Dubai: The UAE’s Fide Master (FM) Ammar Sedrani picked up three straight wins in the wind-up to rule the Dubai Chess and Culture Club Fall Chess Tournament, an international competition for players under 14-years-old.
After scoring 3.5 points in the first four rounds, Sedrani nailed successive wins over compatriots Zayed Alsedrani and Hamad Essam and India’s Ishaan Singh in the final three rounds to claim the championship with 6.5 points, a full point clear of the field.
In the under 10-years-old category, Ramamoorthy Gowtham of India won six straight before settling for a draw in the final round to capture the title also with 6.5 points.
“Playing in tournaments with a standard time control is essential in the training and development of young players,” said Saeed Yousuf Shakari, player development officer of the Dubai Chess and Culture Club. “These twin tournaments were therefore a very good workout for the children, giving them an opportunity to test their skills under proper tournament conditions. These tournaments have also been very helpful in scouting new talents from among the many new players taking up the sport.”
Despite his final-round loss to the champion, Singh had enough points to claim the runner-up spot in the 14-under division after coming out with the highest tiebreak among six players who had 5.5 points each.
The UAE’s Candidate Master (CM) Khalifah Khaled also had 5.5 points but settled for third after the tiebreak scores were computed. Others were 5.5 points were the UAE’s Mosallam Mohammad, CM Mohammad Saeed Laily and Hamad Essam, and India’s Gurmeher Singh.
In the 14-under division, Rafael Sharon took the runner-up honours with six points. The UAE’s Soud Jaber and Turkmenistan’s Alex George also had six points each, but were relegated to third and fourth with inferior tiebreak scores.