Fide Master (FM) Mohammad Fahad Rahman of Bangladesh crowned himself this year’s champion of the 14th Dubai Juniors Chess Tournament – Sheikh Maktoum Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Cup following an exciting final-round victory over the UAE’s Candidate Master (CM) Omran Al Hosani on Tuesday at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club.
Rahman’s English Opening did not yield any significant advantage against Al Hosani, who was able to seize the initiative in the endgame with his rook, bishop and centralised king pressing against Rahman’s weak e-pawn. The Emirati, however, committed a strategic error on the 32nd move with a pawn push that seriously weakened his kingside pawn chain, while allowing Rahman to activate his rook and knight.
Although Al Hosani managed to cover his weaknesses, his missed an actively counter play that would have allowed his rook to penetrate the white fortress via the f-file, keeping the game unbalanced. Instead, the Emirati chose to passively defend his kingside pawns, which ultimately proved ineffective as Rahman gradually consolidated his position and eventually won more material en route to a 46-move victory.
Rahman scored eight points, half a point ahead of Indian second-seed Rahul Srivatshav P, who defeated fifth-seed Kazybek Umbetov of Kazakhstan, and top-seed FM Viktor Matviishen, who won over Armenia’s 11th-seed Hayk Kocharyan. Srivatshav, however, claimed the runner-up prize with a superior tiebreak score, relegating Matviishen to third place.

FM Mohammad Rahman receives the Sheikh Maktoum Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Cup and the US$2,000 champion’s prize
CM Sultan Al-Zaabi emerged the top scorer among UAE players with seven points after winning over compatriot Amer Sultan in the final round. Fourth-seeded Ahmad Ahmadzada of Azerbaijan, who also had seven points following a victory over the UAE’s Sultan Al Darmaky, secured fourth place with a higher tiebreak score, with Al-Zaabi securing the fifth spot.
Omran Al Hosani and compatriot Ebrahim Ahmed Ebrahim joined seven others in the next rung of the standings with 6.5 points each. Omran Al Hosani and Ebrahim placed 11th and 14th respectively after the tiebreaks.
Others with 6.5 points in order or ranking were Umbetov, Korcharyan, Armenia’s Eduard Hakobyan and India’s Ranjan Aryan, Gurmeher Singh, Kush Devnani and Pranav.
Rahman received the Sheikh Maktoum Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Cup and the US$2,000 champion’s prize from Khalid Khalid Al Midfa, Assistant Secretary-General of the Public Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare, Ahmad Khalifa Al Thani, Secretary-General of the Arab Federation Chess Federation and Vice-President of Dubai Chess and Culture Club, Ali Al Mutawa, Director of Corporate Support Department of the Dubai Sports Council, and Jamal Al Abdooli, Secretary-General of the club. The rest of the top 10 winners also received cash prizes.
The best Emirati award went to CM Omran Al-Hosani, while the top Dubai Chess Club player was Ebrahim Ahmed Ebrahim.
Final standings:
1 FM Mohammad Fahad Rahman BAN 2157 8
2 Rahul Srivatshav P IND 2273 7.5
3 FM Matviishen Viktor UKR 2390 7.5
4 CM Ahmadzada Ahmad AZE 2099 7
5 CM Al-Zaabi Sultan UAE 1674 7
6 Umbetov Kazybek KAZ 2002 6.5
7 Hakobyan Eduard ARM 1753 6.5
8 Kocharyan Hayk ARM 1573 6.5
9 Aryan Ranjan IND 1836 6.5
10 Singh Gurmeher IND 1401 6.5
11 CM Al Hosani Omran UAE 1821 6.5
12 Devnani Kush IND 1375 6.5
13 Pranav IND 1173 6.5
14 Ebrahim Ahmed Ebrahim UAE 1207 6.5
15 Al Darmaky Sultan UAE 1500 6
16 Sultan Amer UAE 1233 6
17 Aaditya Hari Krishnan IND 1355 6
Johary Rishabh IND 0 6
19 Al-Marshool Saeed UAE 1245 6
20 Al Shamsi Hamad Naseer UAE 1207 6
21 Mohammed Fawwaaz IND 1479 5.5
22 Sidharth Balaji Sridharan IND 1420 5.5
23 Al Hosani Saeed UAE 1550 5.5
24 Kapoor Gurveen ENG 1358 5.5
25 Fatima Al Wahabi UAE 1285 5.5
26 Jijo Joy IND 1601 5.5
27 Yatrik Pratihar IND 1282 5.5
28 Khalifa Essa Albalooshi UAE 1178 5.5
29 Shamsa Amer UAE 1080 5.5
30 Arya Ranjan IND 1161 5.5
31 Mohammed Ghalia UAE 1312 5.5
32 Nawaf Abdulrazzaq UAE 1103 5.5
33 Faraj Mariam UAE 1037 5.5
34 Khezrian Nooralzahra IRI 1070 5.5
35 Al Mazrouei Khalid Abdullah UAE 0 5
36 Sivadurga Adduri IND 0 5
37 WCM Rouda Essa Alserkal UAE 1251 5
38 Hmouda A H Binhmouda UAE 1177 5
39 Hamdan Saeed Ali UAE 1140 5
40 Gupta Aakarsh IND 1186 5
41 Junius James IND 0 5
42 Yasmin Ali UAE 1438 5
43 Hakobyan Allen ARM 0 5
44 Shahd Abdulla Al Mazrouei UAE 0 5
45 Abdulla Mahmood Abdulla Mohamm UAE 0 5
46 Abdulla Mohammad Hussain UAE 0 5
47 CM Eisa Mohmood Alkhoori UAE 1247 5
48 Gamage Ranasinghe Yuman R SRI 1107 5
49 Al-Blooshi Hamad Essa UAE 1166 5
50 Latifah Darmaki UAE 1047 5
51 Zamanbek Mereilim KAZ 0 4.5
52 Naik Atharv IND 1320 4.5
53 Sidharth Hariharan IND 0 4.5
54 Hazza Salah Mohammed UAE 1304 4.5
55 Abhinav Deshwal IND 0 4.5
56 Khalifa Amer UAE 1138 4.5
57 Vyas Arya Ajay IND 1214 4.5
58 Shamma Al Serkal UAE 1157 4
59 Bekbauov Noel KAZ 1379 4
60 Al Darmaky Saif UAE 1333 4
61 Viswanath Raghu Rohan IND 1155 4
62 Al Husani Zayed UAE 1181 4
63 Zayed Marshool UAE 1197 4
Essa Shahad UAE 0 4
65 Rashed Ahmad Alhajjaj UAE 0 4
66 Al Nuaimi Saeed Sebaa UAE 1032 4
67 Singh Ziana IND 0 4
68 Abed baset Osayed PLE 0 4
69 Ahmed Waqqas Alawlaqi UAE 0 4
70 Hamdan Edrees Alhamed UAE 0 4
Shaurya Dinesh Sawlani IND 0 4
72 Anood Ahmad UAE 1003 4
73 Shooq Ahmed Al Wahedi UAE 0 4
74 Sara Abdulaziz Aidarous UAE 0 4
75 Viswanathan Pavithra FID 0 4
76 Khezrian Neda IRI 0 4
” Zishan, Mohamed Zishan Riyad ” FID 0 4
78 Hassan Essa Alblooshi UAE 0 4
79 Mohammad Abdulrahman Alawadhi UAE 0 3.5
80 Ahlam Rashed UAE 1303 3.5
81 Mesfer Al Mesafri UAE 0 3
82 Amulya Guruprasad IND 0 3
83 Zamanbek Aiganym KAZ 0 3
84 Al Khoori Noora Mahmood Abdul UAE 0 3
85 Mera Abdulaziz Aidarous UAE 0 3
86 Shamma Habib Al Beloshi UAE 0 3
87 Shamma Ahmed Hmouda Bin Hmouda UAE 0 3
88 Khalid Nasser Rashid UAE 0 3
89 Latifa Sami Alzarouni UAE 0 3
90 Sara Ahmad Ibrahim UAE 0 3
91 Marshool Abdullah UAE 0 3
Mayed Mohammad Hussain UAE 0 3
93 Rashid Nasser Al Shamsi UAE 0 3
94 Mohammed Fahad Al Ahbabhi UAE 0 3
95 “Mouza Saeed, Albedwawi ” UAE 0 3
96 Rashed Abdulla UAE 0 2
97 Saeed Rashed UAE 1115 2
98 Chaitanya Sankar Jayasarathy IND 0 2
99 Hala Gamal Amin UAE 0 2
100 Ayesha Abdulla Khamis UAE 0 2
101 Haneen Gamal Amin UAE 0 2
102 Arya Hitenkumar Pandya IND 0 2
103 Hind Mohammad Bin Abdulla UAE 0 2
104 Khezrian Ali USA 0 2
105 Jahan Ajay Vyas IND 0 1
106 Vishal Choudary B IND 1104 0
Alanood Abdulla Alshehhi UAE 0 0
Iyer Adwaita S. IND 0 0
Mareh Abdulmajid, Alqadasi UAE 0 0
Nami Saeed IRI 0 0
Singh Shiven UAE 0 0
