Lebanesechess.com

Stronger than ever!!

With 18 titled players from 20 in the Open section, and 14 from 19 ones in the Women’s, this championship can be ranked as the strongest in the history Arab individual championships. With 4 Grand Masters, 5 International Masters, 7 Fide Masters and 2 Candidate Masters, the Open (Men) section prestige is guaranteed. Just scroll down to check the after-round6-standing to see what I meant.

As I am writing this article after finish of the 6^th round of the classical chess, the Lebanese participants are still in the race at the top boards, although not without some irritating setbacks. But always look at the positive side.

In the Women section, WFM Maya Jalloul, seeded 9^th, is now in the 6^th place. Her loss today to the Egyptian WGM Mona Khaled, seeded 3^rd, was due, I think, to the opening, where Maya played poorly, enabled Mona a free hand on the king side. But take a look at Maya’s game with Algerian WIM Amina Mezioud: a crushing game, pleased to watch. Maya has now 3.5 points out of 6.

In the Open section, FM Ibrahim Chahrour, seeded 18^th, is now in the 7h position!! I was very pleased with his game of round 5 against the strong Jordanian IM Sami Safarini, in which Ibrahim, from a dull-reputed exchange French defense, succeeded in generating a strong initiative, transformed into a strong attack on the center and the king side. Even today’s solid draw against the experienced Qatari Grand Master Mohammed El-Sayed is another proof what the new young generation of the Lebanese players can do. Just one regret: The Presence of an accompanying trainer to the player is missing, which is a must in this important and prestigious event as the Arab championship. I hope that this message will reach the VIPs in the LCF, as I am sure that they will fill this important gap.

One curious thing is worth to mention: In the first round, Ibrahim was paired to play as Black against the Yemeni IM Basheer Al-Qudaimi. But the later failed to appear. So Ibrahim won by Forfeit. I think you can guess what I am going to say now: The pairing of the 7^th round put both players facing each other! But with reversed colors.

All the good luck for Maya and Ibrahim in the remaining rounds.

Rank after Round 6:

Women Section:

Open Section:

Click here to download Women and Open games.