Sunday, March 19, 2023 – 2:55 PM
RIYADH, 19th March, WAM/ The great international master, Salem Abdul Rahman, player of our national team and Sharjah Cultural Chess Club, won first place in the “Riyadh Calendar” chess tournament.
Abdul Rahman scored 8 points in 9 rounds, after winning 7 matches and drawing in two matches, to win the first place prize of 300,000 riyals.
104 male and female players from 21 Arab countries participated in the tournament, and the organizing committee allocated 800,000 riyals for it for the top ten finishers. It is one of the strongest Arab tournaments and the highest in prizes in the Middle East.
The great Egyptian international professor Bassem Amin came in second place with 7.5 points, by breaking the tie for his compatriot Adham Fawzi the third, who achieved the same balance of points.
After the end of the ninth round, Ahmed Al-Mahmadi, Executive Vice President of the Marketing and Communication Sector of the General Entertainment Authority, and Dr. Abdullah Al-Wahshi, President of the Saudi Chess Federation, crowned the first-place owners in a big celebration.
Omran Al Hosani, player of our national team and Abu Dhabi Chess and Mental Games Club, came in thirteenth place with 6 points, while Omar Noman, player of Sharjah Chess Club, came in 26th place with 5.5 points, and Rawda Al Serkal, player of our national team and Abu Dhabi Chess and Mental Games Club, ranked 38th with 5 points. .
Tarim Matar Tarim, President of the Chess Federation, expressed his happiness with this great Arab achievement, especially that the closing ceremony was crowned, and it was an Emirati night of the nights of achievements in Saudi Arabia.
He stressed that the tournament was one of the strongest tournaments due to the participation of the ranked Arab players in addition to its large financial prizes.
He said: “The tournament is internationally classified, and the benefit for all of our players is to obtain rating points in addition to gaining experience from participating in this great forum, and we are keen within our policy to participate in all Arab, continental and international tournaments in order to raise the level of our players and also reach the podiums.”
He added, “Before this tournament, we participated in the Arab Championship in Sudan and pushed another group of players, and we have before us the Asian Games, the Asian Futsal Championship, and the Asian Nations Championship in Saudi Arabia, in addition to the International Federation championships and the Arab championships.”
Reda Abdel Nour / Sami Abdel Azim
