Abdullah Al-Hamid won the title of Qatar’s Under-14 rapid chess tournament, organized by Qatar chess Federation with the participation of 12 players representing national teams and training centers. The tournament was formed of 7 games at a 15 minute time control,10 seconds per move and was played online via Lichess application on smartphones or iPad devices.
Al-Hamid scored 7 points, 1 point ahead of the winner of the second place, the Indian Sharma Taksh. Amolia Gurbarsad, from Philippines, came third with 5 points and our National Team player Ryan Irfan won the fourth place with 4 points, followed by Mohamed Al-Qasabi, our National Team player, with a 3 points score. On his part, Mohammed Al-Madhahka, head of Qatar Chess Federation, declared that the championship was marked by the high caliber. The Federation, he explained, had turned to the organization of this kind of championships to reinforce the players’ capacity and to determine their levels, especially that this age group needs contact to gain the required skills and current tournaments, represent an important addition to them, especially in acquiring new skills and avoiding mistakes, so that they do not repeat such mistakes in the coming local and international championships. The tournament also contributes to creating a new generation of players to support the national teams in the coming period. Abdullah Al-Hamid, our national team player and the title holder, showed his happiness for winning the first place, confirming that the competition among all players was strong. The Federation, he indicated, offers great support to players through the continuing series of online championships.