Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh won the FIDE Zone 3.2 Chess Championship that concluded at Nepal earlier this month. Bangladesh players dominated this event and took all the top four places.
Ziaur Rahman started with a draw and ended with two draws to win the six middle rounds. He totaled 7½/9 to win by a wide one point margin.
GM Ziaur Rahman
In the Women’s section WIM Shamima Akter Liza, who recently competed in the FIDE Women’s World Championship in Sochi, took the top spot also with 7½/9 points.
The Zone 3.2 Championship was held at Ratnagiri Hotel & Resorts, Nagarkot in Nepal from March 27 to April 1, 2015. India’s IA Dharmendra Kumar was the chief arbiter. The tournament director was Ekalal Shrestha, General Secretary, NCA.
Nepal’s Rupesh Jaiswal, only 17 year old, became the youngest FIDE Master of the host nation when he scored two-thirds of points in the Zone event.
FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov attended the event along with Asian Chess Federation President H.H. Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan, the Minister of Youth and Sports of Nepal Mr. Purusottam Poudel and the officials of the Nepal Chess Association in the closing ceremony.
FIDE informs that Kirsan Ilyumzhinov also visited the Russian Center of Science and Culture (RCSC) in Kathmandu. RCSC the Chess Center, which is the heart of the whole chess activity in Nepal. The FIDE President took part in the opening ceremony of the 3rd Kamana Co-operative Cup open chess tournament in Lalitpur.
On the next day the FIDE President met with the Prime Minister of Nepal Mr. Sushil Koirala. The Prime Minister supported the idea to hold the Lord Buddha Cup.
FIDE President also met with the President of the National Olympic Committee of Nepal Mr. Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan.
Final standings (Open):
1. GM Rahman Ziaur 2496 – 7.5
2. GM Abdulla Al-Rakib 2521 – 6.5
3. GM Hossain Enamul 2437 – 6
4. IM Minhazuddin Ahmed 2443 – 6
5. CM Jaiswal Rupesh 2156 – 6
6. GM Murshed Niaz 2464 – 5.5
7. IM Abu Sufian Shakil 2351 – 5.5
8. Kayastha Madan Krishna 2083 – 5.5
9. IM Lodhi Mahmood 2345 – 5.5
10. Niraula Bhupendra 1989 – 5
11. Thing Bibek 2069 – 5
12. FM Kurukulasuriya Prasanna 2083 – 5
13. FM Chatterjee Debaraj 2280 – 5
14. FM Hamal Manish 2067 – 5
15. FM Ahmed Sk. Nasir 2336 – 4.5
16. FM Galappaththi Chinthaka Anurud 2143 – 4.5
17. CM Shrestha Keshav 2136 – 4.5
18. CM Thapa Krishna 2041 – 4.5
19. CM Chowdhury Sohel 2123 – 4.5
20. CM Rajbhandari Rijendra 2037 – 4
21. Alahakoon Isuru 2011 – 4
22. FM Islam Kh. Aminul 2282 – 4
23. FM Shrestha Sujendra Prasad 1925 – 4
24. Bhandari Kshitiz 1893 – 3.5
25. Pokhrel Anup 1694 – 3.5
26. Shrestha Janardan 2015 – 3.5
27. Lama Himal 2046 – 3
28. Ghimire Bishwo Bijay 1841 – 3
29. CM Malakar Prachand Man 1907 – 3
30. Maharjan Sajin 2001 – 2.5
31. Lama Dharam Bahadur 1927 – 1.5
32. Baidya Arun Shankar 1741 – 0
33. Thapa Mahesh 1903 – 0
Final standings (Women):
1. WIM Shamima Akter Liza 2130 – 7.5
2. WFM Khan Nazrana 1965 – 7
3. WIM Hamid Rani 1989 – 6.5
4. WFM Sultana Sharmin Shirin 2031 – 6.5
5. WIM Ranasinghe S D 1838 – 5
6. Wasif Zenobia 1551 – 5
7. Adhikari Ashmita 1627 – 5
8. Chowdhury Mahmuda Hoque 1710 – 4.5
9. Khamboo Monalisa 1733 – 4.5
10. Jaiswal Bina 1516 – 4.5
11. WFM Sultana Zakia 1949 – 4
12. Kapali Binita 1661 – 3
13. Thapa Shanta 1777 – 2.5
14. Jaiswal Sangita 1616 – 2
15. WCM Thing Suruchee 1540 – 1.5
