The Peninsula
Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros. Co. W.L.L. (AAB), exclusive distributor of Toyota and Lexus in Qatar, held the AAB Chess Open Edition 3 in collaboration with Qatar Chess Association (QCA).
The AAB Chess Open Edition 3 of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) Rated Tournament saw great participation from the Chess community. Organised to nurture and sustain the interest and passion of chess enthusiasts in the community, the tournament paved the way for the Rated players to improve their world ratings and for the Non-Rated players to be rated on an international level. From these tournament editions, twenty unrated players got their FIDE Rating.
Ahmad Abu Saad, Senior Manager – Lexus National Sales led the AAB Management Team during the prize giving ceremony with Omar Al Marri - Board Member of QCA, GM Zhu Chen - FIDE Treasurer and GM Victor Bologan - FIDE Executive Director.
The tournament was played in 5 rounds Swiss System with 60 min + 30 sec/move timing for the whole game.
The winners of the AAB Chess Open Third Edition are: FM Boidiya Sidi (MTN) - 1st Place; Hassan Abdelmunim (PHL) - 2nd Place; Rolenson Loyola (PHL) - 3rd Place; Abedin Zainal (BAN) - 4th Place; Ryan Mendoza (PHL) - 5th Place. Special prizes were given to Best Under 20, Best Under 12 and Best Female Overall. New winning categories were introduced during this Edition with the Best Game, Best Unrated Overall and Demolisher Prize.
Meanwhile, the father and son tandem of Florian and Yuri de Joya garnered the highest combined score and was awarded as Best Family for the third consecutive edition. They were given the opportunity to a Weekend Drive of the all-new Toyota Rav4 Hybrid vehicle.
The Best Qatari Male was won by Lari Mansour while WCM Kholoud Al Khelaifi received the Best Qatari Female Award. Part of their prizes included a Weekend Drive with Lexus GS350 and RX 350 respectively. Meanwhile, Abdullah Mohammed Al Humaid won the Best Qatari Under 16 Award. The Overall Champion received a trophy, cash prize and a Weekend Drive of the Lexus ES350. “This year, the tournament has become more difficult with an increased number of young players who are well-trained by the Qatar Chess Association and are focused with their game,” FM Boidiya Sidi, 1st Place Winner stated.
This has been the general observation during the Tournament as the quality of the game is high irrespective of age.
The AAB Chess Open is a CSR initiative geared towards developing the community through sports. It has created a meaningful impact on the lives of the young chess enthusiasts as well as adult players who are given the chance to get world rated.