Friday 03 / May / 2024
Muscat: The Zubair Chess Centre in the Wilayat of Nizwa hosted the conclusion of the first virtual tournament for participants under 16 years old on June 24.
It was organised in cooperation with the Oman Chess Committee, intending to enable competition among the affiliates of the participating Zubair Chess Centres. The tournament saw 47 participants with the competition being conducted through Lichess, an online platform with a digital board dedicated to the game.
The tournament was held as per the Swiss system of chess, with 9 rounds, a thinking time of 5 minutes and an addition of 5 seconds for each move. The tournament was run by a group of renowned judges, Muslim Al Wadhahi, Bashir Al Qadimi and Hamdan Al Hinai. The results saw Hammoud Al Busaidi from the Zubair Chess Centre from the A’Dakhiliyah Governorate winning first place, Abdul Rahman Al Zadjali from the Muscat Governorate placing second and Asail Al Mamariin the third place in the North Al Batinah Governorate.
This tournament stems from the framework of The Zubair Corporation's adoption of the activities of the Oman Chess Committee, to enhance competition among the members of the various Zubair Chess Centres. It also aims to identify the level of players and assess the extent to which they benefit from the training courses that were held via e-learning throughout the last period.
Commenting on holding this virtual tournament, Hilal Al Siyabi, Chief Corporate Services Officer at the Zubair Corporation stated, “The organisation of this first virtual tournament is part of our continuous endeavour to support the continuity of sports activities, especially in light of the current health conditions that have imposed great challenges in this field. Therefore, the idea arose of organising a virtual tournament among the members of the ten Zubair Chess Centres through an online platform. This helps maintain the momentum that was achieved during the last four years, following the start of the cooperation between The Zubair Corporation and the Oman Chess Committee in 2017.”
Ahmed Darwish Al Balushi, Chairman of the Oman Chess Committee said, “The Oman Chess Committee seeks to encourage this game among the junior segments to establish a broad ground for this sport in the Omani society. In this way, the game can be developed and they can compete regionally and internationally during the upcoming period. In light of the recent health conditions, the pace of activities has decreased especially due to the adherence to the decisions issued by the relevant authorities. Hence, the idea of organising these tournaments via online platforms helps keep it going and encourages players to continue and develop their skills while ensuring their safety.”
“We would like to thank The Zubair Corporation for their continuous support to the committee, which contributed to achieving our goal. The most important one being the spread of chess across the various governorates and regions of the Sultanate and the increase in the number of members in the Oman Chess Committee. This increase has been seen especially in the junior category and through these centres, we seek to prepare a generation of young people who will be able to represent the Sultanate in external competitions,” he added.
The Zubair Chess Centres are spread in various governorates of the Sultanate. Currently, there are 10 centres located in the governorates of Al Dhahirah, Al Dakhiliyah, North and South Al Batinah, Muscat, Musandam, South Al Sharqiyah, Dhofar, Al Buraimi, and Al Wusta in Duqm.
