Bangkok 2018: Paradise on Earth!

by Peter Long - 14/04/2018

It is one of the strongest open tournaments in the world. The 18th Bangkok Chess Club Open 2018 got underway from 13th of April with 15 GMs and 12 IMs. It doesn't come as a surprise that India has the highest number of participants (40), even more than the host country Thailand which has just 23 players. Some of the world class players are here including Hrant Melkumyan, Nigel Short, Jan Gustaffson. Malaysia's Peter Long is present at the venue and he brings us the round one report with some beautiful photos. Truly, the tournament is located in one of the most picturesque locations, ideal for combining chess with vacation.

The 18th Bangkok Chess Club Open Championships is now underway with 194 players from 37 countries. With 39 entries, India has the largest number of participants. There are a total of 66 titled players including 15 grandmasters, 4 woman grandmasters, 12 international masters and 3 international masters.

Top seeded Hrant Melkumyan didn't have the most easiest of outings in round one | Photo: Peter Long

Top seeded is first time Armenia's Hrant Melkumyan and the second seed is defending and three time champion Nigel Short from England. German Jan Gustafsson is now a regular and this is one of the few tournaments the popular third seed plays each year. Fourth seeded and remaining 2600 GM present is Argentine Diego Flores. Blindfold King Timur Gareyev who plays for the USA is the fifth seed. The Asian challenge is young and led by Australia's Anton Smirnov, Vietnam's Tran Tuan Minh and Iran's Shahin Lorparizangeneh while IMs Karthikeyan P from indian and Kevin Goh Wei Ming from Singapore are looking to complete their GM title requirements.

Always a pleasure to have Nigel Short at the Bangkok Open | Photo: Peter Long

It was a typical first round of an open tournament at the 18th Bangkok Chess Club Open Championships being held at the Regent Cha-Am Beach Resort from 13-21 April 2018. All the leading contenders went through relatively comfortably with perhaps third seeded Jan Gustafsson making his task the most difficult. There is a difference between strong grandmasters knowing how to win tournaments and the experienced amateurs and even the up and coming young talents, and in the end, even when playing well within themselves, their class showed.

Gukesh played against the talented Philippine youngster Nouri Alekhine, but the Indian was too strong | Photo: Peter Long

Round 1 results:

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	98		Chan Yi Meng Ryan	1988	0	0 - 1	0	GM	Melkumyan Hrant	2669	1
2	2	GM	Short Nigel D	2662	0	1 - 0	0		Welsh Michael	1985	99
3	100		Duong Thuong Cong	1984	0	0 - 1	0	GM	Gustafsson Jan	2643	3
4	4	GM	Flores Diego	2601	0	1 - 0	0		Mottonen Ari	1984	101
5	102		Ashutosh Kumar	1978	0	0 - 1	0	GM	Gareyev Timur	2592	5
6	6	GM	Smirnov Anton	2546	0	1 - 0	0		Sivara Poompat	1974	103
7	104		Rodriguez Juan Talavera	1967	0	0 - 1	0	GM	Krysa Leandro	2543	7
8	8	GM	Swapnil S. Dhopade	2526	0	1 - 0	0		He Yichen	1966	105
9	106		Brunner Karl	1960	0	0 - 1	0	GM	Tran Tuan Minh	2514	9
10	10	GM	Lorparizangeneh Shahin	2508	0	1 - 0	0		Jaeel Atharva	1957	107
11	108		Sielicki Tomasz	1952	0	0 - 1	0	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.	2499	11
12	12	GM	Ly Moulthun	2498	0	1 - 0	0		Tuorila Kai	1950	109
13	110		Ashid Tsetseg-Ulzii	1941	0	½ - ½	0	IM	Karthikeyan P.	2481	13
14	14	GM	Santiago Yago De Moura	2476	0	1 - 0	0		Tobor Mick	1939	111
15	112		Hutzheimer Alfred	1937	0	0 - 1	0	IM	Goh Wei Ming Kevin	2472	15
16	16	GM	Neelotpal Das	2468	0	1 - 0	0	WFM	Bidhar Rutumbara	1929	113
17	114	WIM	Gokhale Anupama	1927	0	½ - ½	0	FM	Priasmoro Novendra	2449	17
18	18	IM	Nguyen Anh Khoi	2444	0	1 - 0	0	CM	Lam Ross	1924	116
19	117		Frederiksen Erik	1924	0	0 - 1	0	IM	Pascua Haridas	2443	19
20	20	IM	Raghunandan Kaumandur Srihari	2434	0	1 - 0	0		Tantipura Noppakorn	1924	118