SACC Chess Championship featuring eight South Asian countries is set to kick off on Tuesday at Godavari, Lalitpur.

The championship organiser Nepal Chess Federation (NCF), on Monday, informed that alongside hosts Nepal, the week-long event will have participation from India, Maldives, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

“Altogether, 20 players—10 male and female players each—will compete in the event to be organised in a round robin format,” said NCF president Bidur Prasad Gautam.

All the participating countries will be represented by one player each in the male and female category, except for hosts Nepal, who will have two players each.

Defending champion in the men’s category Nubairshah Shaikh, the Indian grandmaster, and the women’s reigning champion Sharmin Sultana Shirin from Bangladesh, will be competing to retain their crown.

Afghanistan’s participation in the tournament is still uncertain and if they don’t arrive until the tie-sheet draw, Nepal could field two more players as per instructions from the South Asian Chess Council (SACC), Gautam added.

National champion FIDE Master (FM) Rupesh Jaiswal and runners- up Surbir Lama will represent Nepal in the men's section. Woman FM Sujana Lohani, also the national champion, and runners-up Sushila Gurung will compete in the women's section.

The event carries a total cash prize of Rs 500,00o with the top three finishers bagging Rs100,000, Rs60,000 and Rs40,000, respectively. The expected cost of the event is Rs4 million.