Doha: Qatar Chess Association (QCA) yesterday announced that five players will participate in the 43rd Chess Olympiad to be held in September in Georgia.
QCA President Mohammed Al Medaihki (pictured) highlighted the association’s keenness to participate in different international tournaments in order to raise the global ranking as well as giving the players more international experiences.
Al Medaihki said the Qatari presence in such tournaments is important in many aspects. He also said that only five male participates will be joining the Olympiad, with the participation of grandmaster Mohammed Naser Al Sayed and international master Husein Aziz. The rest of the players have not yet been chosen.
The newly appointed president, Al Medaihki said QCA’s strategy in the upcoming phase will depend on spreading awareness about chess. Last week, the association organized a primary school chess championship for boys and girls which saw the participation of 200 students from 42 schools, he said.
He added that the association will seek to raise awareness of the sport through youth centres.
The Chess Olympiad is one of the most prominent international tournaments and is a series of matches held every two years under the supervision of World Chess Federation and hosted by a country chosen by the federation.
The Qatari team had won first place in the Arab World and 48th in the World Chess Olympiad hosted in Azerbaijan in 2016. The Olympiad was held for two weeks with the participation of 180 countries in the male competition and 140 countries in the female competition.
