Salem Saleh

UAE’s Saleh clinches rapid title in style
KT Report/Dubai
Filed on December 5, 2015 | Last updated on December 5, 2015 at 09.27 am

Saleh drew his matches with second-seed GM Ivan Sokolov of the Netherlands, who is his coach in the UAE national team.

Emirati Grandmaster Salem Saleh celebrated the week in style when he clinched the 44th UAE National Day Rapid Chess Championship ahead of several top grandmasters in a field of more than 110 players from over 20 countries. With another solid performance, top-seeded Saleh hiked his tally to eight points on seven wins and two draws in the nine-round Swiss system tournament, a media release added.

Saleh drew his matches with second-seed GM Ivan Sokolov of the Netherlands, who is his coach in the UAE national team, and third-seed GM Elmar Magerramov of Azerbaijan, the Dubai Chess and Culture Club head coach, in the seventh and eighth rounds before wrapping up the tournament with a resounding final-round win over India’s Manjunath J.

Sokolov took the runner-up spot with 7.5 points while Magerramov settled for third with seven points. Cuban GM Walter Rodriguez Arencibia, also part of the UAE’s pool of national coaches, and reigning UAE National Men’s and UAE President’s Cup champion Fide Master (FM) Saeed Ishaq also had seven points but settled for fourth and fifth with lower tiebreak points. The Philippines’ Francis Erwin Dimarucut, Syria’s Hasan Abtini and Lebanon’s FM Abdo Somoff took the sixth to eighth places respectively, also with seven points each.

International Master (IM) Ibrahim Sultan won the prize for best Emirati player, while Salim Ahmed Salim Al Kaabi was the top Dubai player. Aysha Jehad was best female UAE player and Bashaer Khalil, the top Dubai female player. Special awards were also handed out to Manjunath as the top scorer in the Under-2200 rating category and the Philippines’ Joseph Ignacio in the Under-1800 category.

The tournament is organised each year to commemorate the founding anniversary of the UAE. This year’s edition gave away Dh22,000 in total cash prizes with the champion receiving Dh5,000 along with the champion’s cup.

Source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com

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