Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival has drawn over 650 players from 52 countries, including 51 Grand Masters, all vying for a slice of the Dh270,000 prize fund.
The 23rd staging of the popular event consists of 11 different categories, the highlight being the Masters for players rated 2100 ELO and above, and the open competition for those rated below 2100 ELO, and gets underway from Sunday until August 29 at the Dusit Thani Hotel.
“The festival has come a long way since its humble beginning,” said Hussain Khoury, chairman of Abu Dhabi Chess and Culture Club and head of the organising committee, at the launch ceremony.
“It is a well-established event now. The sheer numbers from more than 50 different countries it draws every year and the uninterrupted running of this event establishes its own success story.
“We, as the organisers, are constantly looking to do our best to further improve the festival event all-round.
“We want to ensure this festival provides high class competition and more winning opportunities at every level for the local as well as the large numbers of expatriates and foreign participants.”
The Masters and the Open events both will be worked off in the Swiss system of nine rounds with a time control of 90 minutes for each player and 30 seconds increment.
The remaining competitions are for juniors U8, U10, U12, U14 and U16, an Open event for the best unrated players, a family team competition, an event for the defence services and a blitz competition.
