Chess has had a special place in Iran since a long time ago. Judging by old artifacts found in Iran, it has been a historical and popular game among the people of this country. Today, recognising the numerous advantages of chess and its special role in increasing mental ability, intelligence and memory, the tendency of people who wish for a better future for their children is moving toward this valuable game, and increasing day by day. Thus the competition for gaining better results is more heated and for the same reason Iran was able to obtain a lot of medals in Asia and World young adults’ competitions with players such as Motahareh Asadi, Arian Gholami, Mohammad Amin Tabatabaei, Sara Sadat Khadem, Seyed Khalil Mousavi, Dorsa Derakhshani and others.
Iran Chess Federation holds competitions for different age groups in February every year. This year the competitions were held in the cities of Rasht, Mashhad, Zanjan and Sari, with unique points of interest. In the following we present a pictorial report from the state competitions of the age groups of Under 8, 10 and 12 years, held with the participation of 436 players in the beautiful city of Rasht.
Cups and trophies waiting for the winners
A view of the playing hall for the Under 10 Group
Kiuoumars Bayat, the director of the competition, and President
of the Guilan Chess Association
FM Mohammad Amin Tabatabaei from Tehran came third in the Boy’s World
U8,
but was not successful in this tournament and ended in a disappointing fourth
place
FM Arian Gholami won the U12 event with 9.5/11. Arian also was the Boy’s
World U8 champion
Amin Shabani from Gilan, playing in the U8 Group, ended with 9.0/11 and
came third
Parham Safari, heree in deep thought, finished with 7.0/11
A good move by a good chess player
Some of the arbiters: Khatereh Azizi, Simin Kalhori, Shohreh Bayat, Arezoo
Askarkhah, Gholamhoseein Akbarzadeh
First place: Seyed Kian Pour Mousavi, second Nima Soltanlu, third Amin Shabani
First place: Amirreza Shokrani, second Mahan Saberi, third Abolfazl Baheshmat,
with IM Mohsen Sharbaf on the left, who is the coach of these young champions
First place: Arian Gholami, second: Arman Pourghanbarzad, third Nima Fendereski
The Champions, who really felt terrific and extremely proud of their achievement
Shohreh Bayat is a WFM from Iran, holds two WIM norms, and has won numerous Iranian tournaments such as the Iranian Women's Blitz Championship, the Iranian Junior Chess Championship, the Iranian Woman Chess Festival Championship, and was vice-champion of the Iranian Rapid Chess Tournament.
Shohreh is a chess teacher and manager of a chess club in Rasht. She has an "A" degree in chess instruction from the Iran Chess Federation, and is also a FIDE Arbiter.
