Latifah emerges beginners chess champion

Dubai: Emirati youngster Darmaki Latifah emerged as the champion in the third edition of the Dubai Chess and Culture Club’s Beginners Chess Tournament. This tournament organised by Dubai Chess and Culture Club to groom chess players was contested by a record number of participants.

Latifah, representing the host club bagged the gold medal in the Under-10 age category after tallying six points in seven rounds overcoming strong challenge from 43 contenders from different countries.

Speaking to Gulf News, Yahya Mohammad Saleh, the tournament director said: “Through just three editions we have managed to create a huge impact. The large turnout manifests the strong interest among parents and schools to use chess as a tool for child development, particularly in enhancing a child’s analytical skills and strategic thinking. With Dubai Chess and Culture Club’s continuing programme to promote chess at the grass roots level, we expect more talented players to emerge from such tournaments. We are planning more competitions and events for the youth.”

Russia’s Aleksandr Lutsenko and India’s Gowtham Ramamoorthy were also awarded gold medals after emerging the best in the under-12 and under-8 categories respectively.

Starting the competition as the eight-seed, Latifah raced past six-pointers Mridul Ashokan of India and fellow Emirati Mariam Faraj with the best tiebreaker score to claim the top prize. Ashokan and Faraj settled for second and third places, while Yatrik Pratihar of India and Al Mazrouei Jumaa Mohammad of the UAE completed the top five.

Lutsenko won the under-12 championship on a tiebreaker after he ended up in a two-way tie with eventual runner-up Pranav of India with six points apiece in seven games. India’s Karthik Praveen, Russia’s Denis Zemtsov and the UAE’s Sultan Amer rounded up the third to fifth places respectively.

The tournament was contested by 120 players in three age divisions, the biggest number of participants since the start of the series.

Ramamoorthy emerged tops in the under-8 division with an unblemished seven-point run. UAE players dominated the rest of the top five standings with Shamsa Amer and Jumah Mohammad Jumah securing the silver and bronze medals respectively. Mansour Khalid Saqr and Hamad Eisa Al Baloushi settled for fourth and fifth places respectively.

“The most encouraging aspect is the turnout for under-8 division where nearly 60 players contested. This means that more and more youngsters are taking up the sport.

The Dubai Chess and Culture Club’s recent move to open membership to expats has been a major factor in more players taking up chess and now they have the opportunity to train with world-class trainers and international grandmasters and use the club’s top-of-the-line training facilities.”

The event was managed by Saleh and assisted by WGM Iva Videnova and a team of Arbiters: Mohammad Sabri, Walid Abu Obeida, GM Davorin Kuljasevic and WGM Olene Nekrasova.