Asian Chess Federation Marks 30th Anniversary

Asian Chess Federation marks 30th Anniversary

DUBAI, (Pakistan Point News - 30th Nov, 2020) Two Emiratis held former world chess champion Anatoly Karpov to draws during Saturday’s simultaneous chess exhibition, entitled, "Chess Against COVID-19," which was organised to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Asian Chess Federation.

Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan, President of the Asian Chess Federation, and Russian Arkady Dvorkovich, President of the International Chess Federation, FIDE, attended the ceremony at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai.

Mariam Essa of the Dubai Ladies Chess Club and Mohammed Saeed of the Fujairah Chess Club were the only two players to draw in the 15-board simultaneous exhibition. Playing against chess legend Karpov were players from Jordan, Kuwait, the Philippines, India and the UAE.

The event was supported by Humanity Pillar, the Dubai sports Council, business Gate, the Dubai Chess Club and the Industrial Innovation Group. Awards of appreciation were presented to Manuel Batista of Humanity Pillar, Dvorkovich and Karpov. The event also inaugurated the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, Centre of Karpov.

In his keynote address, Sheikh Sultan said that since its establishment in 1990, the Asian Chess Federation has grown to 52 member countries from around Asia and Oceania, noting the almost two hundred annual events that the ACF organises, including championships, tournaments, seminars, symposiums, webinars, summits and programmes that aim to develop all aspects of the game for organisers, trainers and arbiters, as well as chess camps and the annual Asian Chess Excellence Awards.

He also highlighted a bright future for Asian chess and cited the recent victory of the Asian youth team, which won the Inter-Continental Youth Chess Challenge, convincingly beating the European, American and African youth teams.

Sheikh Sultan used the occasion to announce a new event next month, the Asian Super Grand Open Chess Championship with cash prizes worth US$30,000, to motivate Asian players to raise their level.