Nepal might be a small country but Kathmandu Open is as big as it gets

The big flex outside of the hotel reception displays it all. Can you name all the countries?

Nepal is known for its scenic beauty and beautiful Himalayan range. The picture below, just outside the airport terminal is evident of it.

Team Bengal (L to R: GM Deep Sengupta, IM Suvrajit Saha, GM Sandipan Chanda, Suvrajit's son and wife) arrives at Kathmandu, Nepal

Old foes, Sandipan Chanda and Alexander Fominyh are having a friendly chat

Inauguration ceremony is in progress
Draw of the colors was done by GM Tarlev Konstantin of Ukraine

The man of the hour, the pillar of Indian Chess, Mr Bharat Singh Chauhan was present for the inauguration in person
Bharat Singh Chauhan talks about encouraging international activity in the neighborhood countries and many more

A stroll in the evening around the hotel campus revealed a lot of things:

There is this well-lit Waterfront Garden Restaurant. It truly lives up to its name.

No matter whichever part of the world you are from, this crossroad signs points it towards many popular destinations

In case you get lost in the campus, there is this blueprint to guide you where you are and where everything else is

If you are into local music, then you can listen to the live performance as Nepali New Year is just a couple of days away

The first round starts tomorrow at 9 a.m. Nepal Standard Time (8.45 a.m. IST)

Here is the starting lineup of top 30 players:

Starting rank

No. NameFideIDFEDRtgIsex
1
GMVolkov Sergey4122763RUS2598
2
GMSandipan Chanda5004225IND2579
3
GMSengupta Deep5008352IND2579
4
GMTarlev Konstantin14114089UKR2549
5
GMKiriakov Petr4119231RUS2520
6
GMMirzoev Azer13400304AZE2504
7
GMThejkumar M. S.5009154IND2493
8
GMGreenfeld Alon2800039ISR2490
9
GMKasparov Sergey13500481BLR2462
10
IMHarsha Bharathakoti5078776IND2424
11
IMLlaneza Vega Marcos2253585ESP2422
12
IMGusain Himal5033861IND2413
13
IMPrince Bajaj5045150IND2409
14
IMSardana Rishi25004301AUS2407
15
FMRajdeep Sarkar25007963IND2393
16
GMSriram Jha5001668IND2392
17
GMFominyh Alexander4100590RUS2391
18
IMShyaamnikhil P5024218IND2385
19
Kaustuv Kundu5056900IND2381
20
IMPadmini Rout5029295IND2360w
21
Srijit Paul5094798IND2351
22
IML'ami Alina1210246ROU2316w
23
Saurabh Anand5094496IND2294
24
FMGajwa Ankit5077834IND2292
25
Navalgund Niranjan5030854IND2286
26
IMDeshmukh Anup5000564IND2282
27
CMThing Bibek12303135NEP2263
28
Patil Pratik5038758IND2258
29
IMSuvrajit Saha5002532IND2234
30
Neelash Saha5094160IND2212