Sharjah: Armenian grandmaster Vladimir Akopian emerged as the winner of the 21st Sharjah International Chess Championship 2016. Shaikh Saud Bin Abdul Aziz Al Mualla, Chairman of the Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club, presented the gold medal and winner trophy to the winner.
This annual tournament was hosted at the headquarters of the Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club in Sharjah under the generous patronage of His Highness Shaikh Dr.Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.
Three players shared the first place with 7.5 points. After using the tiebreak system, Armenian grandmaster Vladimir won the championship followed by Egyptian grandmasters Ahmad Adley and Bassim Amin. Six players shared the fourth place, at the same total number of points (7 points) and the tiebreak system was used again.
As a result, GM Elmar Magerramov (Azerbaijan) took the fourth place. Polish grandmaster Bartlomiej Herbela and his compatriot GM Aleksander Mista came in the 5th and 6th places, respectively, followed by Moroccan International Master Ali Sabar. Azerbaijan GM Gadir Guseinov was in the 8th place, Yemeni IM Bashir Al Qadimi was 9th and the Uzbekistani GM Alexei Barsov was 10th.
Winners of the Blitz Chess Championship were, also, presented with their medals. The nine-round tournament was contested at the Swiss system, and saw a participation of 160 players from 24 countries. Egyptian IM Bassim Amin was the winner with 8 points, followed by his team fellow IM Ahmad Adely. Armenian IM Vladimir Akopian came second runner-up. Azerbaijan GM Gadir Guseinov, Russian IM Fasily Babin, Yemeni Bashir Al Qadimi, French IM Mehrshad Sharif, Moroccan Master Ali Sabar, Uzbekistani grandmaster Marat Dzhumaev and Syrian international player Suhaib AL Okla, took the places from 4th to 10th, respectively.
