International Master Mohammad Al Sayed of Qatar pulled off a major victory over Grandmaster Belkhodja Slim of Tunisia in the sixth round of the Arab Chess Championship being held at the Dubai Chess & Culture Club.
With just three rounds left in the tournament, Al Sayed leads the 22-player draw with five points.
The talented Al Sayed is coached by GM Kuzmin Alexey of Russia and in the crucial match with Belkhodja, he attained a brilliant victory from a complicated position.
Al Sayed won in 28 moves from a Sicilian defence. His active queen, doubled rooks on an open file gave him a superior position. Al Sayed won a piece for a pawn and delivered an excellent mating attack.
IM Bassem Ameen of Egypt is half a point behind the leader while GM Ahmad Adly of Egypt, GM Taleb Moussa of UAE, IM Fouad Al Taher of Egypt, IM Mohammad Tissir of Morocco and GM Belkhodja Slim of Tunisia are in the third spot with four points.
In the women's section, WIMs Mouradian Knarik of Lebanon and Eman Al Rufei of Iraq maintained their lead with 5.5 points each. Both players won their respective games in facile fashion and are in the race for the championship title.
In other games, UAE's Amnah Salem defeated Ziana Basil of Iraq while Jameela Juma of the UAE drew with Algeria's Toubal Hayat.
Results of Round 6:
Men: 1. Belkhodja Slim (4 pts) lost to Mohammad Al Sayed (5); 2. Adly Ahmad (4) drew with Al Taher Fouad (4); 3 Ameen Bassem (4.5) bt Khader Sami (3); 4. Taleb Moussa (4) bt Najjar Ahmad (3); 5. Tissir Mohammad (4) bt Henni Mohammad (3). Women: 1. Mona Khalid (3.5) lost to Mouradian Knarik (5.5); 2. Al-Rufei Eman H (5.5) bt Algildah Nibal (3.5); 3 Ebrahim Delbak (4) bt Malallah Khadeja (3); 4. Saleh Nora Mohd (3) lost to Bahji Hind (4); 5 Fuad Natalie (2.5) lost to Mir Mahmoud Afamia (4).
