FROM RIGHT: Hamad Ali Al Awai, Acting PR Manager, Qatargas, Yann Guidez of France, Mohamed Al Mudahka, President of Qatar Chess Federation and Fahim Matabdin, Senior Marketing Manager for Al Mirqab Mall, in Doha yesterday.
Doha: Yann Guidez of France yesterday emerged winner of the 6th Qatargas Blitz Open Chess Tournament with a top score of 8.5 from nine rounds at the Al Mirqab Mall in Doha.
Guidez defeated eight of his opponents but Hassan Abdelmunim from the Philippines forced a draw against the winning Frenchman in the third round.
In the final rankings, Mauritania’s Sidi Boidiya, who lost just one out of his nine games to bag eight points, finished second as Abdelmunim clinched the remaining podium spot with a score of 7.5. Loyola Rolenson (PHI) and Jha Shatrughan (IND) completed the top five.
Salem Ali Abdallah, who finished in the 11th spot in the overall rankings, was named Best Male Qatari Player while Kholoud Al Khelaifi won the award for Best Qatari Female Player.
Kholoud was the only female player among the top 44 in the overall standings.
India’s Jayitha Kottalappilly was named Best Female Non-Qatari Player.
The Blitz Open Tournament was part of the annual Qatargas Chess Championship, organised by the Qatar Chess Association.
The three-day tournament also saw the youth (u-16) competing in the Rapid Chess Tournament on the first two days.
India’s Gowtham Ramamoorthy who clinched the Rapid Chess title on Friday, won the award for Best Non-Qatari Boy U-16 while his compatriot Amulya Guruprasad was named the Best Non-Qatari girl U-16.
Ali Al Saadi and Rawda Qassabi clinched the Best Qatari Boy and Girl awards respectively.
Mohamed Qassabi and Layan Qassabi and won the Best Qatari Boy and Girl awards for the U-12 age group while Rayyan Firdaus and Neeraj Aakanksha were named best in the non-Qatari category
