Salem, Ghaderpour Win Zone 3.1 Zonals

Salem, Ghaderpour Win Zone 3.1 Zonals

Wednesday, 13 July 2011 10:12

Teenage local hero GM Salem R. Saleh (left) receiving the winner's trophy from Asian Chess Federation president Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan. Saleh finished alone in first place with 6.5 points out of 9 rounds in the Zone 3.1 Zonal Championship held 4-13 July 2011 in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. WIM Shayesteh Ghaderpour of Iran won the Women's Zonal in an exciting playoff match by a score of 2-1. See results and standings in chess-results.com for the Open and Women's Zonals. See photo gallery in Asian Chess Federation web site. Visit official Sharjah Chess Club web site (in Arabic) for online games. Salem Abdulrahman is the first from the UAE to qualify for the World cup. He won his last three games in the Zonal to grab the lead in the homestretch as erstwhile leaders GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran and GM Mohammed Al Sayed of Qatar faltered, both losing to spoiler FM Ayyad Husain of Bahrain. In the Women's Zonal, WIM Ghader Pour Shayesteh and WIM Haimifard Ghazal, both of Iran, finished with 7.5 points each in the round robin to force a playoff match. Final Ranking Rank SNo. Name Rtg FED Pts RtgØ 1 3 GM Salem A R Saleh 2493 UAE 6½ 2420 2 4 IM Darini Pouria 2462 IRI 6 2422 3 7 IM Khader Sami 2402 JOR 6 2397 4 1 GM Ghaem Maghami Ehsan 2588 IRI 6 2393 5 2 GM Al-Sayed Mohammed 2498 QAT 5½ 2376 6 6 IM Nezad Husein Aziz 2423 QAT 5 2381 7 5 IM Alavi Sayed Javad 2436 IRI 5 2361 8 10 FM Ali Layth Ahmed 2278 IRQ 5 2346 9 14 CM El Jawich Amro 2125 LIB 4½ 2348 10 8 Omar Noaman 2296 UAE 4½ 2316 11 12 FM Ayyad Husain 2187 BRN 4½ 2301 12 9 FM Al-Hadarani Hatim 2280 YEM 4½ 2264 13 11 FM Khouri Ibrahim Mohamed 2212 UAE 4 2330 14 13 Shobaita Talal 2162 PLE 2½ 2306 15 15 Al Rafai Abdulqader 0 SYR 2½ 2236 16 16 Nasser Bader 0 KUW 0 2236 Final Ranking Rank SNo. Name Rtg FED Pts Koya 1 3 WIM Ghader Pour Shayesteh 2246 IRI 7½ 2½ 8 WIM Hakimifard Ghazal 2197 IRI 7½ 2½ 3 5 WIM Mouradian Knarik 2186 LIB 6½ 1½ 4 1 WIM Iman H M Al-Rufaye 2160 IRQ 6 1½ 5 4 WIM Saleh Nora Mohd 1911 UAE 5 2 6 9 WFM Al-Zarouni Kholoud Essa 1853 UAE 3½ 1 7 6 WFM Al-Khelaifi Salama 1757 QAT 3½ 0 8 2 Mir Mahmoud Afamia 1993 SYR 3 1 9 10 WIM Dahdal Lougain 1882 JOR 1½ ½ 10 7 WFM Nouman Amna 1725 UAE 1 0

The Inaugural National Chess Championships of Maldives 2011

The Inaugural National Chess Championships of Maldives 2011

Wednesday, 13 July 2011 06:52

The Maldivian Chess Federation under the presidency of Mr. Noohu Ali, has made all the arrangements to hold their 1st National Chess Championships from 14th to 18th July 2011, at the National Sports Building in Male. According to the remaining news, Maldives has played Chess even seven hundred years before. But modern Chess history goes more than two decades and Chess was like a hobby. But, few events were held including couple of rated players. During last few years, under current leadership, they had the privileged of playing Chess in India as well as in Sri Lanka. They were highly supported by their National Olympic Committee and were allowed to participate in Asian Games in Doha and China with some more Asian and World Indoor Games. The new Zone President, Luxman Wijesuriya had the vision of having the neighbors more active and get the Maldivian players to participate in almost all the rating and official events in Sri Lanka. The Maldives was well participated in the Asian Zonal 2011 of the Zone 3.2 and a Maldivian Player has won the Bronze medal at the Asian Senior Championships both held in Sri Lanka. So, this friendship building among the Zone and Mr. Ali came with the idea of 1st National Chess Championships of Maldives, which was a dream of MCF for more than 20 years. On the recommendation of Mr. Hisham Al Tahar, the Secretary General of ACF, His Highness, Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nehyan, the president of the Asian Chess Federation has kindly decided to support the Maldivian Chess Federation in this remarkable moment. We pay our heartiest gratitude for His highness and all the officials of ACF. A total of 30 players have registered for the event which will be held as nine round Swiss System event. The best player among women will be declared as the 1st Women's National Champion of Maldives. This will be a 1st step of making the Maldives a strong Chess playing Nation in Asia. Luxman Wijesuriya President - Zone 3.2