Young players take part at Qatargas Chess Tournament in this file photo.
More than 120 players are expected to take part in the 6th edition of the hugely popular Qatargas Chess Tournament starting in Doha today.
Mohamed Al Mudahka, President of Qatar Chess Federation (QCF), said the tournament that carries an overall prize bag of QR 30,000 will begin with the two-day U-16 event.
The Open Tournament will be held on Saturday. All the events of the tournament will be held at Al Mirqab Mall, it was confirmed earlier this week.
“We are expecting more than 120 players featuring in the event for the U-16 event and the Open tournament. We are certain there will be high scale involvement from the visitors to the Mirqab Mall. People who are interested in chess and the ones who love board games will get the chance to be involved in one way or the other,” Al Mudahka said.
“As you know this is the 6th edition of the tournament. This event has grown substantially over the years. We are proud to have the sponsorship support of Qatargas, one of the most successful entities in the country,” he said.
“We will be hosting this event at Mirqab Mall where we are expecting a good crowd to see the players in action. We staged a similar but one-day event there in December last year. We were pleased to see the reaction of the visitors to the mall which in turn saw our event getting a great deal of exposure.
“We are aiming for something similar since this time it will be a three-day event,” Al Mudahka added.
“The total prize money of QR 30,000 for the two events with winners in each class getting QR 2.500 plus other awards for runners-up,” he said.
Al Mudahka thanked Qatargas for their ‘wholehearted support’.
“Like I said earlier we are glad to have the support of Qarargas for this series. We hope this partnership continues for many more years as we have seen the sport grow,” Al Mudahka said.
“I wouldn’t say that chess has grown dramatically but there has been a steady progress in terms of giving youngsters the exposure they need to learn the sport.
“We were honoured to have the presence of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser at the Qatar National Sport Day programs we organised at the federation headquarters last month. It was the second time we had Her Highness visited us. The young players got the chance to speak with Her Highness and get her autograph,” Al Mudahka added.
The U-16 competition will have the Rapid Chess rules while the Open Blitz Chess Tournament can have anyone register for the event.
Meanwhile, Rony Mourani, General Manager of Al Mana Malls, said in a statement.
“The majority of our events serve the family-centric members of the community and this is another reason why we are happy to host the Qatar Chess Federation for a second time; along with their eagerness to play, the children and young adults that participate displayed a strong sense of self confidence.”
Mourani added: “We’re also thrilled that the tournament is happening in parallel with our Mum & Me events. Everyone will go home with something special this weekend.”
