Giza retain Arab Cities championship title

Giza Team from Egypt secured their second successive title victory in the penultimate round of the Arab Cities chess championship. They beat Fernieshebakh from Lebanon 2.5-1.5.

Giza increased their tally to 25 points from eight rounds with their compatriots, Cairo Team, taking the second place with 21.5 points after defeating Toulka from Algeria 3.5-0.5.

Iraq's Baghdad Team came third with 19 points after beating Sharjah 2.5-1.5 in a tough encounter.

Dubai moved to the fourth place with 18.5 points following their 3-1 victory over host Abu Dhabi as Ajman trounced Ghaza 4-0.

Al Salth from Jordan defeated Al Khoms from Libya 3.5-0.5, Dali Ibrahim from Algeria beat Al Quds from Palestine 3.5-0.5, while Al Manama from Bahrain drew with Yemen's Aden 2-2.

UAE's Abdullah Hassan stayed on the heels of Egyptian Ahmed Adli, the leader of the under-16 championship, with a half a point difference as only one round remains before the end of the competition.

Adli led with 7.5 points following his victory over Tunisian Zuhair Al Aamony, while Hassan is in second spot with seven points after beating Philippe Saeed of Lebanon.

Qatari Omar Al Marry and Bahraini Hussain Abdul Jalil shared the third place with 4.5 points after settling for a tie in the eighth round.

The round also witnessed similar results between Iraqi Mazin Al Yas and UAE's Ibrahim Ismail, and the UAE's pair Aref Zainul and Abdullah Al Taher.

The UAE players Ismail and Zainul will decide the winner of the title as Ismail will face the leader Adli, and Zainul will play for the second place against countryman Hassan.

Fouad Muflih of Yemen surprised the most by beating the former leader Faisal Al Samhouri from Jordan only for Qatari Ghanim Al Sulatti and Egyptian Basim Ameen to take over as the new joint leaders with six points each after Al Sulatti beat Bahraini Khalaf Bukhalaf and Ameen defeated Tunisian Ameer Al Zaaybi. Al Samhouri retreated to second place jointly with Muflih.

In the final round, Ameen, the top-seeded player, will meet Bukhalaf, Al Sulatti will face Palestinian Mohammed Moussa, Al Samhouri will play against UAE's Mahmoud Ibrahim and Muflih will take on Al Zaaybi to decide the champion.

Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi Chess and Culture Club has finished all the preparations for hosting the Abu Dhabi International Annual Chess Festival with the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation, which will commence tomorrow under the patronage of Major General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Undersecretary of Ministry of Interior.

The festival will include three main tournaments: The Masters Championship, the Open Cham-pionship and the Children Championship with many internationally ranked players from different countries taking part in the event, sanctioned by the FIDE (International Chess Federation).