On June 10, 1963,the legendary US president John Kennedy delivered the commencement address at American University in Washington, D.C .He said ".....Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children 's futures. And we are all mortal..." Love ,peace and tolerance are values that were always felt in JFK speeches and these specific values that we crucially need in the world today are clearly found in chess ! God bless your soul Mr.President.... Rest in peace JFK
From 9\8\2009 to 16\8\2009 Smouha Club Chess Academy (SCCA) held its first national youth tournament under the auspice of the well known businessman Eng.\Mohamed Farag Amer –Chairman of Smouha Club- and members of board and organized by the Egyptian Chess Federation –Alexandria region. Alexandria (Arabic: الإسكندريةal-Iskandariyya;) is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport ;and known internationally as the pearl of the Mediterranean.
The tournament attracted 41 players (31 boys and 10 girls) whom competed in: boys U\8,10,12,14,16,18 and girls U\8,10,14 sections.Various systems were used :Swiss ,double round Robin …etc to suit the number of participants in each section.The games were played under Fischer control :1.5 hr plus 30 seconds time increment.
The organizing committee headed by Dr. Ismail Fayed –Vice President Of Smouha Club- and members of the committee :Eng.\Ahmed Hassan head of Sports Committee in Smouha Club ,Eng.Medhat Moheb(SCCA general director), IM\Aly Yasseen –SCCA technical director-,Mr.Islam Elmesery -SCCA administrative- made huge efforts to ensure the success of the event.
The arbiters of the tournament were :International referee Mr.Ahmed Youssef and first class referee Mr.Mohamed Saad.
The Results :
SCCA players dominated the event and came first followed by Alexandria Library in the second place and in third place came EldahreyaYouthCenter
Boys U8
Mohab Yasser Allam
Mark Medhat Moheb
Nour Eldin Waleed
Youssef Marwan
Boys U10
Omar allaa Abd Elkader
Seif Eldin Waleed
Hassan Omar Mahfouz
Omar Tarek Darwish
Yehya Ahmed Mahmoud
Boys U12
Andrew Halim Zakhary
Yasser Mohamed Ibrahim
Omar Khaled Mosaad
Marwan Tarek Hafez
Ahmed Sameh Salah
Boys U14
Ahmed Bahgat Saad
Boys U16
Ahmed Essam Mohamed
Hussein Mohamed Hussein
George Mourad
Moustafa Tarek
Hassan Hany Elsherif
Boys U18
Sherif Anter
Mina Smy
Girls U8
Sarah Adel Ibrahim
Salma Wagdy Badr Eldin Saleh
Nada Mohamed Abbas
Girls U10
Maha Sameh Ibrahim
Heba Hassan Elwazan
Girls U14
Aya Elmotazz Ba Allah
Yomna Khaled Mossa
Merna Nabil
Neira Mohamed Tawfik
Rowan Abd Elrahman
Also special trophies were given to the best game –which holds the name of the late IM\Essam Aly Ahmed who passed away several years ago –and was won by (Ahmed Sameh) for boys and (Aya ELmotazz) won the girls one ;and another trophy was given to the best combination which holds the name of ex world Champion Bobby Fischer and was won by (AbdElrahman Yasser Allam) and a special trophy was given to the youngest participant in the tournament (Youssef Marwan).
The closing ceremony was very successful and was attended by the honorable personalities :Mr\Hussein Nefady –Chairman of the Egyptian Chess Federation- Mr.\Hassan Khaled –the international lecturer and technical advisor for the Egyptian Chess Federation and the god father for all Egyptian young talents-and Mr\Ahmed Yehya head of the coaches committee in the Egyptian Chess Federation ;Eng.\Atef Morsy vice president of Alexandria region ,and the great actor Mr\Mohamed Osman ;also Mr.Yehya Musallam the ex deputy of the Egyptian chess federation and the international arbiter ;also attended the ceremony from Smouha club: Dr. Ismail Fayed –Vice President Of Smouha Club- and Mr.Ihab Hamido-General Manger of Smouha Club- whom I would like to thank a lot for their support and encouragement.
In his speech Mr.Hussein Nefady thanked Eng.Farag Amer and Smouha club for supporting chess and he stated that he hopes Alexandria region brings more talents like the late IM\Essam Aly and he added that he atended the closing ceremony to encourage young boys and girls to continue play chess and he hoped that Egypt will have great champions in the future.
Dr.Ismail Fayed saluted the honorable guests and said that Smouha Club supports chess and cares about all sports ;that a great breakthrough in all activities is clear to everyone and he wished all the players and guests good luck and success .
I said in my speech that “Eng.Farag Amer has done a huge breakthrough by the establishment and the support of SCCA ;and the current Egyptian Chess Federation has done a lot to chess that for the first time 6 Egyptian players have made their way to the next world cup …I finally said that :In this World that is full of hatred, intolerance and all kinds and forms of violence …we need to encourage more boys and girls in our country to play chess …as chess helps to widespread values such as love ,tolerance , peace and acceptance of the other ones”.
One final word :”Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time…..We are the ones we have been waiting for “!! US President Barack Obama –who inspired millions of youth thirsty for change all over the world- once said during his campaign……I believe that the time has come to change the conditions of Chess in Egypt for the better in the near future.
I want to thank Engineer \John George for supplying me with the wonderful photos of Alexandria.
At last a Columbia Picture -released 2013-Pawn Sacrifice on the American chess legend Bobby Fischer match 1972 against GM\Boris Spassky.Tobey Maguire would be on the role of Fischer.The great American director David Finscher to direct chess biopic "Pawn Sacrifice" .For more information follow the following :www.imdb.com/title/tt1596345/ here is a lovely video tribute to the legendary chess icon:
Egyptian international master Aly Yasseen is a well Known and a prominent chess figure in Africa and the Arab world. His chess achievements are many among which:-
Alexandria's champion for (5) times since (1978). Egypt's champion in 1986 and 1994. Arab champion (team) for (3) consecutive years 1987, 1988 and 1989. Africa's champion (team) in 1983. First (team) in Mediterranean champion-chip in Sicilia 1987. The participation in (5) chess Olympiads:Lucerne (Switzerland) in 1982, Dubai (Emirates) in 1986, Novi Sad (Yugoslavia) in 1990, Manila (the Philippines) in 1992, Yerevan (Armenia) in 1996 and now work as a technical director and coach in smouha club chess Academy (SCCA) in Alexandria, Egypt.
How did you enter the magnificent world of chess?
With a mere coincidence I learnt chess when I was (20) years old!! When one day I observed my neighbor who was a young and very beautiful girl (Samia ElKady) – God bless her soul – was playing chess in the entrance of our building; she taught me the moves and we played a game which lasted for (2) minutes as I lost by scholar's mate…. afterwards I decided to become a chess champion.
When was the real start? And Where?
In the early seventies in cafes and coffee shops where chess was simply practiced besides domino, cards and Backgammonone day I went to the old historical camp Caesar district and began learning how to play chess on (waly café) then in less than a year I came 5th in Alexandria champion chip, and in a few years I became Alexandria champion in 1978.
You were a member of Egypt's National team for a long time … what was your first serious international chess experience?
In the Olympic chess tournament in (Lucerne) Switzerland in 1982.
In your chess career, you traveled abroad a lot and visited many countries… tell me your unforgettable memories?
There are (4) incidents that I never Forget:
The first one in Zurich (Switzerland) when I had to climb up the electrical stair case which I was facing for the 1st time in my life; when I suddenly stumbled badly and fell down over my colleagues down the stairs. I was very embarrassed but thanked God that no one was hurt.
The second one was during my first international game against the well know English GM. Chandler when I had the black pieces in a hard fought Sicilian game – at that time I didn't know opening theory – but I played a fine game that I rejected a draw offer from my opponent! but while I was moving around the boards kibitzing other games, I was approached by one of my colleagues who warned me that my opponent is from the world's best players. I became nervous and distracted and in a few moves I blundered away my queen and lost.
The third one in Novi Sad Olympiad (Yugoslavia) in 1990 when we faced Brazil; my game was a duplicate from world chess champion Mikhail Tal's brilliant game in informant (40), so I left the playing hall where my opponent was pondering on his 15th move and asked a friend to buy informant (40) from a nearby chess library to revise the game, my position was better but I missed many winning chances, then a strange thing happened…. I had a pawn on the 7th rank that I decided to queen on the next move, I stood up and went to a nearby table to bring an extra queen…. My colleagues tried in vain to prevent me, one of them whispered "No, no it's mate don not do it" but I didn't hesitate for a second I utterly said to my self " I'm winning what is wrong?" and I actually queened on my next move then I was stunned to see a check on d3 with a rook that I completely missed – as I only examined all other checks …and it was true : a simple mate in 3 moves !! . I learned the lesson quite well and never did the same behavior again.
The last one was in Sicilia (1987) in the Mediterranean champion chip (teams) which Egypt won, I had a good result (+6 -1 =2). After I had finished my last game I decided to have a look from the large window – which was 3 meters away from my chair – I never changed my seat during this tournament – when I looked from the window I was stunned to see a bunch of naked girls all over the swimming pool !! I kept asking my self for a while if I ever had a chance to win 1st place had I noticed this before or during my games in the tournament.
What did you learn from chess?
Chess makes you tolerant and to love people after your exhaust all your aggressive energy in playing good chess moves.
What do you do now? And how do you spend your time away from the chess board?
Now I am the technical director of smouha club chess Academy (SCCA) and also a chess trainer of many young talented players; I also play blitz games on the internet. I also discovered that I have a deep interest in literature, so I published 2 books (Dying of a Planet) and (Dark Lines) . Chess and literature are alike as imagination drives human soul through unlimited boundaries.
There was study published on chessbase web site – 3 years ago – about who is the best chess player in history based on a scientific approach….whom do you think is the best chess player in history? And why?
Bobby Fischer without a shade of doubt he was simply the main cause for the change of the conditions of the game to the better. I recall the 10th world chess champion Boris Spassky words about Fischer "He made us all rich".
His achievements form (1970 – 1972) and beating the chess soviet machine alone was very remarkable.
Who is your chess ideal?
Internationally Capablanca, and locally I name my friend Mr. Ashraf Thoson.
Which is your evergreen game?
There are (2) games: My game with the white pieces against GM. Gyula Sax in Golden Cleopatra in 1998 and the second one - with the white pieces also - against FM. Riebero Fernando in Yerevan Olympiad 1996.
How do you see the chess conditions in Egypt in the past, now and the future?
In the past chess champions were made by mere coincidences and good chances…how many talented players passed away quietly in the developing countries and in Egypt that no body in the world and the developed countries ever heard about them … for instance the late Alexandrian player IM. Essam Aly Ahmed was a very brilliant talent-maybe the most talented player Egypt had – who didn't find any one to give him a hand to become an elite grandmaster or even a world chess champion and died young after being killed by ignorance.
Football or (Soccer) in Egypt is the First Sport and the only sport that gains all the attention and care …. the developed countries give other sports some air; even full attention and care but unfortunately here we (sportsmen of other sports than football) are forced to breathe with grills to live…. chess here is considered a martyr game.
The only mutation was in Alexandria was the approval of the well known Businessman Engineer\ Farag Amer –Chairman of Smouha Club - to establish the first chess academy in smouha club, as he has converted an old beautiful dream to reality, which happened after a strange coincidence. Now young generations will not suffer like we did; they simply will have better chances.
We discovered very young talents in smouha club chess academy (SCCA) and I believe in less than (8) years and with the support of the recent Egyptian chess federation under theauspice of chairman Mr. Hussein Nefady, we will have great chess champions not by coincidences and good chances any more; but by planning; good strategy and sincere work as chess players do in their games.
Silver and bronze medal winner in junior world championships GM\Bassem Samir Amin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassem_Amin visited SCCA on 7\8\2009-accompanied by his nice family- and played against 35 opponents with a perfect score +35=0-0 after a long marathon as the match was very tense that the last game was decided by a blitz game in which the great Egyptian grandmaster faced an opponent (Mr.Kareem Anton) who blundered badly as he insisted to write down the moves in his score-sheet. The link for all the photos of the event can be found on the following link:http://tinyurl.com/yb88dqo I would like to thank Dr.Ahmed Elzayady for sending me a video for the blitz game.
World junior chess champion U-20 in (Yerevan,Armenia 2007) and the first Egyptian chess GM\Ahmed Adly -http://http//www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4266-visited SCCA and played a simul against 25 players ;the score was a crushing win (+25=0-0) in favor of the GM but the players then enjoyed a very instructive lecture given by the world champion. All photos of the event can be found in the following link :http://tinyurl.com/ybrbxva
On the 23rd Of March 2009 a huge ceremony under the auspice of Engineer\Farag Amer Chairman Of Smouha Club and members of board was conducted to celebrate the graduates Of SCCA (The beginner's level) and SCCA students who achieved good results in the national youth 2009.
Mr.Ihab Hamido -Smouha Club General Director-and Engineer\Ahmed Hassan -Head of sport's committee- honored the ceremony and distributed the awards.
The ceremony began by listening to the Egyptian National Anthem followed by a few words of welcome by SCCA director and then introduced Mr.Ihab Hamido -Smouha Club General Director-who delivered a speech of welcome encourage to all the players and their families ;then the audience watched a short video clip about the world chess champions till 2000 and another clip from the 2008 world chess championship in Bonn between GM\Anand and GM\kramnik. The photos show honoring Mark Medhat during the celebration.
In Cairo (Arabic: القاهرة transliteration: al-Qāhira), that means "the triumphant", which is the capital and largest city of Egypt ,one of the most important chess events took place: Egyptian Youth Chess Champion-chip 2009 in Nahr Elnil hotel (which means :Nile River hotel)as it is directly overlooking on the river Nile at El Maadi District which is a wealthy suburb south of Cairo from 7-12 th of February.The tournament which was a Swiss event of (9) rounds attracted 198 players (160 boys and 38 girls) of young Egyptian talents from all over the country , whom where classified according to age and gender into 5 main categories as follows :1) Boys U10: 26 players Girls U10 :10 players 2) Boys U12: 29 players Girls U12 :9 Players3) Boys U14: 36 Players Girls U14 :10 Players4) Boys U16: 49 Players Girls 16-18:9 Players 5) Boys U18: 20 PlayersThe tournament had 2 players having official Fide titles :WGM\Mona khaled playing in boys U16 and FM\Andro Wagdy playing in boys U12 and also 5 rated players over 2000: Moheb Ameir (2081), Mohamed Nader (2013),WGM\Mona Khaled (2005) playing in boys U16 and Abd Elrahman Hesham (2085) , Marko Fadi (2037) playing in boys U18.The Egyptian Chess Federation bore the cost and fees of (1) boy and (1) girl from each region of the country to encourage as many players as possible to participate in the tournament.Final Results :1) Boys U10: Girls U10: First :Mohamed Mahmoud First :Sherien Kamal Second:Mark Yasser Second:Laila AminThird :Khaled El Ashkar Third :Dalia Ibrahim2) Boys U12: Girls U12: First :Andro Wagdy First :Sherook Hamed Second:Mohamed Zalook Second : Sohayla Abdelmenaem Third :Mohamed Hussein Third : Shahenda Hamed 3) Boys U14: Girls U14: First :Mena Aziz First : Mona Abdelazem Second:Ahmed Magdy Second: Entsar Abdelnaby Third :Mohamed Osama Third : Mariah Saber 4) Boys U16: Girls 16-18: First :Mohamed Nader (2013) First : Ayat El Hakeem Second:Moheb Ameir (2081) Second: Amany Abdelmoneam Third :Mohamed Ayman Ghanaym Third : Eman Elansary5) Boys U18: First :Abdelrahman Hesham (2085) Second:Marko Fadi (2037) Third :Mohamed Ehab The tournament was a very hard fought one for each participant ,that the final standings were unclear until the final moves of the games had been played in the last round. Students from Smouha Club Chess Academy (SCCA)-that was established in Alexandria under the auspices of well known business man engineer \Farag Amer chairman of Smouha Club-those students ;who had been playing chess for only 4 months surprised everyone and scored good results ; for example : In Girls U14 section :Youmna Mosaad made a great achievement and scored 6 points out of 9 and became fifth although she could have finished third but unfortunately in a critical game blundered away her queen while she was about to give her opponent a checkmate; and also In Boys U10 section :the very talented Abdelrahman Yasser Allam scored 5 points and finished 9th and also In Boys U12 section : the very talented Yasser Ibrahim played very fine games and finished the 12th and also Omar Mosaad played some good games in the same section but not with his full strength .Special Thanks :I very much want to thank:1)Engineer\Farag Amer –the well known businessman and chairman of Smouha Club- who kindly supported the establishment of the first chess academy in Egypt and constantly helped to supply the academy with all chess equipments and encouraged the participation of SCCA students in the competition although they have been learning chess for only 4 months.2) Madame Gihan El Sahaar -who is a member of board of the Egyptian Chess Federation and also WGM\Mona khaled mother- ;who is really an honest person and of great personality ;I want to thank her for her support and encouragement.3)Chief-Arbiter \ I.A.Wagdy Lamie and Mr\Mohamed Farouk who made an incredible effort to make sure this tournament achieve huge success and constantly supervised the results on the web site : http://chess-results.com/fed.aspx?lan=1&fed=EGY which helped me a lot in this report.4)Mr.\Mohamed saad who is a first class chess referee and a representative of Alexandria chess region ;who made an extremely hard work and effort to facilitate all conditions for the young chess players from Alexandria.5)Engineer\John George –who is the Managing Director of Power Consult LLC www.powerconsultegypt.com ; email: john@powerconsultegypt.com -who provided me with his great photos for the event and the lovely scenes from Cairo which I really appreciate a lot.One Final Word : Why is it a tournament of hope ? because In Egypt ;a population of about 80 millions ;we have only 3 GMS :Ahmed Adly, Bassem Amin and Essam Elgindy .The real hope of having more GMS depends mainly on the youth ,which means the acceleration of wide spreading chess everywhere in the country ,and creating a chess culture so more boys and girls come in to play the royal game ,which the Egyptian Chess Federation –under the auspice of Chairman \Hussein Nafady- is trying to do .I always admire the words of the late Senator\Robert Kennedy –God bless his soul- “Some men see things as they are and say why ? I dream things that never where and say why not ?”I hope my dream comes true one day …and that is another story. Here is the link for all the photos:http://tinyurl.com/ycqkv4t Note:This article was published on Chessbase website:http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5318 on 27\3\2009
On the fifth of September 2008 SCCA (Smouha Club Chess Academy)was established under the auspice of the well known business man Engineer \Farag Amer Chairman of Smouha Club and member of the senate .He is a man with a great vision and a leader with unmatchable capabilities who inspired many youth for his great achievements in converting Smouha Club from an ordinary club to one of the greatest Clubs in the world! On behalf of myself and all lovers of the royal game we express our recognition and respect to the man who gave us hope in time of despair and turned an old beautiful dream to reality !
Posts
