Abu Dhabi: It is summer, the time for sports that build the brain while other sports that are concerned with building brawn are taking a short rest.
And Abu Dhabi has set an annual date with the world’s best players as they take part in the Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival, which in its 20th anniversary year has attracted more than 300 players, men and women, from 29 different countries to compete for the Dh200,000 of cash prizes in its four competitions.
The event, which begins on Sunday, is held under the patronage of Shaikh Nahyan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, and is hosted by the Sofitel Hotel until July 7.
Hussain Abdullah Khory, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Chess and Cultural Club (ADCCC) and Chairman of the tournament’s Local Organising Committee, talked to Gulf News about the festival.
What is new this year about the festival?
The success we achieved in past years has attracted more than 300 men and women chess players from around the world to come and compete for the cash prizes, which promotes our country in general and our capital in particular and serves cultural and tourism purposes. And, of course, it helped during the past 20 years in spreading the game and improved the standards of our local players, having competed with the best players in the globe, in particular those who compete in the Masters competition with some famous Grand Masters. We have 29 competitors from 29 different countries who will take part this year’s festival, this shows the extent of our success.
What is new about the competitions?
We have four competitions. The Masters is for players who have an Elo rating of more than 2200 — there are about 60 players already confirmed in this class, including 31 ranked masters. We also have the Open Championship with about 150 players, including some highly ranked players; the Juniors, which is new for the under 15 boys and girls, in which more than 130 have already registered including 10 from outside the UAE; and we have the Blitz competition in addition to an exhibition match that the organisers will decide later.
How about the local participation?
Players from all the chess clubs in the country will take part in the festival except the players of the UAE national team, who left to South Korea last week to take part in the Asian Indoor Games. Leading the local players will be Jasim Abdul Rahman, the holder of the President’s Cup this season, and Ibrahim Al Muhairi, the former UAE champion and winner of a silver medal in the Asian Chess Championships.
Who are the stars of the festival?
The highest-ranked player is Grand Master Igor Kumosov from Russia, followed by GM Andrei Istratescu from France and GM Zahar Efimenko from Ukraine. We also have GM Essam Al Jindi, the champion of Africa from Egypt, GM G.N. Gopal from India, in addition to Woman Grand Master (WGM) Monica Ruiz from Spain and WGM Shayesthe Ghader Pour from Iran, to name but a few from the Masters competition only.
What is the format of competition?
We apply the Swiss system of competition, especially in the Masters, with 90 minutes for each player to finish his/her moves and a 30-second bonus for each move according to the Fisher format. The competition will be over nine rounds.
Anything more?
I would like to express our pride in registering such unprecedented success in the registration of the different competitions and that players from all the continents are keen to take part in the festival. We are grateful to the unlimited support of our leaders, to the sector of youth and sports in the country in general and to the chess game in particular, and we thank the officials of the UAE Chess Federation for their cooperation and help and to the Abu Dhabi Sports Council for their support and assistance.
