Wednesday 30 / October / 2024
Muscat: Filipino Jose Matutina won the title in the open category at the first open chess tournament organised by the Indian Social Club (ISC).
The Muscat Pharmacy-sponsored tournament was a resounding success for many reasons. It was a rapid chess tournament in which chess enthusiasts from various nationalities participated. Indian, Omani, Filipino, Pakistan and Egyptian players participated in the tournament which was held in coordination with Oman Chess Committee.
The seven round swiss league tournament had a nail biting finish with Jose Stevan Matutino emerged winner in the open category when he beat compatriot Arnold Villassis in the final round to win with 6.5 points out of seven. It was justification of his top seeding as Jose dropped a half a point to Sidrenko in the sixth round.
Talented 12-year-old Indian Jijo Joy had to settle for second place with six points when he was upset by Siddhath Kumar in the fourth round. V.M. Aditya finished third, Omani player Mohammed Al Saidi put up a stirring performance to finish fourth with five points and Sidrenko Eugenio finished fifth in the open category.
Shrivatsan Karthikeyan and Shreyas Sehadri Iyengar finished first and second respectively and R. Velava was third in the under-11 category. ISC’s Manav topped in the under-14 category with Siddharth Kumar finishing second and Prathyusha Annapragada taking third place.
Nasser Al Khalifa Al Dhahamani was awarded the best Omani players prize and Amoolya Subhash was adjudged the best lady player. Atmika Sudhan was adjudged the best junior girl player.
C.M. Sardar, Vice-Chairman of the Indian Social Club distributed the prizes to the winners in the presence of representatives from Oman Chess Committee.
