got Rs 15,000.

Indian Ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad handed over prizes to the winners. Altogether 106 players had participated in the tournament organized on the occasion of Lalitpur Festival.

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1st Royal Penguin Amateur Chess Tournament

Former national champion Punya Man Karmacharya was crowned champion of the First Royal Penguin Amateur Chess Tournament after he finished on five and a half points at the Royal Penguin Boutique Hotel in Thamel on Saturday.

Karmacharya, leveled on points with five players, emerged victorious on the basis of progressive points to walk home with the award of Rs 11,000. Himal Lama from GoldenGate Int'l College and Rajendra Bajracharya finished at second and third who recieved Rs 7,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively.

Chairperson of the organising committee Elka said that they are planning to make the tournament grand in the coming year. “This is our first time organising any sports events in Nepal and it was an encouraging experience,” she said. “We will be organising different adventurous sports and other sporting events in the coming days. This event was kind of litmus test and we are thrilled with it and next year, I will beat it all.”

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