Brunei chess champion Alluddin (R) posing with the current World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen. Picture: Courtesy of Brunei Chess Federation
5 Bruneians will be representing the Sultanate at the 41st Chess Olympiad and the 85th World Chess Federation (FIDE) Congress in Tromso, Norway that will be taking place from August 1-14.
Md Aliuddin Hj Azahari, Siti Nur Fatimah Hj Azahari, Izzuddin Zain, Pg Kamarunsalehin Pg Kamis and Syairazi Suni have been selected to join forces to take part in the open competition. The squad will hopefully put up a good show as they have been practising hard practicing under National Chess Grandmaster Tahir Vahidov throughout the year. The biennial event will see teams travel across the globe from 181 countries to battle one another over the 64 squares.
Aliuddin should be heading into the tournament with confidence after displaying outstanding play during the recent June 14-21 World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship that was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The trip saw Aliuddin defeat a number of highly rated players in both events.
They were FIDE Master Byambaa Zulzaga from Mongolia, International Master Tissir Mohamed from Morocco, FIDE Master Alhuwar Jasem from UAE, International Master Omar Noaman from UAE and Grandmaster Kuzubov Yuriy from Ukraine. President of the BCF, Hj Zainal Abidin Ali, expressed his appreciation towards the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports for providing partial sponsorships to the athletes.
"Participating in such an auspicious even will furnish our players with great experience and exposure with international players and definitely will increase their motivation and commitment to get better, in hope of improving the nation's profile," noted Hj Zainal.
