Himalayan Chess Academy is organising a Freestyle Chess Championship, a first-of-its-kind, in Nepal. The tournament will also feature a ‘Blitz Cup’, a plate tournament for losers from the Freestyle category.

According to Monalisha Khamboo, chairperson of the Academy, Freestyle Chess and Blitz Cup were introduced targeting the new generation.

“The new generation finds chess boring, but we can make it interesting. There are 960 ways of positioning the pieces on the back rank. The most common one, the one we follow in every normal game, is No 518,” said Khamboo. “In Freestyle, we change the positioning of the pieces on the back in every game. It makes the sport interesting.”

The Freestyle tournament was founded by former world chess champion Bobby Fischer and is currently promoted by Norwegian chess grandmaster and world champion Magnus Carlsen.

The final of the freestyle and blitz categories will take place on March 14.