Mr. Ahmed Al-Mehmadi, Vice President for Marketing and Communication at the General Entertainment Authority, and Dr. Abdullah Al-Wahshi, President of the Saudi Chess Federation, presented the first-place winner at the end of the Chess Competition, Salem Abdul Rahman from the UAE, ranked 59th in the world, with the title of Grand International Master (GM), winning eight rounds out of nine in the competition organized by the General Entertainment Authority in coordination with the Saudi Chess Federation, and was held in Boulevard Riyadh City.
Bassem Amin from Egypt, holding the title of Grand International Master (GM), came second in the competition, while the contestant Fawzi Adham from Egypt, who holds the title of Grand International Master (GM), won third place. The competition lasted for two days, with the participants competing with their professional individual skills to obtain the highest points.
The competition prizes that were held within the activities of Riyadh Calendar are among the largest prizes in the Middle East, with a total of about 800,000 Saudi riyals. The first-place winner of the competition was awarded 300,000 riyals, while the second-place winner received a prize of 200,000 riyals, and the third-place winner won an amount of 100,000 riyals. Cash prizes were presented up to the tenth place.
The Chess Competition, which was subject to the laws and regulations of the International Chess Federation, and adopted the Swiss system of play, passed in two stages in which the participants, who were more than 100 players from different Arab countries, competed through 9 rounds to determine the winners according to the highest points and to the final tie-breaking arrangement.
The first stage of the competition included five rounds on the first day, in which winning depends on the professional level of the contestants to beat the other competitor in the match and win by collecting points, and the second stage on the second day included four rounds that were full of challenge and enthusiasm.
The chess competition is an extension of the qualitative events within the activities of Riyadh Calendar, which meet various interests in all fields and enhance competition in various skills.
