Kuumar Shyam (Aletihad)

The UAE added another big feather in the cap of being organisers of chess tournaments with the staging of another grand event – the inaugural Dubai Police Global Chess Challenge (DPGCC). A rated event by the world body FIDE, the tournament concluded this week and put a third international stop on the global calendar.

The UAE hosts annually the Dubai and Sharjah Opens as their big two traditional tournaments which are fiercely attended by players, especially from Asia and Commonwealth of Independent States countries. And now an initiative by Dubai Police’s Commander-in-Chief Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri has materialised into a solid tournament with $125,000 (Dh459,000) prize money attracting the best aspirational players. Forty two countries were represented with 361 players taking part.

Not only did the DPGCC add value to the sporting world of chess, it played a vital dual part in nurturing further a valuable process of growth and development from the police authorities. Many members of the task force play chess among other sports.

And playing chess is also encouraged among prison inmates just like reading. The new tournament saw prisoners also being allowed to take part as a side event in its own. An Indian woman and an Afghanistan native won the female and male sub-event respectively.

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Dr. Abdulla Ali Aal Barket, the GPCC Tournament Director, was approached by Al Marri on the former’s appointment as Vice President of the World Chess Solving Federation, a parallel body for chess puzzles competition.

“Discussions on adding value to the sport in country materialised into the idea of having an international tournament with the willingness of Dubai Police, and we started work on it from last year,” said Dr. Aal Barket, who is also Chairman of Fujairah Chess Club.

Dispelling notion that the tournament is out of character with Dubai Police, Dr. Aal Barket stressed: “They have a support section dedicated for many sports. Many policemen have achieved feats in sports such as cycling and shooting apart from chess. So it is a full exercise of body and mind.

“As per the direction of the Commander-in-Chief to make something from this sport for our community, and those in the jails are also a part of it. So we worked on the strategy to give even those in jail to look forward to something very positive and make the best use of the time at their hands,” he said.

Held in categories such as Masters, Open, and Ladies, the tournament was held at the Dubai Police Headquarters near the airport. It was a sight in itself with the main hall at the entrance transformed from a serious outlook into a vibrant, sporty room with smiling faces on arrival; the players getting their serious faces again, though, when the chess boards were laid out.

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The DPGCC proved to be just the opportunity that many were hoping for. There were great plot lines coming from the chess boards such as a title in the strong Masters section for Pranav V, a 17-year-old Grandmaster (GM) from Bangalore, India.  Pranav edged out GM Aravindh Chidambaram on tiebreak, both with seven points, to win the trophy and a cheque of $16,000.


A compatriot of his, P Shayaamnikhil, ended a 12-year wait to achieve Grandmaster status, becoming the 85th player from India to get the elite rank. Shayaamnikhil, 31, conjured the requisite 2500 ELO rating points, the minimum requirement to be a GM, way back in 2012 with two Grandmaster norms but for the third one, he had to wait for 12 years. He required just one win and eight draws to complete the GM title.


The UAE’s only GM Salem Saleh was also part of the tournament. Ahmed Fareed was adjudged the best Emirati player in the Open category. Fawzy Adham of Egypt got the award for being the best Arab player.


The Masters tournament was hard-fought till the end. Among the five players on six points going into the final round, Pranav and Aravindh were the only ones to win their games on the final day on Sunday. On the third board, it was the eventual winner Pranav, who became one of India’s youngest GMs two years ago. 


There was also a shock result for IM Ravi Teja, who caught Olympiad gold medallist GM Nodirbek Yakubboev of Uzbekistan by surprise in the first round itself. The 2028 Olympiad incidentally will be held in Abu Dhabi, another addition to the UAE’s CV as a host venue for the game of 64 squares.