Enrique Naperi of the Philippines won the inaugural AAB Chess Open, Qatar’s first FIDE Rated Open Chess Tournament, which was organised by Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros Co WLL (AAB), exclusive distributor of Toyota and Lexus in Qatar, and Qatar Chess Association (QCA) recently.
Indian nine-year-old Gowtham Ramamoorthy finished runner-up, notching up four wins and a draw and earning the admiration of fellow players and spectators. Tunisian Salhi Imed was third, while India’s Mohamed Sadiq Chanthana and Egypt’s Kamal Karim Riad completed the top five.
Based on the FIDE rating, the players played against each other irrespective of age. The tournament, organised to sustain the interest and passion of chess enthusiasts in Qatar by providing an avenue for them to improve their game and upgrade their world ratings, brought seasoned and young players to the fore.
Forty-two participants ranging from age 6 and above with FIDE Rating under 2200 battled for the championship at the Al Abdulghani Tower.
AAB’s acting CEO R K Murugan together with Toyota Japan’s Group Manager - Middle East and Central Asia Division Kei Fujita made the symbolic first move during the first round.
The tournament was played in 5 rounds Swiss System format with 60 min + 30 sec/move timing for the whole game.
Qatar Grand Master (GM) and QCA president Mohamed al-Medaihki, QCA executive director Hamad al-Tamimi, and GM and Board member Mohamed al-Sayed were present at the Prize Giving Ceremony.
Special prizes were given to Best Under 20, Best Under 12 and Best Female players. Meanwhile, the father and son tandem who garnered the highest combined score was also given recognition as Best Family.
AAB Chess Open will be held twice a year with September as the tentative month for the next tournament.
For the last 7 years, AAB has been holding the Toyota Kids Chess Tournament and AAB Rapid Blitz Tournaments for kids aged 6-16 years old. It has also supported QCA for two consecutive years of the Qatar Grandmasters Open which is considered as one of the strongest chess tournaments in the world.