The first Fujairah International chess tournament was organized by local chess club. The first prize was 15 000 USD, still in the Masters section there were only little bit more than 50 players. It was very strong though and players compared it to Aeroflot Open. If the club is going to organize second tournament next year, I am sure over one hundred players are going to participate. This year chessplayers were just too cautious and one may remember when years ago one big rapid event in Dubai was nearly cancelled because the sponsor withdrew in last moment and Kirsan was forced to help. This time all looked nice, everybody got their prize money and certificate of participation. The weather was excellent for people who are not to used extreme temperatures. Yours truly had a chance to play tennis and it might help to win some chess games as well. Unfortunately I lost to Moiseenko in the last round but 13th place was good enough. I was very happy that Sandipan shared first place. I was coaching him several times during last decade and I hope that this tournament gave him confidence for the future. All final results you may find here
