Winners of the FBMA chess tournament pose for a picture with the officials after the presentation ceremony.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Ukraine’s Ava Suleimanova took top spot at the second edition of the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy (FBMA) Blitz Chess tournament held at the Abu Dhabi Ladies Club Sports Hall in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

The chess competition was under the patronage of Sheikha Fatima Bint Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairwoman of FBMA, and President of the Abu Dhabi and the Al Ain Ladies Club, in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and Abu Dhabi Chess and Culture Club.

85 players representing 14 nationalities competed in the event which offered Dhs25,000 in cash prizes.

Suleimanova scored eight and a half points out of nine rounds, winning all her matches and tied in only one with the distinguished player Zainab Al Maamari.

Turkmenistan’s grandmaster Mahri Geldiyeva took second spot while the UAE’s Wafia Al Maamari, Rawda Al Serkal and Maamari shared third spot with seven points each.

The tournament included wide participation of internationally ranked players that gave the tournament great technical power.

Mehdi Abdul Rahim, International Arbiter, along with Abdullah Murad and Saeed Ahmed officiated the championship.

Dr. Mai Ahmed Al Jaber, Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy Board Member, expressed her happiness over the success of the second edition of the chess tournament.

She thanked Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Abu Dhabi Ladies Club and Abu Dhabi Chess and Culture Club, for their continuous efforts and support.

"We promise to organise such more events that women of the society look forward to and have a positive active role in participation, competition and advancement.

Hussein Al Khouri, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Chess and Culture Club, hailed Her Highness Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, Mother of the Nation, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union (GWU), Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation (FDF) and Chairwoman of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood.

“We appreciate the efforts made by the FBMA in cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Ladies Club and the Abu Dhabi Chess Club to organise and succeed the second edition of this tournament, which is the first of its kind this year. We were surprised by the number of participants, especially after almost a year of suspending community events.”