Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros Co (AAB), the exclusive distributor of Toyota and Lexus in Qatar, collaborated with Qatar Chess Association (QCA) to organise the ‘We Are Good Together’ Online Chess Marathon in conjunction with the advent of Ramadan. ‘We Are Good Together’ involved a four-hour Blitz Chess Marathon played on Lichess – an open-source Internet chess server. Participants were allowed to play at their own leisure in the given time-frame.
Players who got the most points were ranked accordingly and declared as winners. “‘We Are Good Together’ makes a difference as it encourages the participants to play for a cause and give back to their respective communities. In the spirit of giving, 10% of the winner’s prize money goes to Qatar Charity to support its Covid-19 programme or any of its global relief campaigns. Likewise, participants are given the opportunity to voluntarily contribute to their preferred cause, which can be seen on the Qatar Charity website,” AAB said in a statement.
More than 2,800 chess enthusiasts, including 88 Grand Masters and a number of renowned chess players from around the world, participated in the event.
The winners of the ‘We Are Good Together’ Online Chess Marathon are –
1st Place: GM Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia)
2nd Place: IM Valery Sviridov (Russia)
3rd Place: GM Haik Martirosyan (Armenia)
4th Place: GM Jose Martinez Alcantara (Peru)
5th Place: GM S L Narayanan (India)
6th Place: IM Saveliy Golubov (Russia)
7th Place: GM Rauf Mamedov (Azerbaijan)
8th Place: GM Eltaj Safarli (Azerbaijan)
9th Place: GM Zaven Andriasian (Armenia)
10th Place: GM Boris Grachev (Russia)
Best Female 1st Prize: WGM Petra Papp (Hungary)
Best Female 2nd Prize: WFM Anahita Zahedifar (Iran)
Best Female 3rd Prize: WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (Russia)
Aside from the overall winners, the Top 3 resident players have also been recognised. They are –
Best Resident 1st Prize: GM Hicham Hamdouchi
Best Resident 2nd Prize: IM Hameed al-Kadhi
Best Resident 3rd Prize: GM Victor Bologan
The winners in the Best Qatari category are –
Best Qatari – Male: GM Mohamed al-Sayed
Best Qatari – Female: WCM Kholoud al-Khulaifi
Best Qatari – U20: Ali al-Saadi
Best Qatari – U14: Abdullah al-Homaid
Best Qatari – U12: Layan al-Qassabi
“The ‘We Are Good Together’ Online Chess Marathon is a reminder that with our concerted efforts in observing and maintaining social distancing, we can still be creative and stay safe. More importantly, the marathon promotes and encourages helping one another and being together, though apart, in supporting the government’s efforts in the fight against Covid-19. It also creates an opportunity for everyone to contribute where they can to support the less fortunate during this challenging period. With its global reach, this message is also put across to different countries,” the statement points out.
“The event is made possible due to the strong partnership with QCA, which forms part of AAB’s CSR initiatives and commitment to build and support a community of strategic thinkers through sports while at the same time contributing to the development of a just and caring society,” it adds.
