The Qatari chess team won the silver medal in Category E at the 45th edition of the FIDE Chess Olympiad, which was held in Budapest, Hungary, with the participation of 190 countries. The Qatari team included five players: Hussein Aziz, Irfan Mohammed, Mohammed al-Qassabi, Hamad al-Kuwari and Turki al-Kuwari. Hamad al-Kuwari also earned the title of Candidate Master (CM).
Teams were divided into five categories: A, B, C, D, and E. India secured an historic double winning both the men’s and women’s title. In addition to winning the team championships, India also walked away with four individual gold medals as the tournament wrapped up in the Hungarian capital on Sunday.
USA (17) took silver in the men’s event, while Uzbekistan won bronze. In the women’s, Kazakhstan bagged silver, while USA had to be content with bronze.
Meanwhile, Mohammed al-Mudahka, President of the Qatar Chess Association, participated in the General Assembly meetings of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). Several national administrative figures also attended the event, including Ju Shen, Treasurer of FIDE and Hamad al-Tamimi, Adviser to the Competitions Committee and Executive Director of the Qatar Chess Federation. International arbiter Hussein al-Haddad and federation referee Sara al-Mahandi were involved in officiating the Olympiad.
Al-Mudahka was pleased with the results achieved by the Qatari team, praising the efforts of all players. He mentioned that winning the silver medal would boost the Qatari players’ rankings. He also confirmed that the federation will continue its efforts to enhance the skills of all national team players in preparation for upcoming events. He said the Qatari teams are gearing up to participate in the Arab Age Group Championship, which will be held in Tunisia at the end of October.
Mohammed al-Mudahka, President of the Qatar Chess Association, is seen with the Qatari players delegation at the FIDE Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary. Right: The Qatari chess players pose on the podium.