Egyptian Grandmaster Bassem Amin takes top spot at the Arab Individual Open Chess Championship.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Egyptian Grandmaster Bassem Amin emerged winner at the Arab Individual Open Chess Championship 2020, which ended on Saturday.

Amin took the honours after being locked in an intense three-way battle for the title as UAE Grandmaster Saleh Salem and Ahmed Adly also gathered nine points from the 11 games.

Through a tie-break the winner was decided. Salem finished second while Adly came third. The event carried a prize purse of $6000.

FIDE Executive Director GM Victor Bologan addresses the players during the ceremony ahead of the final stage.

More than 1300 male and female players from 20 countries competed in the Arab Individual Chess Championship which was hosted by Arab Chess Federation in Sharjah.

Players from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya, Lebanon, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE and Yemen participated in the competition.

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Arab Individual Open Chess Championship 2020 also marked the 45th anniversary of the formation of Arab Chess Federation.

The Arab Chess Federation was founded on July 27, 1975 in Damascus, Syria, with the object of spreading and development of chess as a mental and cultural sport across the Arab World.

Sheikh Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Mualla, President of the Arab Chess Federation, hailed the success of the event.

The Arab Chess Federation expressed its graduate to the FIDE Executive Director GM Victor Bologan, who addressed the players during the ceremony ahead of the final stage. He spoke to them in Arabic.

Arab Chess Federation also thanked Chris Callahan of LiChess.org platform, through which the event was hosted online.

The Arab Chess Federation lauded the efforts of Sheikh Saud Sami Khader, Husain Al shamsi , Omar Nuaman , and Tournament Director Rajai Al Susi for ensuring the success of the competition.

UAE's Faisal Mohammed Al Hammadi was the chief arbiter for the three-day long event.