More than 80 players competed in January edition of the monthly U-1500 junior rapid chess championship
Dubai Chess & Culture Club recently awarded the best players for the month of January and the year’s inaugural champions of the monthly age group rapid chess championships for players rated below 1500 during a special ceremony at the club’s Sheikh Saeed Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Hall. The champions received their prizes from Abdulkareem Marzouki, Vice President of Technical Staff, and Mohammed El-Husseiny, Executive Director, during the ceremony attended by parents, coaches and representatives of the various clubs.
The club’s coaches nominate candidates for the best player of the month awards based on overall performance, with the winners determined following thorough deliberation conducted by the entire coaching staff. The best players for the month of January in the boys’ category were Mesfer Saif Almsavra (8-years-old age group), Abdullah Mahmoud Al-Awadhi (10-years-old age group) and Khalifa Essa Al Balushi (12-years-old age group). The winners in the girls’ category were Fatma Faisal (8-years-old age group), Anood Ahmad Al-Kaabi (10-years-old age group) and Ghalia Mohammed (12-years-old age group).
The January edition of the Monthly Junior U-1500 Rapid Chess Championships, which attracted more than 80 competitors from different clubs in the UAE, was won by India’s Aditya Varun Gamba, who scored a perfect seven points from seven rounds. Egyptian Omar Waleed finished second with six points, while Shanmugam Sri Kandha (India), Devnani Kush (India), Yasmin Ali (UAE) and Naik Atharv (India) took the third to sixth places with 5.5 points apiece. Jia Shah (India) received the best player of the tournament award.
Marzouki said the best player of the month award and the monthly championships are part of the club’s commitment to provide quality training and regular tournament exposure to the club’s students. He commended the tournament officials, led by International Arbiter Saeed Yousuf, along with club coaches Woman Fide Master (WFM) Elena Nekrasova, Woman Grandmaster (WGM) Andjelija Stojanovic and Grandmaster (GM) Davorin Kuljasevic, for an excellent job in organising the tournament. Marzouki said the tournament also served as a tune-up event as the players prepare to compete in the UAE age-group championships this month.
