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Duhok is the small and beautiful city, located in the northern side of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. It has about 350,000 inhabitants and is about 160 km from Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, south of the border to Turkey.
Click to explore the area in Google Maps
Iraq's first International Chess Championship, which was held in Duhok City, consisted of two tournaments. One was a closed ten-players event with one GM, four IMs, four FMs and one untitled player. It was won by Georgian GM Merab Gagunashvili, 2577, while the Open Tournament was won by the young Syrian player Iyti Basher, rated 2225.
The championship was held in Jiyan Hotel (five stars) in Duhok City, from 19th to 25th November 2011 and was jointly organized by the Iraqi Chess Federation and the Duhok Governorate. The time control for the games was one hour 30 min per player, with a 30 second increment from move one.
The five-star Jiyan Hotel, where the event took place
Players from eight countries participated in this event (Syria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Palestine, Morocco, Bahrain as well as Iraq). The opening ceremony took place on November 19 at 10:00 a.m. in the Jiyan Hotel, and was officiated by the Governor of Duhok Temer Ramadhan and the head of the Iraqi Chess Federation Dhafer A. Madhloom. The Open Tournament was played according to the Swiss System and was nine rounds, while the closed tournament an all-play-all round robin.
Duhok Valley dam, a touristic place near the city
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Georgian GM and Iraqi national team trainer Merab Gagunashvili (2577, right)
playing
Armenian IM H. Ovik, rated 2395, in the round robin. The game ended in a draw.
Iyti Basher, 2225, playing Iraqi women's team trainer IM Akaki
Shalamberidz, 2325, in the Rapid Tournament,
Georgian Chief Arbiter of the tournament FM Varlam Vepkhvishvili, rated 2310,
GM Merab Gagunashvili and IM Akaki Shalamberidze, rated 2325
The winner of the Open Tournament Iyiti Basher, rated 2225
The chief arbiter of the open tournament Azad Bilal, and the
head of the Duhok Chess Federation Kamal Jalaluldin
| Rk | Ti. |
Name | FED | Rtg | Pts |
| 1 | GM |
Guganishvili Merab | GEO | 2577 | 7.0 |
| 2 | IM |
Hayrapetian Ovik | ARM | 2395 | 6.5 |
| 3 | FM |
Abdulwahhab Ahmed Abdulsattar | IRQ | 2264 | 6.0 |
| 4 | FM |
Ahmed Ali Layth Ahmed | IRQ | 2290 | 6.0 |
| 5 | IM |
Shalamberidze Akaki | GEO | 2325 | 5.0 |
| 6 | IM |
Tissir Mohamed | MAR | 2413 | 4.5 |
| 7 | FM |
Ayyad Husain | BRN | 2209 | 4.0 |
| 8 | IM |
Qashashvili Alexandre | GEO | 2298 | 2.5 |
| 9 | Manashvili Aleko | GEO | 2226 | 2.5 |
|
| 10 | FM |
Al-Bahadly Amjad Ali Mohammed | IRQ | 2257 | 1.0 |
| Rk | Ti. |
Name | FED | Rtg | Pts |
| 1 | Iyti Basher | SYR | 2225 | 7.5 |
|
| 2 | Gharagyozian Artur | ARM | 2237 | 6.5 |
|
| 3 | IM |
Obada Ahmad Azeezjawad | IRQ | 2353 | 6.5 |
| 4 | FM |
Mohammad Samir | SYR | 2368 | 6.0 |
| 5 | FM |
Bakr Jwan | SYR | 2307 | 6.0 |
| 6 | Azam Zeno | SYR | 2180 | 6.0 |
|
| 7 | IM |
Al-Ali Hussein Ali Hussein | IRQ | 2392 | 6.0 |
| 8 | FM |
Salih Akar Ali Salih | IRQ | 2186 | 5.5 |
| 9 | FM |
Adil Ali Jalal | IRQ | 2253 | 5.5 |
| 10 | Ares Saber Majeed | IRQ | 2110 | 5.5 |
|
| 11 | FM |
Ayyad Maher | BRN | 2157 | 5.5 |
| 12 | FM |
Al-Khattab Ghassan | IRQ | 2155 | 5.5 |
| 13 | CM |
Mohammed Zozik Salah | IRQ | 2265 | 5.0 |
| 14 | CM |
Nameer Noor Al-Deen | IRQ | 2219 | 5.0 |
| 15 | Jamal Danar | IRQ | – | 5.0 |
|
| 16 | CM |
Mohammed Arpak Worya | IRQ | 2252 | 5.0 |
| 17 | Al-Turaihi Dhari Satea | IRQ | 1973 | 5.0 |
|
| 18 | FM |
Al-Saadi Jumaa A Gatea | IRQ | 2217 | 5.0 |
| 19 | Ramzi Khazel A Al-Dahwi | IRQ | 2055 | 5.0 |
|
| 20 | Noori Salah | IRQ | 2088 | 4.5 |
Salman Mohammed Qaseem, seen playing in the event above, is a civil engineer from Duhok, Kurdistan of Iraq. He works as site manager in construction of Aram City Project in Duhok City. He graduated from the University of Duhok Civil Engineering Department in the 2006 Class. Salman speaks Kurdish, Arabic, English fluently and also some Turkish. He lists chess as favorite hobby and participates in local tournaments. He won the championship of Duhok Governorate three months ago. Salman also enjoying reporting for ChessBase
Autumn in Maye Village Duhok, where Salman is from – the Kurdistan of Iraq
Beautiful nature in the Duhok region
