Finlip

2022

2022-12-31T21:13:00.003+05:45

Best things:

Argentina won the world cup. (That may be the best thing that has ever happened to me.)

I was able to run at least 300 km in each of the twelve months.

I completed the Jumla Rara High Altitude Ultra Marathon Race.

I spent most of my time in remote Nepal working in road construction.

I finished reading twenty-five books.

I also studied a bit even though no where near as much as I would have liked.

Worst things:

Two people who worked with me lost their lives.

I wasted a lot of time on the internet.

Two reliable co-workers went away.

I couldn't spend enough time with my family.

I lost my Chessable streak after well over 1400 days.

Things I should have brought to Nagarkot

2021-06-08T07:21:00.003+05:45

I'll keep updating the list as I keep realising what I forgot to bring.

1 Blanket: It was a bit cold yesterday and it hasn't even rained yet.

2 Boot brush and soft cloth: I brought boot polish but no brush to apply it.

3 Spoon and bowl: I should have brought this. I did think about it but forgot it.

4 SIM card: Maybe I should also have brought NTC sim card here so that my NCELL and NTC sim card could complement each other at various regions. I have Skyphone but I could have also brought a CDMA router. I would have to find a new updated RUIM card for that though.

Morning Run

2020-07-30T07:01:00.003+05:45

https://smashrun.com/finlip/run/21813023

Solving Puzzles on lichess.org

2018-02-05T21:06:00.001+05:45

Hourly Bullet Arena on lichess.org including two games against John Ludv...

2018-01-24T15:26:00.001+05:45

Daily Antichess Arena on lichess.org

2018-01-22T07:47:00.001+05:45

Antichess on lichess.org

2018-01-20T12:35:00.001+05:45

Hourly Blitz Arena on lichess.org

2018-01-19T21:36:00.001+05:45

GM Wesely So on Lichess

2017-08-30T10:40:00.000+05:45

Formerly Philippine and now American Grand Master Wesley So is currently ranked number eight in the world. I think he has been ranked as high as number two. There is no doubt that he is one of the best chess players in the world.
lichess.org is the server where I play my online chess these days. I think it's an amazing website which will always be free.
Yesterday, when I was running in place in front of my TV I searched youtube for videos about lichess and came across the vidoes featuring Wesley So. It was a treat to watch his online games there. They were all interesting. I quickly opened my lichess application on my phone and searched for So's account so I could follow him but couldn't find it.
Today, I finally realized that he actually delete his account a year ago as can be seen here.
Maybe he will come back to Lichess some day.

Marriage

2017-01-24T09:59:00.005+05:45

A few months ago, I wrote another blog post titled Marriage here. In that post, I promised to write more if I get married.Within ten days of writing that, I started talking to someone and we are getting married in three weeks. I am pretty excited and I'm looking forward to married life. I was engaged exactly one week ago. I don't know what else there is to write. This is the best feeling I have ever had. I will come back and write more about us later.

Cycling

2016-10-16T01:55:00.001+05:45

Today, I cycled on the streets of Kathmandu for the first time ever. I had an opportunity to ride my cousin's bicycle from Patan Dhoka to Battisputali. The traffic wasn't too heavy. His bicycle is also in great condition. It's a very good one and cost him a fortune.

When I was younger, I didn't really learn how to ride the bike. However, I did cycle sometimes when I was in the flat and empty roads of the Terai at Bhairahawa on one or two occasions. Later in life, at the relatively old age of 26, I learned how to ride a motorcycle, got a license and started riding. I went on a ride almost all over the country.

Later I stopped riding the motorcycle and walking again. Cycling crossed my mind but I still wasn't confident I could ride a bicycle properly.

Then, I went to China. In China, I bought a second-hand bicycle, learnt how to ride it, and started riding it. I was confident enough to go on long solo rides on it. The director in our department felt that Chongqing was not a bicycle friendly city. He asked me not to do too much cycling to places so far away. However, I think that city is far more bicycle friendly and far more safe than Kathmandu. I discovered that cycling is one of the things that I like when I was in China.

It's already three months since I came back to Nepal. I have been thinking about buying a bicycle for a long time but I still haven't bought one. It would be nice to ride a bicycle and go to several places on it. I think I can go on very long rides. The maximum that I have ridden in one day is 70 km. I started that in the afternoon. If I start early in the morning, I think I can ride much more than that in one day. The roads may also be a factor. It's not that the long rides I had in Chongqing were in roads that were as good as the best roads there though.

I am looking forward to owning a bicycle as soon as possible. It will also be a nice cross-trainer for running. I guess it will also be good for health.

Marriage

2016-09-28T15:35:00.001+05:45

I am 34 years and over six months old. I have never been married. This is a cause of concern for my mother. She badly wants me to get married as soon as possible. It's not just her. Many people who meet me always talk about marriage. But it's not just them. I myself think about marriage too. Here is a proof of it. You can see that I am writing a blog post about marriage here.

Different people get married at different ages and marriage changes their lives in different ways. They get happiness from marriage. They get a feeling of accomplishment. Sometimes, there is also regret. Marriage is something that most people take part in. However, there are several people who remain unmarried throughout their lives or until late in their lives.

I am definitely not against the idea of marriage. However, it is not impossible for me to remain single until I die.

They say that you have to compromise when you get married. Everyone isn't perfect. But it's not that I have really rejected anyone saying that I don't want to marry them.

People talk about criteria that I am looking in a prospective wife. However, I have no criteria. Looks don't matter. Educational qualification doesn't matter. Age difference doesn't matter to me. I don't worry about caste but my parents may have their disapproval about it. I don't worry about nationality but my office may not allow me to marry a foreigner.

However, it's not that if someone comes to me and says that she wants to marry me, I will accept immediately. I can't explain what I am looking for but I am not going to compromise. If someone comes to me and understands me and the kind of person I am completely and still wants to marry me, I will most probably be unable to reject.

It's difficult for me to decide if I really like someone. I see good things in every one. But I can only marry one person. So, I can't act until something clicks. I don't know what it is but maybe I'll know it when it happens.

I'll live every day without worry. I'll try to be a better person every day. Maybe some day, I'll be lucky and I will meet someone. It will never be too late. I am not in a hurry. I do think that the probability of finding someone will get smaller and smaller as I get older and older.

I am not going to buckle under the pressure that they are all putting me under to get me married. But I do believe that my life will become much better if and when I ever get married. However, even now, it isn't that bad. I might be a bit lonely at times but loneliness has it's own advantages. I like playing chess and running and I think that celibacy is helping me do better in both.

Lets see how things go. If I get married, I'll surely blog about it again.

Two Time Marathoner Compares

2016-09-24T16:10:00.001+05:45

I completed my second marathon, 10th Kathmandu Marathon, today. Here, let me compare the two races that I have run so far.
I had a dream of completing the marathon in my life which came true on my birthday on March 20, 2016 when I ran the 4th Chongqing International Marathon.
1. Recognition: KM was recognized by the Nepal's Sports Council and Athletic Association while CQIM was recognized by IAAF as a Bronze Label Road Race.
2. Registration: I registered for KM 40 hours before the race while I registered for CQIM online, more than two months before the race. For KM, I just had to pay the entry fee and then I could run. In CQIM, only 7000 runners would be entered for the full marathon and I had to get selected by a lucky draw. However, there were probably quotas for foreign runners and different countries and I probably got the opportunity because I was probably the only one from Nepal.
3. Entry Fee: The entry fee at KM was NRs 1000 while that at CQIM was 300 RMB.
4. Preparation: I had no preparation for the KM. I did no running at all after deciding to run. I did start running a few times every week since August after not running for a more than a month after returning to Nepal. However, my full marathon was run six months ago and while I was in China, I hadn't stopped running even after the marathon. Also, I had been recording my runs on my phone and I had done quite a few runs over 20 km and 2 over 28 km. After returning to Nepal, I did go to Dakshinkali once. But I think the amount of running that I did before KM was inadequate. In Chongqing, I didn't record my runs. I used to run without my phone back then. However, I made up my mind to run the marathon if I got selected for it almost five months before the race and for over two months, I knew I was going to run. I did run regularly. We also had a one month holiday which ended twenty five days before the race and I did run regularly. I ran a few long runs and even though I didn't follow any strict recommending training plans, I prepared myself both mentally and physically in my own way. The cycling I did in Chongqing probably counts as cross-training which could be useful for my marathon run.
5. Time-keeping: In KM, the time-keeping was manual done by some time-keepers with a stop-watch. In Chongqing, there was a chip, that I had to put in between my shoelaces and it recorded all the times and gave me split times after every five kilometers.
6. Bib: My KM bib number was 34 while that at CQIM was B5177. It was my birthday in Chongqing and I had a special bib with Happy Birthday printed on it. However, as the bib got wet, I had to make sure it didn't fall off my shirt during the race. We had been given only one bib each in CQIM while we got two here in KM. I put one at the front and the other at the back. I think the bib in KM was better because it was made of cloth rather than paper and there was no danger of it falling down after my shirt got wet.
7. T shirt: The tee shirt at KM was of a much inferior quality compared to that at CQIM. I didn't feel any runner's nipple in Chongqing but today, I was bleeding heavily at my nipples during the race. Maybe I should have run with Chongqing's T shirt today.
8. Goodies: Before CQIM, we were given many goodies except for the T shirt and the bib. There was a nice red bag and it had maps and instructions. We were also given a sample energy bar. They gave us a movie card and a post card too. They also gave us a chip that would be used for timing purposes.
9. The Start: In KM, I started from the front and took a lead for about two hundred meters. In CQIM, I was way behind the other runners at the start. Thousands of runners started together and I had to navigate my way through the crowd. It took me about eighty seconds to get to the starting point and then after that I had to run slowly through the crowds.
10. Organization: The organization of KM is far inferior to that at CQIM.
11. Traffic: Traffic was not controlled in any way at all at the KM and I had to run as if I was running on my own. There were lots of obstruction by vehicles and other people on the road. I lost my temper at times and shouted as well as showed my frustration. In CQIM, the traffic was all controlled completely for six hours and we the only obstruction I faced was from other runners and an ambulance that was carrying someone almost when I reached the finishing line.
12. Water Stations, Energy Gels, Waterfalls: In KM, there were a few water stations. However, all of them did not have cups. There was no provision of other energy-providers like gels, banana, and pickles. There was just one table at water stations and it was not possible to take some water without stopping. In CQIM, at every water station there were plenty of tables with water and some other liquids as well. There were some stations where they provided energy gels, bananas, and energy bars too. There were also a couple of stations were we could run through artificial drizzle or shower.
13. Other runners: There were very few other runners in KM. CQIM had several people and running there with so many other runners was absolutely inspiring and a good experience.
14. Time Display: The elapsed time was displayed at least after every five kilometers in CQIM while there was no such provision here at KM.
15. Road Surface: The road surface was flawless in CQIM but today, there was only a small segment of road where the surface was okay.There were lots of potholes and a segment contained bricks.
16. Feeling During Race: At KM, I knew I had run the marathon before. However, CQIM was my first marathon. However, I was never really afraid I would fail to finish unless something catastrophic happened.
17. Timing: I finished KM exactly 25 minutes slower than CQIM. I didn't push myself too hard during any of the races. The second marathon definitely didn't feel easier than the first because I wasn't as well-prepared as I was in Chongqing.
18. Ranking: I finished 20th in KM compared to 215th at CQIM. However, while I finished KM in the 50th percentile, I finished CQIM in the 95th percentile. I also finished CQIM within one hour of the winner.
19. Happiness: Completing the marathon is always a happy feeling but I don't feel as happy after finishing KM today as I did after finishing CQIM.
20. Post Marathon Prizes: At KM, we were given a finishers medal at the finish line and a certificate. However, at CQIM, we were given a bag and also several things to eat. The bag contained a finisher's tshirt, a nice big towel, and a finisher's medal. The certificates, however, had to be printed myself after downloading it from the internet.
21. Tiredness: I am not really tired after both the marathons. I can't really decide which was more difficult. Today, I was definitely less prepared and I also definitely put far too less effort on running and more effort on being angry at the organizers.
22. Feet: I think my feet are better after KM than they were after CQIM where I lost a few nails. However, the reason may well be that the nails have not yet grown properly.
23. Shoes: Last time, I chose a pair of shoes and prepared it for the marathon running about fifty kilometers with it before running the marathon with it. This time, I had no time to prepare a pair of shoes for the race. It is a big mistake to run a marathon with a new pair of shoes. I ran with my pair with which I have run almost five hundred kilometers. It is similar to the one with which I ran my last marathon. It's just that this pair is nearing its retirement compared to the last one which was at the best state of its life.
24. Socks: I ran both races with the same pair of socks that were provided by the organizers of the last marathon.
25. Cheering: There was a lot of cheering at CQIM. Here at KM, the cheering was only visible when I approached the finish line at the stadium.
I hope we can organize a better marathon in the years to come with better participation and take more care of the runners.
I am looking forward to running more marathons in the future but I think I should look at running some organized races in foreign land rather than that here in Kathmandu. I had decided not to run the marathon and was unprepared. The fact that there were a few foreigners, mostly from China, taking part, influenced me in making a last minute decision to run the marathon. But I am happy. I now have two marathons under my belt and I plan to train more regularly and to run more marathons in the future.

10th Kathmandu Marathon 2016

2016-09-23T07:55:00.000+05:45

Tomorrow, I will be running the 10th Kathmandu Marathon. I was aware of it being organized in the years gone by and was thinking about running it. However, I was meant to run my first marathon in Chongqing on my birthday this year. So, I didn't run in any of the first nine editions of the marathon. I was also reluctant to pay the entry fee in the years gone by. But having paid a much more expensive entry fee in Chongqing, that wasn't my worry this this time. I had no plan of running this marathon after having run a very well organized race in Chongqing. That race included eight runners who had personal bests faster than 2 hours and 10 minutes and was an IAAF Bronze Label road race. It was very well organized. I am not sure how well this race will be organized. Will I have to wait for vehicles to pass by as I run along the route? I guess the leading runners will be protected but I am not sure about slow runners like myself. In Chongqing, the location of the water points, refueling station, toilets, etc... were all shown in the course map. I am sure there will be water in this race too. What about the other necessities? I cannot realistically improve on my time from Chongqing. Then, I planned to run four moths before the race and it was confirmed when I got picked by the lucky draw about eighty days before the race. Here, I decided to run merely forty hours before the race. I haven't been running too regularly since my return to Nepal. The altitude here is also about 1000 m higher even though I am not sure about the exact figures. But anyway, I will get to say that I have run two marathons and show two finishers medals if I manage to finish the race tomorrow. The advantage this time will be that I will be sure that I have what it takes to go the distance having already done it six months ago. There maybe and outside chance of improving on my time from the first race but maybe I'm not prepared for it both mentally and physically. It would be nice to run a sub three hour marathon some day though. I was planning not to run the full marathon but decided to run the half marathon which is a walk in the park. The factor that influenced me was the fact that I saw a number of foreign runners participating in the race. I'm looking forward to going out there tomorrow and running. I am not going to push too hard but I will run from start to finish and I will finish the race unless something catastrophic happens. I have a feeling that I might even be the last one to finish but I don't mind that at all.

Running with the phone: 1000 km completed

2016-09-19T05:05:00.001+05:45

Until April this year, I never carried a phone with me while running. I never recorded any of my runs.Only when I ran a number of laps on a 400m track and on the treadmill did I know the distance I ran for. I usually looked at a stopwatch to see how long I ran for although I sometimes forgot to stop it. However, in April, I changed that by installing a running application of Nike on my phone. It started recording all the time and distances of my run.
Last week, I completed 1000 km with that application. My peak was two eight or nine day periods where I completed 160 km each. My longest run was 28.6 km. Of course, I have run longer before I got my hands on the software. I ran the Chongqing International Marathon (42.195km) on March 20.
Using the account, I can record my run while running with any phone. I am not sure that this application is the best but I've been using it and I'll probably stick to it. But I might just switch if I find a better option.
All my life, I liked running without carrying anything with me. Now, I am already used to carrying a mobile on my hand while running. It gives me the split times and the map of the place I am running at. However, I have been doing all my running lately at the athletics track at the National Stadium. In this new phone, I often forget to turn on the GPS and yesterday I deleted a run without being aware of it while the phone was in my pocket. Luckily, I figured out which run was deleted and manually entered it again.
I used to run mostly at night during my last five or six months in China. Back in Nepal, I have been running in the morning again. These days, I have my morning meal at seven o' clock and then go to the stadium and run from eight to nine before going to office. I do run in the evening after work sometimes.Running at the stadium while all the top athletes in the country are training is a very good feeling. Maybe I'll never be able to compete with them but I like running and I can admire them.
I do believe that there may be some error in the distance given by the app. I might have run slightly less than the application has actually recorded making my speed slower as a result.

Today and Today's Date

2016-09-13T08:03:00.002+05:45

Today is September 13, 2016. 32 years ago on this date, my only sibling, my younger sister, was born. So, I start by wishing Anupa happy birthday. She is in Delhi now. So, I won't meet her today.
On this day last year, I landed in China where I spent just over ten months. It was a memorable experience. I was very happy there. I will always miss Chongqing and China.
If I hadn't gone to China, I could have played the National Chess Championships and if I had finished in the top five, I would have qualified for the 42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku and I would be there preparing to play the final round today.
I have been watching the Chess Olympiad every day. Play began at 16:45 NPT during the first ten rounds but the final round will start four hours earlier. It is the time at which I'm usually supposed to be working. However, today, the government has declared a holiday because of Eid. So I will be following the Chess Olympiad from home today.
I will be going to bed early from now on and wake up early and study some chess. Maybe I can make it to the next Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia in two years.
I will continue to run regularly. It is a nice habit that I acquired in China and I must not be lazy and should continue to run regularly. I did skip my run today because I have caught cold.

Chongqing International Marathon Part One

2016-09-09T13:29:00.000+05:45

On March 20, 2016, I ran the Chongqing International Marathon in Chongqing. It is unlikely that I will ever forget that day but I must write something about the race before it is too late. I will be writing in parts. There is a lot that I want to include in this article. It will be raw and quite disorganized. But after I write everything, maybe I can read it again and summarize it. For now, I will just start this series.
It was my birthday. I turned 34 that day. I finally realized my life long dream of finishing a marathon. My time wasn't too bad. The winner of the race and the course record were both less than one hour faster than my timing on the day. I completed the 42.195 km race in 3 hours 9 minutes and 22 seconds. I will always be happy because of it. Maybe I will run the marathon again and run it faster. But this first marathon will always be memorable.

Rest Day in Baku

2016-09-07T09:42:00.001+05:45

For the last five days, I have been sitting in front of my computer from 16:45 in the afternoon until I went to bed. I have been watching the live webcast of the Chess Olympiad and opening the boards of the Nepalese players and watching them play. I won't be doing that today because it is a rest day in Baku. Six more rounds of chess will start tomorrow. Nepal have a tough game against Columbia in the open section and against Guam in the Women's section.
After both the men and the women had identical results in the first four rounds: 0-4 loss, 1-3 loss, 4-0 win, and 2-2 draw; there were different results for the two teams in the fifth round yesterday. While the open section saw Nepal beat Malta 3-1, the women lost 3-1 to Ireland.
At the end of this tournament, we will probably see a few more titled players. Sajin Maharjan has 3 points from 5 games and he is most likely to end up with a title. Lets see how many players are able to get which titles. The best performer for Nepal so far is FM Bilam Lal Shrestha. He has won all the four games that he has played after sitting out the first round. However, it is not easy to add to the FM title that he has already gained and become Nepal's first IM. It isn't possible to become and IM directly from this tournament even if he wins all his games.
The players have been doing their best. I hope they will keep doing their best and bring back their experience. I hope one day I can qualify for the Chess Olympiad and represent Nepal. People may laugh at it and think that it's impossible but I won't stop dreaming. But it's more important to work hard than it is to dream.

Nepal at This Chess Olympiad So Far

2016-09-04T09:08:00.000+05:45

The first two rounds of the Chess Olympiad are over. There are nine more rounds to go. Here is a look at the results of the first two rounds for Nepal.

In the Open Section, Nepal faced Sweden in the first round. It was a tough game but a 4-0 victory for Sweden wasn't automatic. One game was lost without a move being made because Kshitij Bhandari, playing his first Olympiad, forgot to take his pass in the hotel and was thus not allowed to enter the playing hall. I feel sorry for the youngster who worked so hard to get to the Olympiad and was really looking forward to playing there. Another Nepalese male player playing the Olympiad for the first time is Nepal Champion CM Bhupendra Niraula. He faced one of my favourite authors, Axel Smith. CM Keshav Shrestha played on board one and Sajin Maharjan on board two. These two players were the only two that represented Nepal in the last Olympiad. FM Bilam Lal Shrestha, who has represented Nepal in the Olympiad before was rested for the first round.

Nepal faced Nicaragua in the second round. Nicaragua were seeded higher than Nepal but the difference was less than that in the first round. Nepal managed to win the game on board 4 where FM Bilam Lal Shrestha started his Baku Olympiad with a win. Nepal lost in the other three boards. On board 2, Nepal Champion CM Bhupendra Niraula was the first to lose after he missed a mating tactic by his opponent. Sajin Maharjan held on for a long time in board 1 but succumbed in the end handing Nicaragua the win. Kshitij Bhandari remembered to take his pass and play his first game at the Olympiad even though he was beaten.

Nepal face US Virgin Islands in the third round today. Nepal can win this round. I am hoping for a 4-0 win but that's not going to be easy. I will follow the games which start at 16:45 NPT.

In the Women's section, Nepal faced Canada in round one and lost all four games. Nepal's second round opponents were Portugal who were also higher rated than Nepal. Shanta Thapa won on board four, but the other three were beaten. So Nepal lost the second round 3-1. Nepal have fielded the same four players during both of the first two rounds. Sujana Lohani is still waiting for her first game at the Olympiad. The other players in Nepal's women's team whom I haven't named are Nepal champion Sindira Joshi and the two players who also represented Nepal in the last Olympiad when Nepal sent a women's team for the first time: WCM Monalisa Khamboo and Ashmita Adhikari. The third round opponents for Nepal today are Swaziland and I wouldn't be surprised if our girls win 4-0.

I have been watching live coverage of the first two rounds of the Olympiad and it will keep me busy every day until the end of the tournament on September 14. I am looking forward to learning a bit of chess myself as a result.

Messi and Football

2016-09-02T10:04:00.003+05:45

Lionel Messi's first half goal ensures Argentina climb back to the top of South America's World Cup Qualifiers. A few months ago, he had announced his retirement from international football. At that time I decided that I would never ever read any news about football again in my life. I didn't even watch any of the remaining Euro 2016 matches and might not have figured out who won the Euro if I hadn't seen no joy on one of my classmate's face. The news of Messi's international retirement was handed to me by a Chinese girl in Ciqikou. I didn't understand it completely at that time and I couldn't believe myself. She was a beautiful girl and was wearing the Argentine football shirt with Messi's name and number on her back. She said that she loved Messi and then informed me that he had retired from international football. However, last month, I read on that Messi had come out of retirement. I started becoming more interested in football than I have been for years. Maybe he'll win it for Argentina in Russia, 2018. It would have been great to see him win multiple world cups but I think he deserves at least one. Even if he doesn't win the world cup he is a great footballer and my favourite. Argentina have been my favourite football team since 1990 but I almost said goodbye to football for ever following Messi's premature retirement earlier this year.

Baku Chess Olympiad

2016-08-31T09:05:00.002+05:45

Chess Olympiad is a biennial event and the 42nd edition is being held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, from September 1 to 13. 176 countries will send their teams to the open section and 137 countries will be represented in the Women's section. Five male and five female Nepalese players qualified for the Olympiad earlier this year. I was in China and had no chance of competing. I dream that I can make the Olympiad team some day. However, it will take a lot of hard work and maybe I'm just not good enough.
Almost all the best players in the world will be at the Olympiad. Chances are that we will get some new titled players after this Olympiad. I'm going to be following the games played by the top players as well as the Nepalese players. I will probably write more about this competition later. The official website is http://www1.bakuchessolympiad.com/
The games start on September 2. There will be a rest day on September 7. The Olympiad concludes on September 13. The games will start at 10:00 GMT (15:45 NPT) on all but the last round which will start at 06:00 GMT (11:45 GMT).

Long Time No Post

2016-08-30T18:58:00.002+05:45

This was exactly the title of my last blog post last June.Three months after making that post, I went to China. I couldn't use this site in China. I also stayed away from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google. I came back to Nepal a month and a half ago. I have finally come here and written something. I am not good at writing but I don't think I'm terrible at it either. If I write more, I will only get better. I have decided to write more regularly from now on. I don't expect too many people to read this but writing will give me satisfaction anyway. It would be a bonus if people read and comment on what I write. I have stories from China to share. Apart from that, my life is also moving on at a constant pace. I probably won't be able to write every single thing I feel here on this public blog because of several reasons. Life is beautiful and I will share it with you here in this blog more regularly from now on. Stay tuned.
I should look for options to make my writings visible in China because I made a lot of friends in China. However, most of them don't understand English.

Long Time No Post

2015-06-05T18:24:00.002+05:45

It has been a while since I posted here anything. I am not writing anything special here either. I would just like to say that I am alive having survived the Earthquake that hit Nepal on April 25. I was scared. I was in my room just before noon on Saturday. I wasn't feeling all that well and wasn't sure what to do for the rest of the day when it started shaking and it just didn't stop. I went under my bed and I was scared to death. I am still scared whenever I remember that day. I have hardly done anything for almost two months since that day. There was another Earthquake which was almost as scary as the first and it hit me at the same place as the first.
If I had been killed in the Earthquake I wouldn't have had to live through this struggle that life is. But I am glad that I'm alive and that I have another chance. Can I make the most of the rest of my life or will I just keep wasting the rest of my life as I used to because life may just end any moment. However, I have been living for over 33 years and if I had been just a bit more disciplined there was a lot more that I could have done.
I have a lot of things to deal with in life. I hope that my life takes a nice turn out of nowhere and that I am able to be happy for a change.

Asian Zonal 3.2 Chess Tournament

2015-04-07T22:41:00.001+05:45

This was the biggest tournament of my life. The entry fee exceeded my one-month salary (it will probably be sponsored too) but I still wanted to play and gain some useful experience. The winner of this tournament qualified for the 128 player knock out tournament, the Chess World Cup to be held in Baku later this year. The top two from that will qualify for the Candidates Tournament and then the winner of that eight player round robin will challenge Magnus Carlsen for the World Championship title next year.

My tournament went quite surprisingly well in the middle after I started with two losses. However, I ended it as badly as I started as I lost my last two games as well. I was the lowest rated player in the tournament by a mile and I even feared I might lose all nine of my games after losing my first two. But then, I went unbeaten for five games in a row. I'm not sure if I have ever achieved such a feat before.

In the end, I finished one win short of a Candidate Master Title. Nevertheless, I have returned with some self belief. I know I have to work much harder and I will see how far I can go. Chess is my life.

It was nice to play a tournament again after ten months. Looking forward to future tournaments and to hours of hard work and study.

ICC World Cricket League Division 2: Looking forward to the rest of the tournament from Nepal's perspective

2015-01-21T11:12:00.001+05:45

Nepal's cricketers are in Namibia taking part in the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 tournament. At the end of this tournament, the top two teams will get a chance to play in the ICC Intercontinental Cup, a four day competition, and the ICC World Cricket League Championships. The bottom two teams will be relegated to Divison 3 while the remaining two will stay in Division 2 and probably get to play a tough World Cup Qualifying tournament later. (not sure)

It was going to be a tough tournament. The other teams, except maybe Uganda, are vastly experienced which alone makes Nepal's task difficult. However, it was Uganda that upset Nepal in the very first game of the tournament. Since then, Nepal has managed to beat both Netherlands and Canada.

Nepal's toughest test against hosts Namibia starts in two hours. I believe that Nepal can win it even though Namibia are heavy favourites and in top form. Friday's game against Kenya will be easier but still tough. I hope that somehow, Nepal are able to finish in the top two and qualify.

It will mean that I will have to waste more time following cricket in the future. But I waste my time anyway quite often, so I want to waste my time that way.

Luck has a big role to play in the game of cricket, more so when the teams are quite evenly matched. I hope somehow, we are able to progress. I am quite delighted that at least, we probably won't be relegated to Division 3 anymore even though that can't be said with certainty yet.

At the moment, after the first three rounds and nine games, Namibia lead with three wins, Nepal have two wins, and the other four teams have one win apiece.

If we win both our remaining games against Namibia and Kenya, we will be promoted. Things are in our own hands. There can no longer be three teams tied at four wins apiece.

If we win only one of the two games, we might still finish in the top two (as sole second or even tied for first if Namibia lose both games) or it might come down to the tie-breaker that is in the playing conditions which is either net run rate or head to head. Our fate could well be decided by how the results go in the other games.

I was checking if there is a mathematical possibility of us being tied for second despite losing both our remaining games. And guess what, it is possible. If we lose both our games that is what we have to wish for. The result in each of the other four matches will have to go a certain way for that to happen. Here is my tweet about that:
"NEP can be tied for second despite losing both games if all these happen: CAN bt UGA, NED bt KEN today and NAM bt CAN, UGA bt NED on Friday."
However, we could still even be relegated to Division 3 if we lose both our games. In any case, we can relish the fact that our team are upto the mark and haven't been outplayed.

I am looking forward to the next two games and I hope we quailfy. I have no interest in Saturday's game unless it is a fight for the title. If we reach the final, we will have played two games at each of the three venues where this tournament is being played. Isn't that how things are supposed to be?