FIDE delegation visits Sudan
On the occasion of the Arab Chess Championship held in Khartoum, a FIDE delegation headed by its President Arkady Dvorkovich paid a visit to Sudan. These trips share a common goal: opening doors to state officials and securing their support for our National Chess Federations. This task has always been a priority in the presidency of Arkady Dvorkovich. The FIDE delegation was received by H.E. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (pictured above), Vice-president of the Republic of Sudan. This was followed by a meeting with the Secretary General of the Sudan Olympic Committee, Prof. Mahmoud Elsir Mohamed Taha (pictured below). The focus of these meetings was to discuss practical agreements that could ensure institutional support towards various chess activities. “I had promised to visit the country, and now I am pleased to see that our meetings will bring tangible results. Governmental officials have already asked the Sudan federation to provide their development plans for further support,” said the FIDE President, Arkady Dvorkovich. The next meetings on the agenda were the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Education. Both expressed their interest in hosting Continental and Arab Youth events in the country, as well as introducing chess in education, recognising its value in developing the cognitive and social skills of chess in children. Hazar Abdel-Rasoul, Minister of Youth and Sports (pictured above), attended both the opening and closing ceremonies of the Arab Championships. In her speech, after welcoming the FIDE delegation to her country, she emphasised the role of the chess championship in strengthening the ties between the ministry, national chess federation and international organisations. “Sports is not only about competition, it is about building relationships. This championship has made us a close family,” said the minister. The FIDE delegation was also invited by the Ministry of Sports to visit the construction of the “Sports City”. It was decided that this major sports infrastructure project, currently under development, will include a brand new Chess Academy, which aims at getting recognition as FIDE certified academy once it starts operating. The Sudan Olympic Committee expressed its appreciation towards FIDE as a great partner promoting the Olympic values and highlighted the recent news of chess being included as one of the nine online sports included in the IOC Olympic Esports Series 2023. Omar Abdalla Omer Deab, President of the Sudanese Chess Federation, made a very positive balance of the visit: “The Arab Chess Championship brought almost 70 players from 19 countries to Sudan. And with President’s Dvorkovich visit, the event and the whole chess community of Sudan got full attention, allowing us to present our achievements and further plans to officials and society.” FIDE Vice President Sheikh Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Mualla acknowledged the organisational level of the Arab Chess Championship: “The Sudanese Chess Federation has demonstrated a professional attitude and certainly deserves an opportunity to organise further chess competitions of the Arab Chess Federation.” Dana Reizniece-Ozola, FIDE Deputy Chair of Management Board, Tshepiso Lopang, President of the African Chess Confederation (ACC), and Sami Khader, FIDE Chair of Trainers Commission, explored the country’s chess initiatives giving lectures to women players and school children, as well as informing organisers, arbiters and trainers on capacity building opportunities provided by FIDE and the ACC. “We shall work together to open up opportunities for the future life champions with the help of chess, but it is already worth mentioning two immediate results: ‘New Horizon Chess Academy’ will apply for FIDE endorsement, and an agreement has been achieved that Sudan will be represented at the 3rd Online Chess Championship for Prisoners,” noted Dana Reizniece-Ozola. The Arab Chess Championship in Khartoum came to an end yesterday with a convincing victory of Al Khatib Ahmad from Jordan in the Open section, and Lina Nassr from Algeria in the Women’s section. You can read a dedicated report at this link.
Al Khatib Ahmad and Lina Nassr win Arab Chess Championship
IM Al Khatib Ahmad (Jordan) and WIM Lina Nassr (Algeria) emerged as the winners of the Arab Chess Championship 2023. Both champions scored an impressive 7.5/9. The Arab Championship took place from February 26 to March 05 in Khartoum, Sudan and was held in the open and women’s sections. Both competitions were 9-round Swiss tournaments with classical time control. In the open section, Ahmad Al Khatib grabbed the lead in Round 4 after defeating Gong Thon Gong (South Sudan) with the black pieces and never looked back. Despite losing to IM Husain Aziz (Quatar) in Round 6, the champion netted 7.5/9 and finished a full point ahead of three players who tied for second place. The Buchholz (second tiebreaker) favoured Hesham Abdelrahman of Egypt (the only GM in the tournament) and Husain Aziz, who took silver and bronze, respectively. Final standings: 1 IM Ahmad, Al Khatib JOR 2303 7½ 2 GM Hesham, Abdelrahman EGY 2412 6½ 3 IM Aziz, Husain QAT 2329 6½ 4 CM Ahmed, Abuzied SUD 2204 6½ 5 IM Elgabry, Mohsen EGY 2255 6 6 IM Eiti, Bashir SYR 2370 5½ 7 IM Issa, Rafat JOR 2336 5½ 8 IM Eltigani, Omar SUD 2235 5½ 9 Abdulrahman, Al Taher UAE 2080 5½ 10 FM Ammar, Sedrani UAE 2183 5½ The women’s event turned into close race of the second and fourth seeds Lina Nassr (pictured below) and WFM Manar Khalil (Syria). Coming into the final round on 7/9 a hall-point ahead of her rival Lina drew her game vs. young Ruba Al-Qudah (Jordan) and clinched the title as Mahar blundered in the opening and managed only a draw against Alserkal Rouda-Essa (UAE). The thirteenth seed untitled Ruba Al-Qudah caused a minor sensation by scoring a solid 6.5/9 and finishing clear third. Final standings: 1 WIM Nassr, Lina ALG 2031 7½ 2 WFM Khalil, Manar SYR 1877 7 3 Ruba, Al-Qudah JOR 1572 6½ 4 WIM Latreche, Sabrina ALG 2068 6 5 WFM Al Maamari, Wafia Darwish UAE 1837 6 6 Romany, Joy EGY 1734 6 7 WFM Mahmoud, Roula SYR 1744 5½ 8 WCM Rouda Essa, Alserkal UAE 1762 5½ 9 Ahlam, Rashed UAE 1561 5½ 10 WFM A-Ali, Sali Abbas Abdulzahra IRQ 1876 5 You can find the complete results and standings of both tournaments here.
Romanian Chess Federation launches Education through Chess national project
The Romanian Chess Federation has launched a national project, Education through Chess, which promotes the benefits of chess for children. The Ministry of Education is an institutional partner of the project. The project aiming to teach chess to 3rd and 4th-grade students in public schools in Romania has three stages, including training teachers, offering chess as an optional study and organising chess events. Three hundred teachers signed up for the programme over the first 30 days into its official launch. The goal for the first year is to train 3,000 public school teachers and educate 50,000 students starting in the new school year 2023-2024. “Chess has many benefits for children, such as learning discipline, order and creativity. In addition, chess enhances children’s ability to concentrate and improves logical and memory skills. Chess is a ‘mind sport’, which means it is good for both adults and children. It teaches children not to give up easily, to overcome obstacles and to accept losses and learn from them. In today’s fast-paced world, children struggle to focus. Chess is a powerful antidote because it improves children’s attention span and teaches them to stay focused longer. The sport also teaches children to take risks, trust themselves, take the initiative, and become active and optimistic personalities. Chess is a valuable sport for children because it promotes equality of opportunity. Girls who are good at chess are also considered talented in mathematics and computer science. Teaching chess in schools can enhance children’s cognitive skills, problem-solving skills and decision-making abilities,” Vlad Ardeleanu, President of the Romanian Chess Federation, said. Education through Chess offers a valuable opportunity for public school students to learn and benefit from the game of chess, and for public school teachers to receive professional training.