MUSCAT: The Asian Amateur Chess Championship will kick off on Thursday in the main hall of the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bowsher in which 204 players both men and women from 23 countries will clash in the next one week.

Apart from the Sultanate, players from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Qatar, Syria, the UAE, Yemen, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Nepal, the Philippines, India, Iran and Sri Lanka have confirmed their entries.

Lebanese player Mahmoud Masrani has been seeded No.1 while Junaid Sohail of Pakistan and Awlad Ihsan of Iran have been given the second and third seeds.

Each game will consist of nine rounds with a maximum duration of 90 minutes. FIDE rules will be applied and the tournament will follow Swiss system.

Ahmed bin Darwish Al Balushi, Chairman of the Omani Chess Committee, said: “Hosting the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth represented by the Omani Chess Committee for the Asian Amateur Chess Championship comes within the framework of the confidence of the Asian Chess Federation in the various capabilities of the Sultanate of Oman to host such sporting events, explaining that this hosting is a culmination of the committee’s efforts.

“Oman Chess has implemented its approved plans and programs during the past periods that included holding various sporting events, including the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup and other regional and international events, noting that the committee has completed all the standards and conditions approved by the AFC in organizing such tournaments.

About Omani team, Al Balushi said: “The national team will be represented by 10 players including Anaat Al-Aisa’a Zafra’ Al-Balushi and Al-Anoud Al-Ghafriya in the tournament . Bashir Al-Qadimi of of Yemen and Mersad Khoda Shash of Iran will be the coaches.”