Sheikh Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Mualla presents trophy to Efstratios Grivas as other dignitaries look on.

Greek Grandmaster Efstratios Grivas produced a dominant performance to emerge winner at the Zero 6 Mall Sharjah Chess Championship 2021 on Saturday.

Making strong moves on the board, Grivas managed to take top in championship with a total of 7.5 points.

Grivas, whose main successes over the board are the Silver Medal Olympiad 1998 (3rd Board), the Gold Medal European Team Championship 1989 (3rd Board) and the 4th Position World Junior Championship, had a smooth sailing against Pakistani Candidate Master Dr Murtaza Ali in the ninth round of the competition.

Turkish Grandmaster Mert Erdogdu finished third with 7 points while Ukrainian Grandmaster Adam Tukhaev took fourth spot.

Uzbekistan’s Sabirova Shakhnoza received a special award after being named as emerging talent.

UAE’s U-16 champion Hamad Essam also took part in the competition and finished 10^th with 6.5 points.

The closing ceremony was graced by Sheikh Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Mualla, President of Arab Chess Federation and Chairman of the Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club, Imran Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Vice-President of the Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club, Jamal Issa Al Midfa, Secretary General of the Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club, and Omar Noman Al Ali, Assistant Secretary General of the Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club and Rajai N Alsusi, CEO of the club.

The second day of the competition attracted a large crowd of visitors to the Zero 6 Mall.

Five grandmasters among the 110 players from 22 countries took part in the Zero 6 Mall Sharjah Chess Championship 2021, which was organised by Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club in cooperation with mall administration and Sharjah International Chess Academy (SICA).

The championship took place over the board at the mall premises under the health and safety protocols laid down by the UAE government. Adeeb Zehrawi served as the arbiter of the championship.

Nuaimi, Vice President of Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club, thanked Zero 6 Mall management for providing the tournament with the facilities it needed to be successful.

“The Zero 6 Mall Sharjah Chess Championship supports the vision of Sharjah Sports Council which organizes various sporting events to promote diversity in sports in order to build a distinguished and happy sports community,” said Nuaimi.

“The Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club management is always keen to encourage players to participate in various tournaments organised by the club in various parts of the Emirate,” he added.

Ragai said: “The objective behind organising the champions was to expand the activities and focus on spreading the sport of chess in particular.

“Such events also provide opportunities to Sharjah residents to enjoy their hobbies and recreation, allowing them to find a community of like-minded individuals,” Ragai added.