Abu Dhabi: The American Grand Master, Ray Robson, finished on top in the overall standings to clinch the Masters Championship in the 28th edition of the Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival.
Robson managed to reach the top with 4.5 points after his victory in the fifth round over his Romanian counterpart Dieter Nesbiano, while the rest of the competitors in the top ten tables tied at 4 points.
More than 1,100 players from 55 countries are participating in the 28th edition of the Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival, competing in 11 different tournaments, with total prizes of Dh300,000.
Four share lead
In the Open Championship, four players — Sultan Ibrahim and Ahmed Farid from the UAE, Mah Rahawit and Amav Hamishwari from India — share the lead with 4 points.
In the junior championship, in which 242 players are participating, 24 players, with 3.5 points each, shared the lead at the end of the third round. The notable among them are Yahya Al Kaf and Hamdan Idris from the UAE, Hassan Oryogov from Azerbaijan, Zainab Al Maamari, Sindarov Islambek from Uzbekistan, Mishaal Al Hijab from Kuwait and Rami Talib from Syria and Domankezi Al Farabi from Kazakhstan.
On Saturday, the Community Team Championship, which is being held for the first time in this edition, began with the participation of 34 community teams residing in the country.
Three more events
At the end of the rapid chess competition, the Egyptian community team, consisting of Basem Amin, Ali Farhat and Fouad Al Taher, won 12 points, and the Filipino community team, consisting of players Julius de Ramos and Tolentino Rostom, won 11.5 points. The Indian community team came third, consisting of Abhinav Beni and Anantarianan, and scored 10.5 points.
The festival kick-started three more events on Sunday, the Blitz Open Chess, with the participation of 160 players, the Junior’s Blitz Chess Championship, with the participation of 166 players, and the Expositional Chess tournament with the participation of 40 players.
