Dubai, UAE: Despite closing out the tournament with back-to-back draws, Grandmaster (GM) Bassem Amin of Egypt piled just enough points to win a second consecutive title in the annual Allegiance to Zayed Chess Tournament at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club.
The defending champion won seven straight games before settling for draws in the eighth and ninth rounds with fellow grandmasters Voirel Iordachescu of Moldova and Viktor Moskalenko of Spain to rule the rapid tournament with eight points.
Amin, the tournament’s second-seed and Egypt’s number one player, received the Dh3,000 cash prize and championship cup from Ahmed Khalifa Al Thani, secretary general of the Arab Chess Federation and vice-chairman of the Dubai Chess Club, Jamal Al Abdooli, secretary general of the club, and Issa Lotfi, the club's financial director.
Iordachescu, seeded fourth, matched Amin’s score with a big win over top-seed GM Bartosz Socko of Poland in the final round, but he had to settle for the runner-up spot with an inferior tiebreak score. Moskalenko settled for third with 7.5 points.
Despite his overwhelming performance, Amin admitted having to endure difficulties in some games, including his match against Emirati sensation Fide Master (FM) Ammar Sedrani, whom he eventually outplayed in the fifth round.
He said his matches with Socko, who is currently the UAE national head coach, and Miladinovic in the sixth and seventh rounds were also very closely fought, although he emerged victorious in both games.
"This was a really tough tournament with many strong players from 25 countries participating. I am very happy to keep the title for the second time," said Amin, who won the event ahead of some 130 players, including eight other grandmasters, five international masters (IM) and a woman grandmaster (WGM).
Amin said the tournament was part of his preparation for the upcoming African Championship in Algeria in early July, which serves as a qualifying event for the World Cup.
Having consistently participated in Dubai’s annual tournaments since 1998, the Egyptian also credited Dubai as an integral part of his steady rise in the world rankings.
"The UAE and Dubai tournaments are particularly important, from the way they are organised, the quality of the participants, the awards and even the media coverage,” he said.
Miladinovic, who defeated the UAE’s IM Oman Noaman in the final round, had the highest tiebreak among four players with seven points to win fourth place. GM Salem Saleh, the UAE number one, also had seven points after beating IM Mohamed Tissir of Morocco and settled for fifth.
GM Walter Arencibia of Cuba, who defeated Uzbekistan’s Ravshan Khamroev, and FM Sohib Okla of Syria, winner by default over compatriot Talal Hilwani, wound up sixth and seventh respectively.
GM Ahmed Adly, Egypt’s number two player, was eighth with 6.5 points after settling for a draw with IM Veselin Pantev of Bulgaria in the final round. Azerbaijan’s GM Elmar Magerramov, Dubai chess club’s long-time coach, was ninth also with 6.5 points after splitting the point with Spain’s FM Javier Fernandez.
Fernandez, Pantev and Woman International Master (WIM) Ljilja Drljevic of Serbia, who defeated the Philippines’ Franz Barretto in the final round, settled for the 10th to 12th spots also with 6.5 points apiece.
Socko led a big group of players with six points, which also included Fujairah’s Sedrani, who was the tournament’s surprise co-leader in the first four rounds. The 13-year-old Sedrani was awarded the prize for the best UAE player. FM Saeed Ishaq also had six points and received the award as the top Dubai player.
Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Bashayer Khalil and Mariam Essa received awards as the top UAE and Dubai woman player respectively.
The 14th edition of the annual Allegiance to Zayed Chess Tournament attracted more than 130 players from 25 countries. The tournament allotted a thinking time of 15 minutes plus a five-second increment per move to complete a game.
International Arbiter (IA) Saeed Shakari was the tournament director with IA Mahdi Abdul Rahim as chief arbiter, assisted by IA Jamal Qasim, National Arbiter (NA) Moheb Serag El Din, NA Mohammad Al Halak and NA Majed Ali Abdouli.
