Muscat, Sept 28
The Asian Amateur Chess Championship competitions will start on Thursday under the auspices of Ahmed bin Mohammed al Humaidi, Head of Muscat Municipality.
The championship will see 204 men and women players from 23 countries in action at the Sultan Qaboos Indoor Hall.
The event is organised by the Oman Chess Committee in cooperation with the Asian Chess Federation and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth.
On Wednesday, the arrival of all the participant teams in the tournament was completed, Bahrain, India, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Palestine, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Syria, UAE, Yemen, in addition to the Sultanate of Oman.
The organising committee held a meeting on Wednesday at the main hall of the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher. They discussed all the technical, administrative and logistical arrangements that contribute to achieve a successful version of the Asian Chess Championship.
On Thursday, the technical committee of the tournament will meet to approve the lists of players and the schedule of the tournament, and actual competition will start at five in the afternoon, and will continue until Sunday.
The tournament will apply the Swiss system, with nine rounds, and 90 minutes for each player, in addition to an additional 30 seconds for each move, according to the International Chess Federation rules. The organising committee has allocated cash prizes, medals and cups for the top place winners.
