Oliver Dimakiling of the Philippines scores perfect 9 to win UAE 48th National Day Rapid Chess Tournament
More than 160 players from 31 countries compete in three-day event
International Master (IM) Oliver Dimakiling of the Philippines scored a perfect nine points out of nine games to claim the championship in the UAE 48th National Day Rapid Chess Tournament, which concluded Tuesday night at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club’s Sheikh Saeed Bin Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Hall.
Jamal Al Abdooli, general secretary of the club, Essa Lutfi, the club’s CFO, and International Arbiter (IA) Saeed Yousuf Shakari, vice-chair of the club’s technical staff, handed out the championship cup to Dimakiling and other prizes to the rest of the winners during the awarding ceremony.
In his speech during the ceremony, Shakari, who also served as the chief arbiter of the tournament, congratulated the citizens and residents of the UAE on the occasion of the 48th UAE National Day, and thanked all participants and the tournament officials for the success of the three-day tournament, which attracted some 162 players from 31 countries.
Dimakiling finished a full point ahead of second-placer Grandmaster (GM) Elmar Magerramov of Azerbaijan, who suffered his only defeat at the hands of the Filipino to finish with eight points. GM Efstratios Grivas of Greece, who likewise lost to Dimakiling, won third place after securing the highest tiebreak among nine players with seven points each.
Finishing from fourth to 11th place also with seven points are Mohammed Dilshad of India, WGM Mahri Geldiyeva of Turkmenistan, Dennis San Juan and Franz Barretto both of the Philippines, IM Ibrahim Sultan of the UAE, Abdul Kader Rayes of Syria, Kanan Al Namas of Jordan and Ali Mujawar Abid of India.
In the special awards, Ali Abdul Aziz was the top UAE player, while Shaima Noman was the best UAE female player. The youthful Abdullah Mahmoud was the best player from the Dubai Chess Club and Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Bashayer Khalil was the best female player from the club. Kanaan Al Namas was the top player in the under-1800 rating category, while Abdul Kader Rayes took the award in under-2200 rating category.
The tournament, which was held from December 1-3, was a nine-round Swiss system event. Saeed Yousuf Shakari led the team of arbiters that included Yemen’s IA Jamal Qasem and Emirati National Arbiters (NA) Majed Ali Abdouli and Hamad Ali Al Shezawi, while FA Moheb Serag El Din of Egypt served as tournament director.
