Top field for Dubai Open Chess
4 April 2013
DUBAI — A record number of 180 players ranging from 37 countries will be taking part in the 15th Dubai Open Chess Championship for the Shaikh Rashid bin Hamdan Cup from April 6 to 16 at Dubai Chess and Culture Club, a Press release stated.
Chess players from India, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Netherland, Germany, England, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Libya, Qatar, Bahrain, Iran and hosts the UAE will be participating in this prestigious championship.
Grandmaster Vladimir Akopian from Armenia is the top seed of this championship while 37 Grandmasters are expected to give tough competition.
17 Women Grandmasters, 27 International Masters, one Women International Master and 17 Fide Masters will be participating in this championship. Grand Master, Bassem Amin & WGM Mona Khalid (Egypt) and many others from 9 Arab countries are also in the running. The host UAE is led by Grand Master, Salem AR Saleh and (Arab and Asia champion).
The Championship will be played in nine rounds according to the Swiss System. 1 hour and 30 minutes will be allotted for each player to finish the game with an incremental time of 30 seconds per move according to Fischer system.
The Opening ceremony will be held on April 7 at 6.00 pm. Shaikh Rashid bin Hamdan Al Maktoum will inaugurate the tournament. The head of ministry of Sport and Dubai Sports Council will attend the opening ceremony. The new idea in this year is to invite players from different chess schools namely Chinese, Russian and Azerbaijan. There is attractive prize fund of $50,000 and there are special prizes for women players and National participants.
The organising committee is headed by Ibrahim Al Bannai and members Jamal Al Abdoli and Najeb M. Saleh (UAE) and Mohamed El Husseiny (Egypt) is the championship coordinator and Mahdi Abdulrahim is the chief arbiter.
The organising committee has allocated Dubai Blitz Cup during the rest day of the tournament. Al Bannai announced that the club will broadcast the matches live on www.dubaichess.ae and www.arabfide.com.
Source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com
Good one!
Where was this tournament advertised? If I was aware of it earlier I might be playing.