The second edition of the Qatar Rail Open Chess Championship will start today with the finals of the tournament to be held at Al Bidda Station, Qatar Chess Association (QCA) announced on Wednesday.
QCA in co-operation with Qatar Rail are hosting the event to celebrate the International Chess Day, which falls on July 20 of each year.
The preliminary rounds will be held today at the Qatar Chess Training Center, with the participation of 80 players.
The final round of the tournament will be held on Saturday at the Al Bidda Station, which will see the participation of 20 players. The final round will be held according to the Swiss system of 9 rounds.
Mohamed al-Mudahka, president of QCA, said that the cooperation between QCA and Qatar Rail aims to achieve goals like spreading the culture of chess across communities living in the country.
He said QCA desires to have more cooperation that helps the Federation to achieve its vision and develop the game of chess and build a huge player base.
Al-Mudahka added that the end of the tournament will be held inside Al Bidda Station, which will contribute to the promotion of chess culture in Qatar.
He said QCA tournaments are held in line with the strategy of the federation that aims to support the national teams that could lead the feature in international tournaments.
He added that the tournament is part of the QCA’s plans to make a qualitative change in the game and attract younger talent.
“This tournament will be a valuable opportunity to discover promising talent. This way we can expand our player base,” the QCA president said.
Abdullah Ali al-Mawlawi, Director of Communications and Public Relations at Qatar Rail, said: “We are delighted to form a partnership with Qatar Chess Association after the great success we achieved in the first edition last year.”
He said celebrating the International Chess Day is part of Qatar Rail’s commitment to promoting sports activities in Qatar, as well as spreading the culture of the game of chess and encouraging more people to participate in this tournament.
He confirmed that the choice of Al Bidda Station to host the finals of the tournament is part of the strategy of Qatar Rail aimed at engaging with commuters using the country’s state of the art metro system.
Al-Mawlawi stressed the importance of continuing cooperation with QCA to organise similar sports activities among different members of the community.
