Ushering in the new year, the UAE Blitz Championship was held 1st Jan 2012 at the Hilton Hotel in Al Ain United Arab Emirates. Five chess clubs of the UAE from Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai and Sharjah fielded 45 players in the 9 round swiss tournament. FM Khouri Ahmed Abbas and Faysal Keshvani, both of Abu Dhabi, tied at 7.5 points each. Khouri won after an exciting sudden death playoff game.

Visit chess-results.com for the results and final standings.  A total of AED 6,500 in cash prizes was at stake.


Maram Al-Zajali of the Al-Ain Chess Club won the 500 Dirham cash prize for the best Woman Player.

In the last round, 11-year-old Mayed Al-Rashedi of Al Ain Chess Club beat top seed GM Taleb Mousa to share third place at 7 points each.

In the Closing Ceremony Mr. Hisham Taher General Secretary of Asian Chess Federation and UAE Chess Federation with Mr. Hussein Khoury from Abu Dhabi Chess Club distributed the awards and prizes.

International Arbiter Mahdi Abdulrahim was the chief Arbiter of the Competition assisted by IA Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh, IA Jamal Qasim and FA Saeed Khoury.

According to the new FIDE Regulations this Competition will be among the first international blitz FIDE Rated Tournament in the coming FIDE blitz rating list.