Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros. Co. (AAB), the distributor of Toyota and Lexus in Qatar, hosted the 6th Edition of its Open Chess FIDE-Rated Tournament, in collaboration with Qatar Chess Association (QCA) recently at the Al Abdulghani Tower. The event resumed this year after being conducted online and through a hybrid platform for the last few years due to the pandemic. The FIDE Rated Tournament brought in more chess players in Qatar compared to the previous tournaments.
A total of 66 participants ranging from age 6 years old and above, battled for the championship and special prizes. The tournament was played in 9-Round Swiss System format of standard chess over 2 consecutive weekends. The tournament results are linked for individual rating purposes with the World Chess Federation (FIDE).
Badr Mahmoud of Egypt clinched the title with Ryan Mendoza of Philippines coming second. India Mohamed Sadiq Chantana and Albin Sajan were third and fourth respectively. Ferhi Djamel of Algeria came in 5th place. All first 5 winners received trophies and cash prizes.
The Best Qatari Male award was given to Erfan Mohamed Firdaus. In addition, the Best Qatari Female for Salama al-Khelaifi and Best Qatari Youngster for Khaled Aljamaat were also awarded during the finals. AAB Vice-President Abdulghani Nasser, QCA President Mohamed al-Mudahka and QCA Executive Director Hamad al-Tamim were present at the prize distribution ceremony. Al-Mudahka, President of the QCA, praised the levels seen in the tournament. He said: “The Abdullah Abdulghani and Brothers Championship has become one of the most prominent tournaments on the game’s agenda, and we are happy to partner and co-operate with Abdullah Abdulghani and Brothers Company, and we hope in the future that the classification tournaments will continue with the company as well as with our other partners.”