Dubai: Fide Master Saeed Ishaq was crowned this year’s undisputed UAE chess king in fast time controls after winning the recent UAE National Blitz Chess Championship 2017 in Sharjah.
A Dubai Chess and Culture Club stalwart, Ishaq thoroughly dominated the field by winning all his nine matches and virtually securing the title with still a round to go in the nine-round tournament. Ishaq also won the UAE National Rapid Chess Championship earlier this year to sustain his run as the hottest player in the country.
A distant second is Candidate Master Omran Al Hosani from Abu Dhabi with seven points, while Ali Abdulkarim of Sharjah also had seven points but was relegated to third place after the tiebreaks were applied.
“We remain on track with our training programme for our players and we are very happy that we are also hitting our goals this year. The consistently strong results of our players, particularly Saeed Ishaq, in the national scene have been very encouraging for the entire team of coaches and players at the Dubai Chess Club,” said Yahya Mohammad Saleh, Dubai Chess and Culture Club’s planning and development manager.
In the ladies’ championship, Woman International Master Nora Mohammad Saleh from Sharjah picked up the title with eight points, followed by Woman Candidate Masters Wafia Darwish Al Maamari of Al Ain and Abeer Ali of Sharjah at second and third place respectively.
