Fuel shortage cuts turnout at Mishkhab’s first chess tournament

NAJAF — Mishkhab held its first chess tournament with 25 players after organisers expected about 40, with some unable to reach the district because of the fuel shortage.

Murtadha Malik, an unrated player from Shamiya in Diwaniyah, won all five rounds to take the title, with Mishkhab’s Zaki Abdul Zahra second. The event was meant to give young players somewhere to compete without travelling to Baghdad, Babil or Basra, organiser Saleh Aliwi told 964media.

Most participants were young, said Aziz al-Rufai, head of the Najaf Chess Federation, which ran the tournament with the local club. Hussein Talib, a 2,100-rated player from Kufa, came with his 14-year-old brother, rated around 1,600, saying the lack of tournaments in Najaf had forced players to travel and he brought his brother as soon as he heard about this one. Malik said he had travelled from Shamiya with a group and valued meeting players from other areas.

The five-round Swiss format gave each player 10 minutes a game with no increment, and players used Android apps as timers instead of physical clocks. Most were rated between 1,200 and 1,500 and others unrated, said Asaad Mohammed Ali, a coach at Najaf Club and one of the organisers, adding that regular play against rated opponents could help newcomers toward international ratings. Aliwi said Mishkhab has a long chess history, producing players including Murad Flaih, Nouri Murad and Falah Abdul Hassan.