As many as 140 players will take part in the National Singles Online Chess championship which will begin on Sunday. The sixth edition of the tournament, which is run under the supervision and organisation of Oman Chess Committee (OCC), will conduct the event through the approved online “Lichess” platform.
OCC had launched since April a series of virtual activities including the training webinar and e-tournaments which opted as several tournaments were cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The tournament will feature participants from four categories including the senior’s category which registers confirming of 68 players while 36 players are registered for the U-16 male category. 15 players from the female participated in the U-16 category while 23 ladies confirmed for the above 17 years category.
The technical system of the virtual championship will be through the approved rules and regulations of the online tournaments by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and the organising committee of OCC. The matches of the online championship will be played under the ‘Swiss classic’ system. The event will begin with the qualification stage and followed by the finals which will witness 12 players. The qualification stage will feature seven rounds while the finals will be from nine rounds.
OCC made some rehearsals to ensure the success of the e-tournament prior to the official start of the event. The top senior category had its trial e-tournament on Thursday and Friday. All the details including the tournament’s rules and regulations, the playing mechanism, points registering, camera position, and other clarifications have been delivered to all the players.
OCC made some rehearsals to ensure the success of the e-tournament prior to the official start of the event. The top senior category had its trial e-tournament on Thursday and Friday. All the details including the tournament’s rules and regulations, the playing mechanism, points registering, camera position, and other clarifications delivered to all the players.
The international referee, Musallam al Wadhai, will be in charge of the umpiring task with the assistant of the international referee Hamdan al Hinai besides many domestic umpires. Cash prizes and trophies will be delivered by the organizing committee to the top winners.
Oman’s top senior chess players confirmed their participation at the event including Mohammed al Omri, Salim al Omri, Ameen al Ansi, Salim Shimas, and Salim al Mashikhi. The national chess coach, Basheer al Qudaimi, will be present during the e-tournament and note down all the comments for the player’s performance especially the junior categories as OCC is keen to establish a strong national chess team with good ranking players for the upcoming international competitions.
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