Dubai, UAE – Marvin Marcos dominated the field to rule the Fide-rated blitz chess tournament organized by Dubai Chess and Culture Club on Friday (October 9). Seeded tenth at the start of the event, the Dubai-based Filipino chef scored ten points on nine wins and two draws in the 11-round Swiss system event to claim the champion’s cup over a field of nearly 100 players from 15 different nationalities.
The host club’s Candidate Master (CM) Najeeb Saleh scored just two points after four rounds, but overcame the slow start to win all his remaining matches and claim runner-up honors with nine points. Saleh outplayed Joseph Galindo of the Philippines in the final round.
Wael Abdelghani from Egypt upset second-seed Fide Master (FM) Othman Moussa in the final round to up his tally to 8.5 points and claim third place. Galindo, who along with Marcos is a member of the Dubai-based Filipino Chess Players League-UAE, also had 8.5 points but was relegated to fourth with an inferior tiebreak score.
Ramez Sameir of Egypt completed the top five, having the best tiebreak score among eight-pointers. India’s Madduri Satya Tejeswar received the top Under-14 award.
Najeeb Saleh, Technical Committee Head, and Yahya Mohamed the club’s Planning and Development Manager, awarded the champions
“The tournament had an amazing turnout with 100 players from different clubs sending their best players. This is a very positive response to our efforts to promote chess across the emirate, particularly among the youth,” said Mohamed El Husseiny, Executive Director. “These tournaments also serve as an important training ground for the club’s chess school, while helping us identify and nurture promising talents.”
Players from more than a dozen countries took part in the tournament, which was part of the club’s series of monthly activities that are open to all nationalities. Dubai Chess and Culture Club has recently opened its membership to non-UAE nationals as it seeks to provide all chess enthusiasts in the emirate better access to world-class resources and specialised training under renowned international grandmasters and top coaches.
The event was managed by Tournament Director Yahya Mohammed Saleh and International Arbiter (IA) Saeed Yousuf Shakari, the chief arbiter, and assisted by deputy chief IA Jamal Qasim, and IA Walid Abu Obeid.
Final standings:
1 Marcos Marvin PHI 2104 10
2 CM Saleh Nagueb UAE 2106 9
3 Galindo Joseph PHI 2065 8.5
4 Abdelghani Wael EGY 1943 8.5
5 Sameir Ramez EGY 2106 8
6 FM Othman A. Moussa UAE 2314 8
7 Matutina Mark PHI 0 8
8 Ibrahim Esheikh Ahmed Saad SUD 0 8
9 IM Sultan Ibrahim UAE 1985 8
10 Irfan S IND 1696 8
11 Dimarucut Francis Erwin PHI 2147 7.5
12 CM Tayeb Suhail UAE 2098 7.5
13 FM Saleh Nabil UAE 2139 7.5
14 WFM Nekrasova Elena LIB 1982 7
15 IM Omar Noaman UAE 2330 7
16 San Juan Dennis PHI 2091 7
17 Fasil M IND 2013 7
18 Al Saleh Mohammad SYR 2054 7
19 Rafee Mohd Hayel SYR 2040 7
20 Walid Anwar UAE 1787 7
21 Jehad Aysha UAE 1528 7
22 Sagar Praveen FID 1613 7
23 Magdy Kassem EGY 1896 7
24 Pabalan Rocky PHI 2175 6.5
25 Cruz Christopher PHI 0 6.5
26 Murad Abdulla UAE 1755 6.5
27 Sasikumar Anusweud IND 1754 6.5
28 Jasmeher Singh Kathuria IND 1649 6.5
29 CM Haridas K. IND 2100 6
30 Orfano Jason Gonzalos PHI 2195 6
31 Madduri Satya Tejeswar IND 1397 6
32 Salvi Amit FID 0 6
33 Rajesh Vasanthakumar IND 1480 6
34 Ashraf Ahmed Ramadan EGY 1589 6
35 Perez Richard PHI 1787 6
36 Kassem Elsayed EGY 1686 6
37 Hesham Saleem Shalol IRQ 1836 6
38 Alsafi Mohammed Ahmed SUD 0 6
39 Abou Ghazi Aiman SYR 1588 6
40 Abulrahman Abo Bakr EGY 0 6
41 Al-Ghasra Ahmed BRN 1801 6
42 Shanmugam Sri Kandha UAE 1372 6
43 Harikrishnan Samyuktha IND 1548 6
44 Nowroozian Nader IRI 1781 6
45 Singh Gurmeher IND 1418 6
46 Naik Atharv IND 1469 6
47 Gary Flores PHI 0 5.5
48 Boshara Mohammed Ahmed SUD 1846 5.5
49 Dhyaa A. K. Al-Sandooq IRQ 1671 5.5
50 Khezrian Mohammad USA 1453 5.5
51 Salem Ahmed Salem UAE 1568 5
52 Danilo Reyes G. PHI 1464 5
53 Mridul Thaivalappil M. IND 1349 5
54 Abd Alhafeez Mohamed Ahmed SUD 1586 5
55 Devnani Kush IND 1269 5
56 Alia Ali UAE 1428 5
57 Jamal Amin Omer UAE 1577 5
58 Abdulla Ali UAE 1705 5
59 Noman Shaima UAE 1387 5
60 Shahzad Asif PAK 1703 5
61 Sriram Venkatesan IND 0 5
62 Mridul Ashokan IND 1324 5
63 Alexies Byron C. Dysangco PHI 0 5
64 Karthik Praveen IND 0 5
65 Aaditya Hari Krishnan IND 1331 5
66 Alur Varun IND 1355 5
67 Kevin K Thomas Vaidyan IND 0 5
68 Maneesh Abdulsalam IND 1282 4.5
69 Fawwaz Mohammed IND 1274 4.5
70 Atul Babu IND 1457 4.5
71 Gautam Sunilkumar IND 0 4.5
72 Sithaardan Manohoran IND 0 4.5
73 Rodha Faraj UAE 1281 4.5
74 Binu Sebastian IND 1405 4
75 Sundaresh Sundaragopal IND 1199 4
76 Jawaher Khalil UAE 1085 4
77 Khezrian Nooralzahra IRI 1161 4
78 Sai Krishna Suresh Kumar IND 0 4
Pranav IND 1438 4
80 Amos Georgelal IND 0 4
81 Venkata Eswaran IND 1190 4
82 Lootah Feddah Mohamad UAE 1222 4
83 Amirtharaj IND 0 4
84 Khezrian Neda IRI 0 4
85 Subbulakshmi IND 1159 3
86 Viswanath Raghu Rohan IND 1185 3
87 Kailas Shibu IND 1255 3
88 Karthik Sukumar Shibu IND 1158 3
89 Sushanth Vuppu IND 0 3
90 Ramchandani Yash UAE 0 3
91 Vishal Choudary B IND 0 3
92 Naresh Subramanian IND 0 3
93 Sriram Vuppu IND 0 2
94 Shahed Abu Qamar JOR 0 2
95 Khezrian Ali USA 0 2
96 Shareef Ahmad Siddiqui IND 0 1
97 FM Zemtsov Roman RUS 2284 0
