Oman national chess team members are gearing up to take part in the Arab championship in Tunisia which will be held during March 3 to 8. The five-member team is currently undergoing a comprehensive training camp.
The Oman Chess Committee (OCC) is keen to lift the players rankings through good results the championship.
The internal camp is divided into morning and evening sessions training and that included some preparatory games. Oman head coach Basheer al Qudaimi is aiming to sharpen the players’ games and increase their focus and mental readiness.
The Sultanate’s team players were selected from an internal tournament that was competed by many local players. The team list comprised of many experienced players including Salim al Omri, Salim Shammas and some new faces namely Hassan al Kathiri, Mohammed al Saidi and Mohammed al Omri.
Musalam al Wadhai, head of technical committee at OCC, said that all players are in fine shape with the existing camp. “All national team members are eager to learn from the head coach. The camp is part of the OCC target to accelerate the level of national team players. Our main focus is to boost international ranking of the players and specially for the newcomers of the team,” Al Wadhai added.
11 countries to take part
As many as 11 countries will take part in the Arab championship in Tunisia. The five-day championship will include the following countries: Tunisia, Yemen, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine and the Sultanate of Oman.
Participation at this championship is one of the major milestones for the national team for the current year. OCC set the agenda of external participations for the Sultanate’s team which began with Al Fujaira International tournament held in last January. The world school’s chess tournament will be held in Turkey in April while another tournament for junior category will take place during May in Jordan. The OCC will host one of the international chess tournament in August.
The OCC intends to develop and increase the number of local tournaments in classic chess in the upcoming two years. The aim behind boosting number of domestic activities is to improve the technical abilities of the players as well as to allow local players exchanging experience with professional players with high ranking levels through the international open tournaments.
The OCC also plans to prepare the national team players for the upcoming international tournaments that will be hosted by the Sultanate and OCC, which will be announced soon.
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