Lolowa Al-Meghaiseeb
The International Chess
Championship Abdullah Abdulghani & Brothers Chess Open has ended its third
edition this past weekend. Organized by Qatar Chess Federation in cooperation
with Abdulla Abdulghani & Bros. LLC. - Exclusive distributor for Toyota and
Lexus in Qatar. The event is under the supervision of the International Chess
Federation.
The tournament welcomed the
participation of 70 players of different nationalities and ages. The aim of the
tournament is to encourage and support chess enthusiasts in the community by
allowing unqualified players to have an international rating and to pave the
way for classified players to improve their rankings. Over the course of the three
editions of the tournament, 20 players have been awarded an international
classification.
The tournament was played in five
rounds according to the Swiss system / 60 minutes per player + 30 seconds per
move.
The awards ceremony was attended by
Mr. Ahmed Abu Saad - General Manager of Lexus National Sales and representative
of the management team of Abdullah Abdulghani & Bro. Mr. Omar Al Marri, Board Member of the Qatar
Chess Federation, Ms. Ju Chen, treasurer of the International Chess Federation
and Mr. Victor Bologan, Executive Director of the International Chess
Federation.
Winners of the third edition of the
International Tournament (general ranking):
First place: Sidi Boudia
(Mauritania)
Second place: Hassan Abdel Moneim
(Philippines)
Third place: Rollinson Loyola
(Philippines)
Fourth: Abdeen Zainal (Bangladesh)
Fifth place: Ryan Mendoza
(Philippines)
The winner of the first place won a
cash prize as well as a Lexus ES350 for the weekend. The tournament saw special
awards for a variety of players such as, the best player under the age of 20,
and the best player under the age of 12 years, and the best player in general.
The tournament also saw the emergence of some new categories of awards.
Florian and Yuri de Guia took the
highest cumulative score and won the Best Family Award for the third time in a
row. They were given the opportunity to spend the weekend driving the new
Toyota RAV4 Hybrid.
Mansour Lary won the Best Qatari
Player award along with Kholood Al Khulaifi. They also won a weekend driving
the Lexus GS350 and the RX 350. A promising player Abdullah Mohammed Al Hameed took
the title of the best Qatari player under 16 years of age.
This international tournament
organized by the Qatar Chess Federation is an initiative aimed at spreading the
game and developing the community through sport. This tournament has already
had a significant impact on young chess lovers who aspire to upgrade their
level in chess. This is a clear indication of the continued flourishing of
chess throughout the country. One of the aims of the tournament is to form a
new generation of chess players with an international rating in Qatar.