Chess News

Tolerance Games & Asian Chess Women’s Contest concluded in Abu-Dhabi

UAE Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence, the International Chess Federation, and the Asian Chess Federation jointly held the Tolerance Games – Asian Chess Women’s Contest that took place from February 06-07, 2023, in Abu-Dhabi, UAE. The event was a part of the Global Tolerance and Human Fraternity Summit in Etihad Towers. 

Girls and ladies from Asia and all around the world participated in various activities, from playing chess to learning about the empowerment chess gives to women and society.

The event started with the “Little Chess Star” Chess Tournament. Eight invited girls played in two qualification tournaments, followed by the final match for the title.

Eisa Bashkardi Ahoud from the UAE and Zakiyabonu Muminova from Tajikistan qualified for the final from their groups. Eisa Bashkardi Ahoud bested her opponent in both games and won the tournament. 

A “Learn to play in one hour” session with a coach started right after the event. WGM and five-time Armenian Champion Mariya Gevorgyan showed many interesting problems and studies and taught girls how to play some basic and more complex rook endings. 

Leadership workshop “Women and Chess – Promoting Tolerance & Women Empowerment” featured Anastasia Sorokina, Chair of FIDE Commission for Women in Chess; Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Women chess grandmaster, politician, FIDE Deputy Chair of Management Board; Anastasia Karlovich, WIM, Ukrainian chess journalist and photographer; Irene Kharisma Sukandar, WGM and two-time Asian Women’s Champion; David Smerdon, GM, PhD in Economics, member of FIDE WOM Commission and Tshepiso Lopang, IA and the President of African Chess Confederation.

“Chess can be used as an excellent tool for promoting tolerance and coexistence, connecting us in common humanity,” said Dana Reizniece-Ozola.

“Considering chess sport as a powerful means to consolidate society, establish an atmosphere of love and tolerance and create friendships between youth without social discrimination, leading numerous social projects for many years already, as a woman, as a person with a vast experience, I want more and more girls to play chess,” stressed Anastasia Sorokina.

A simul by Dana Reizniece-Ozola followed the workshop. Dana won all the games, although some players had good chances of reaching a draw. 

As many as 89 players participated in the Open Asian Women Blitz Chess Tournament, the 7-round Swiss event with the time control of 3min +2 sec. WGM Geldiyeva from Mahri (Turkmenistan) finished with a perfect score and emerged as the winner. Shakhnoza Sabirova, from Uzbekistan and Ahlam Rashed, from the UAE, tied for second place, netting 6 out of 7 points.  

Final standings can be found below

The closing ceremony of the “Little Chess Stars Tournament” and Open Asian Women Blitz Chess Tournament took place on the 7th of February and was attended by His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan Mabarak Al Nabyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence and His Excellency Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa Bin Shakhbout Al Nahyan, who welcomed participants and awarded the winners. 

Dana Reizniece-Ozola took part in the Global Tolerance and Human Fraternity Summit and was a speaker in panel number three, Peace: Promoting Principals of Nonviolence.

Photo: Stev Bonhage and Anastasia Karlovich
Text: Anastasia Karlovich

Final standings – Open Asian Women Blitz Chess Tournament:

Rk. NameFEDRtgPts. 
1WGMGeldiyeva, MahriTKM21327
2 Sabirova, ShakhnozaUZB19626
3 Rashed, AhlamUAE14686
4WNMAcedo, Rowelyn-JoyPHI17785.5
5AFMKaushal, KhushiIND13505.5
6WCMAlserkal, RoudaUAE16615.5
7 Amer, ShamsaUAE11285.5
8 Eisa Bashkardi, AhoudUAE12465
9 Bhattacharya, AndriaIND13135
10 Almaamari, MouzaUAE13815
11ACMKindipan, ZyrallePHI13485
12WCMAli, AbeerUAE14235
13 San Andres, EmerlindaPHI13995
14 Bommi, Yasaswi KrishnaIND13405
15 Darmaki, LatifahUAE12415
16 Al Hamadi, Al ReemUAE12345
17 Alsaqqaf, ReemUAE04.5
18 Eisa Bashkardi, AnoudUAE14474.5
19 Almaini, AishahUAE15094.5
20 Amin, HaneenUAE04.5
21 Gowrisankar, DivyaIND10864.5
22 Biñan, AngelynPHI04
23 Alshamsi, OushaUAE14554
24 Mohammad Ali Hassan, RayanUAE13514
25 Almeraikhi, Shaikha AbdullaUAE11874
26 Alhosani, AyshaUAE04
27 Amin, HalaUAE04
28WCMAlmaamari, Zainab DarwishUAE15504
29 Alshamsi, Mouza NasserUAE11864
30 Shah, TvishaIND10384
31 Sadhana, PrakashSGP04
32 Alkhoori, NooraUAE11484
33 Abdulkarim, AhlamUAE04
  Ramanathan, UmayalIND04
35WFMAl Dhaffari, SalmaUAE14494
  Olandag, Meghan GabriellePHI04
37 Renganathan Palanikumar, TarunikaaIND04
38 Akhmejanova, GazizaKAZ04
39 Olandag, SherelPHI10283.5
40 Rowdah, Ghalib AlafeefiUAE03.5
41 Marakkar, ReehaIND03.5
42 Prabhu Sivaprakash, SanchithaFID03
43 Olandag, Marthina DaniellePHI03
44 Anis, LaetitiaLBN03
  Lee, SeiaKOR03
46 Al Harazi, AliyaUAE03
  Bin Drai, AsyaUAE03
48 Rafeh, MasaSYR03
  Siddiqui, Shiza FatimaUAE03
50 Abdulkarim, Shahd Qasem BaniUAE03
51 Abdulaziz, MeraUAE03
52 Almeraikhi, Aysha AbdullaUAE10043
53 Maheshkumar Surya, SejalIND03
  Makhmalji, SamaSYR03
55 Abdulkarim, Taif Qasem BaniUAE10263
56 Prabhu Sivaprakash, NikithaIND03
57 Rathinam, LathaIND03
58 Thangaraju, MythiliIND03
59 Tena, Francesca EoniPHI03
60 Umrao, GauriIND03
61 Alhamadi, MeeraUAE02
62 Arisoy, LinaINA02
63WCMAl Neyadi, Mahra KhalifaUAE10912
  Qasim, DanaJOR02
65 Ramkumar, DivyasreeFID02
66 Raveender, SashneethaIND02
67 Redwan, AlyaUAE02
68 Ramkumar, KapilashriFID02
69 Owaimer, HanaaJOR02
70 Alhamadi, MaryamUAE02
71 Gomop-As, RosalitaPHI01
72 Alhamadi, HamdaUAE01
73 Munder, HalaSYR01
74 Banabila, Salama MajedUAE01
75WFMGrishina, AlexandraLBN19540
 WCMSawan, EmanPLE17680
  Alnaimat, RayaJOR16740
 WCMVyas, AryaIND12010
  Nair, DheepikaIND11860
  Sridharan, KaushikaIND11750
  Al Muaini, MouzaUAE00
  Al Muaini, NouraUAE00
  Alhamadi, LulwaUAE00
  Awad, Nada AlsayedUAE00
  Jain, PratyushaIND00
  Kumanan, SaatvikaIND00
  Sharma, VedikaIND00
  Ubaiese, Amina ShezaIND00
89 Aldhalei, HajarUAE11870

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