Chess: Ishaq, Amna grab top chess honours

WIM Amna Nouman receives her award.

Fide Master (FM) Master Saeed Ishaq and Women's International Master (WIM) Amna Nouman walked away with the top awards at a felicitation held by the Dubai Chess and Culture Club at the club's Shaikh Saeed bin Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Hall.
The other players, mostly upcoming talent in the country, to be awarded with special mementos were junior players Ali Abdul Aziz Al Fahimi, FM Ahmad Fareed Faisal Ali Al Abdouli, International Master (IM) Ibrahim Sultan, Abdullah Ali, Majed Al Abdooli, Khalid Ahmed, Shaima Nouman, Jawaher Obaid, Misfer Almisafri, Mahmoud Abdullah Al Awadhi, Rashed Al Hajjaj, Anoud Ahmed and Ahlam Rashed.
The event celebrated Dubai Chess Club's impressive results in the previous season wherein it was adjudged the top performer among the government-supported chess clubs in the UAE.
Khalid Al Madfaa, assistant secretary-general, Public Authority for Sports and Youth Welfare; Saeed Mohammed Hareb, secretary-general, Dubai Sports Council; and Ibrahim Mohammed Al Bannai, chairman, Dubai Chess Club and Arab Chess Federation, distributed the awards.
Saeed Ishaq, an engineer with the RTA who took part in the 2016 Baku Chess Olympiad recently, said: "Unlike other countries, chess has enjoyed strong support from the Dubai Government and from our leaders themselves. I believe the impressive results we have achieved in recent years are the fruit of the government's continued support to the club's programmes."
The recent performances taken into account before finalising the awards list included the show at the Asian Cities Chess Championship for the Dubai Cup in Colombo where Al Fahimi won the individual gold medal on board four, while Fareed collared the silver medal on board two.
Fareed also registered successful campaigns elsewhere, capturing a silver medal in the U-18 category of the first Arab Chess Olympiad in Morocco and a bronze in the U-16 category in the Arab Age Group Individual Chess Championships in Abu Dhabi. Al Abdouli won the U-14 championship while Sultan, Ali, Al Abdooli and Ahmed caught the limelight when they lifted the Group Team championships.
Amna was also honoured for capturing the Arab Girls Under-20 Championship and for leading Dubai Chess and Culture Club to the crown in the UAE National Women's Team Championship, where she also captured the gold medal on board one. The other members of the title-clinching Dubai team were Mariam, who won the gold medal on board four, Shaima - silver medal on board two, Woman Candidate Master Bashaer Khalil, who was awarded the board-three bronze medal, Aysha Jehad, Alia Ali, Yasmin Ali, Mariam Essa and Hind Faraj.
Fide Master (Fide) Saeed Ishaq topped the list of awardees for the rare feat of ruling both the 2015 UAE National Men's Championship and the equally prestigious 2015 UAE President's Cup - two of the most important tournaments on the UAE national chess circuit.
"We would like to show our profound gratitude to the leaders of the nation, the players and the support members for keeping the sport at a high level. The past year was yet again full of important milestones," said Al Bannai.
Grandmaster (GM) Elmar Magerramov leads the club's experienced pool of coaches that also includes WFM Elena Nekrasova, IM Eva Videnova and GM Davorin Kuljasevic. Administrative officer Ibtisam Muhyiddin, the club's International Arbiter (IA) Saeed Yusouf and FM Yahya Mohammed Saleh, former junior stalwarts who have transitioned to become administrators with innovative ways were also honoured.
moni@khaleejtimes.com