Salim Abdul Rahman of the UAE succeeded in defeating Iraqi player Walid Aziz Jawad in the sixth round of the NIDO Arab Chess Championship for Children under-10 category at Al Qassba theatre in Sharjah.

It was the first defeat for the Iraqi player in six games. Salim's win opened the door for the other players to catch up with Walid Aziz at the top. However, the last three rounds will be crucial in deciding the champion.

Salim played an attacking game right from the start. He took the initiative at the beginning and maintained until the end. With the significant win Salim increased his points tally to 4.5 and take the second spot, 0.5 points behind Walid Aziz.

Qatari Ghanim Al Sulaitti is in third place with four points after defeating Yemeni Ahmed Muhssin in round six. The UAE's Saeed Isaq defeated compatriot Ibrahim Khoury to share the fourth place with 3.5 points.

In the other games, the UAE's Ali Khamis beat Ramzi Saleh of Libya, Taher Al Soffi of Syria overcame Saif Al Islam Riyadh of Jordan and MajdEddine Dabossi of Tunisia got the better of Mansoor Bukhalaf of Bahrain.

In the under-12 category, Syria's Karam Bennawi topped the table after defeating Khalifa Khamis of the UAE in round six. The UAE player lost a golden chance to top the standing.
Khalifa, who had the positional advantage, committed a serious mistake which cost him the game and enabled the Syrian to romp home.

Ahmed Isaq of the UAE is in second spot with 4.5 points. He quelled the challenge from compatriot Omer Abdul Wahab. Fowad Ahmed of Yemen also jumped to the second place following his win over Mohammed Samhoory of Jordan, who continued his losing streak to drop from the top place to the seventh.

In the other games, Mohammed Salama of Tunisia defeated Mohammed Mehdi of Morocco, Walid Yousuf of the UAE overcame Iraqi girl Dhoha Mohammed, Mohammed Hani of Lebanon beat Musstafa Najah of Libya and Mohammed Abd Rabo of Qatar overcame Osama Al Gassra of Bahrain. The UAE duo Marwan Abdul Wahab and Ahmed Khoury shared points after a draw in their game.

Standings:

Under-10: 1. Walid Aziz 5 points, 2. Salim Abdul Rahman 4.5 pts, 3. Ghanim Al Sulaitti 4 pts, 4. Ibrahim Khoury and Saeed Isaq 3.5 pts, 6. Ali Khamis and MajdEddine Dabossi 3 pts, 8. Ahmed Muhssin and Taher Al Soffi 2.5 pts, 10. Saif Al Islam Riyadh 2 pts, 11. Ramzi Saleh 1.5 pt, 12. Mansoor Bukhalaf 1 pt.

Under 12: 1. Karam Bennawi 5 pts, 2. Ahmed Isaq and Fowad Ahmed 4.5 pts, 4. Khalifa Khamis and Mohammed Salama 4 pts, 6. Walid Yousuf 3.5 pts, 7. Ahmed Khoury, Mohammed Samhoory, Mohammed Mehdi, Omer Abdul Wahab each 3 pts, 11. Marwan Abdul Wahab and Mohammed Hani 2.5 pts, 13. Dhoha Mohammed 2 pts, 14. Mohammed Abdo Rabo 1.5 pts, 15. Musstafa Najah and Osama Al Gassra 1 point.