Doha, March 24 (QNA) - The Katara International Ramadan Open Classic Chess Championship concluded at the Katara Multi-Purpose Hall (Building 15).
Organized by the Qatar Chess Association (QCA), the Championship featured 88 players representing 16 countries who aimed to win the QR 25,000 prize.
Leola Robinson won the title after topping the overall standings. Syed Abdulqader came 2nd, Zoubaier Amdouni 3rd, Sagan Abel 4th, and Jamal Ferji 5th.
Qatari player Irfan Mohammed, who came 8th, was named the best Qatrai player, while Aisha Al Khelaifi came in 18th place.
Qatari players Fahad Al Mansouri, Ahmed Saif and Khaled Al Jamaat were chosen as the best players in the U-20, U-16 and U-12 categories respectively.
President of the QCA Mohammed Al Mudahka praised the vibes of the 9th and final round of the Championship that witnessed strong showing by all players in all matches.
Stating to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Al Mudahka said that the goal of the Championship was met. It had a great turnout from the participants due to the great reputation it has garnered since its launch years ago.
These types of events hold great importance in order to benefit all national team players and for them to gain experience, he added.
The President of the QCA explained that organizing such events on an ongoing basis helped develop some national team players and raised the level of their international classification. He expressed his hope that the level of these players would further increase and for them to deliver a notable presence in international participation.
At the end of his statements, Al Mudahka thanked the Cultural Village Foundation (Katara) for its great efforts in organizing the Championship over the years.
In turn, Executive Director of the QCA Hamad Al Tamimi said that the 9th round of the Katara International Ramadan Open Classic Chess Championship saw strong participation and maintained its usual high-level performance witnessed in each edition.
Al Tamimi stated to QNA that the International Chess Federation (FIDE) monitored the Championship after it became part of the agenda of its international competitions.
He expressed his great confidence that the Championship will continue its great strides thanks to the great cooperation with Katara.
The Championship is one of the most notable events that the QCA organizes. It is held annually during Ramadan and has contributed to the emergence of many promising chess players in the past editions. (QNA)