The third edition of the Qatargas Chess Championship will start today at Al Muntaza Model Primary School for Boys at 5pm, the organisers said yesterday.
The four-day event is being organsied by Qatar Chess Association (QCA) with sponsor help from Qatargas. The event is for youngsters falling between the ages of 6 to 16, organisers said. The tournament will be conducted as per the Swiss-system for rapid chess involving nine rounds with each round lasting 25 minutes and allowing ten seconds for every move, a QCA official said.
“Those interested to take part in the event can go to our website www.qatarchess.com and download the registration form. They can fill up the form and come for registration at 3pm,” Mohammed al-Medaihki,
General Secretary of QCA said. “We are expecting kids from neighboring countries to feature at our event,” Al Medaikhi said. “We have completed all preparations to make the tournament a grand success,” he added.
“We had the Qatar Masters in late December. We had a very exciting time during that event. We expect a lot of participants at this event as well,” Al Medaikhi said. Al Medaikhi said tournament will attract around 250 young players.
Commenting on Qatargas’ support for the championship, Azam Abdulaziz al-Mannai, Qatargas Public Relations Manager said: “We are pleased to continue our support to the Qatar Chess Association in organising this tournament, which will provide an excellent opportunity for young chess enthusiasts in Qatar to compete against each other and hone their skills.”
Al-Mannai said: “Our support to the game of chess is part of a strategy we have adopted in promoting sporting activities that are gaining popularity in Qatar. The aim of this strategy is to help in nurturing young talents in the country by creating opportunities for them to develop further, thereby contributing to achieving the Human
Development goals of Qatar National Vision 2030.”
Al-Medaihki ‘thanked’ the sponsors for their ‘support’.
“We thank Qatargas for its continued support to this championship which will help to further promote the game of Chess in Qatar particularly among the youngsters,” Al-Medaihki said.
“The past two editions of the tournament were a great success and we hope to attract even more participants this year. Chess, as we all know, has great benefits in terms of enhancing the mental skills of children and boosts their academic achievement.
“Qatargas’ support to this event underlines the Company’s commitment to the local community and its keenness in supporting the overall development of our young generation.”
Tournament schedule:
Thursday:
At 5 pm the first round + second round
Friday: At 3 pm, the third round + fourth + fifth round
Saturday: At 3 pm, the sixth round + seven o’clock + eighth round
Sunday: At 4:30 pm, the ninth round.
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