Dubai chess team return with gold and silver

Dubai - Ahmed Fareed also had an impressive performance on board two, scoring six points from eight games without conceding any loss.

Dubai won gold and silver medals in the Asian Cities Chess Championship for the Dubai Cup in Colombo, and the contingent was given a warm reception at the Dubai International Airport on Friday morning.
Bangalore, powered by IM Himanshu Sharma and IM Stany at the top two boards, won the team tournament to claim custody of the Dubai Cup. Qingdao, China was second, while Bishkek City, Kyrgyzstan, which was led by IM Asy Abdyjapar, took the bronze medal. Calicut, India, and Kandy, Sri Lanka, finished fourth and fifth respectively. Dubai star Ali Abdulaziz Al Fahimi was one of only two players to win all his matches to secure the gold medal on board four.
Against mostly higher-rated opposition he won all his six visits to the board during the week making way for him to collect a massive 138 rating points from the event.
Ahmed Fareed also had an impressive performance on board two, scoring six points from eight games without conceding any loss. The untitled Fareed, who earlier this year won the Under-16 age category bronze medal at the Arab Age Group Individual Chess Championships in Abu Dhabi, was awarded the board two silver medal on four wins and four draws, behind gold medallist International Master (IM) G.A. Stany of Bangalore, India. The duo's solid results allowed Dubai City, which consisted of under-18 players from the Dubai Chess and Culture Club, to finish in a tie for the sixth to 11th places in the team tournament that featured representatives from 16 cities from 15 countries.
The rest of the members of the team were Fide Master (FM) Ibrahim Sultan, Ali Abdulla and Ali Faisal. The team was accompanied by delegation head Mahdi Abdul Rahim and team coach Grandmaster Elmar Magerramov.
Also present were Hisham Al Taher, Secretary-General of the Asian Chess Federation and board member of the UAE Chess Federation, Mohammad Husseini, Executive Director of Dubai Chess Club, and the parents of the players. Al Bannai said: "This is a very encouraging result for the club, especially for our youth chess programme." Al Bannai said the youth team's achievements is also a reflection of the focus on youth development and empowerment by the country's leaders, headed by His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi; His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai; and Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council.
moni@khaleejtimes.com