Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates
Aug 19 2004
Mousa and Hassan lead UAE charge
By A Correspondent
19 August 2004
ABU DHABI – Grandmaster Taleb Mousa and International Master Abdullah
Hassan were on top among the UAE contingent to attain hard fought
wins on the fourth day of the 14th Abu Dhabi chess festival.
Taleb Moussa outplayed Aarthie Ramaswamy in a keenly contested match
in the endging in 42 moves while Abdullah got the better of Illijin
Nebosia of Romania in 54 moves. Both Taleb and Abdullah came back
into reckoning for title Norms and Elo rating points.
The top board ended as it began as a grandmaster draw with the seeded
grandmasters opting for consolidation rather than risk the points
early at the initial phase. Kobalia was persistent and his deft
defense enabled him to attain a crucial win against Dzhumaev in a
pirc defense.
The players castled on opposite sides and went for all out attack.
Kobalia struck first and his threats gave him material advantage. He
survived a vicious attack against his king and he had to march his
king to fifth rank and clinch victory by a whisker.
Anastasian Ashot of Armenia, Kobalia Mikhail and Gleizerov Evgeny of
Russia shared the lead with 3.5 points in masters section at the end
of the fourth round of the Abu Dhabi Chess Festival held at Cultural
Foundation, Abu Dhabi. Vladimirov Evgeny, Bocharov Dmitry, Kotsur
Pavel, Minasian Artashes, Ghaem Maghami Ehsan and Chernyshov
Konstantin are close on the heels of the leader half a point behind.
Kobalia Mikhail defeated Dzhumaev Marat of Uzbekistan in 33 moves
from a Modern defence. Players castled on opposite sides and Kobalia
was an exchange up. Kobalia had a superior position and he nursed his
advantage to victory. Most of the top board matches ended in a draw.
Top seed Vladimirov Evgeny of Kazakhstan defeated Bistric Faruk of
Bahrain in 37 moves. Vladimirov won a pawn and in a queen and bishop
ending, Vladimirov trapped his opponent’s king and Bistric resigned
on the 37th move when he couldn’t parry the threat for checkmate.
Among UAE players, Taleb Moussa defeated Aarthie Ramaswamy of India
while Hassan Abdullah defeated Illijin Neboisa of Romania. Jasim A.R.
Saleh and Nabil Saleh drew their games against Neelotpal Das of India
and Mohamed Hossein respectively.
In Children section, Azemati Amir and Bajarani Ulvi are at the top of
the table with 4 points. UAE’s Zayed Ali, Mohamed Mubarak and
Abdulaziz Ibrahim are in the second spot with 3.5 points.