Alkass Digital
Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros. Co. (AAB), the distributor of Toyota and Lexus in Qatar, hosted the seventh edition of its Chess Open FIDE-Rated Tournament, in collaboration with Qatar Chess Association (QCA), at the Qatar Chess Association Training Centre recently.
This year, the FIDE-Rated Tournament saw a record turnout of chess players in Qatar, where a total of 130 participants ranging from age 6 years old and above, battled for the championship and special prizes.
The tournament was played in 7-Round Swiss System format of standard chess over two consecutive weekends. The tournament results are linked for individual rating purposes with the World Chess Federation (FIDE).
The Championship title of the 7th Edition of the tournament was clinched by Gyana Sai Santhosh of India. The 2nd place went to fellow Indian, Pranav Pradeep Nair and Sanjid Latheef, also from India, took 3rd place. Loyola Rolenson of the Philippines got placed at 4th and Elishev Ivan of Russia came in 5th place. The winners of the first five places received trophies and cash prizes. Furthermore, the “Best Qatari Male” award went to Erfan Mohamed Firdaus while the “Best Qatari Female” went to Kholoud al-Khelaifi.
In addition, the “Best Qatari U20” went to Aljamaat Khaled, the “Best Qatari U16” went to Al-Mansouri Fahad, and “Best Qatari U12” went to Al-Janahi Ibrahim.
QCA President Mohamed al-Mudahka and QCA members were present at the prize giving ceremony. Leading the AAB team was Dr Eiman al-Ansari, Government & Public Affairs Director.
The AAB Chess Open, Qatar’s first FIDE Rated Open Chess Tournament, is a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative geared towards developing the community through sports.
The tournament is organised every year to maintain the enthusiasm and interest of chess aficionados in Qatar. It provides a platform for both rated players to raise their world ratings, and for unrated players to become rated. Edition 7 produced 12 newly rated players. So far, this tournament has elevated 77 players to achieve international ratings since the first edition was played in 2018.
“We at AAB remain committed to social improvement through various sports activities and our long-time partnership with the QCA is a testament of our corporate social responsibility as an organisation,” said Abdulghani Nasser al-Abdulghani, AAB CEO.