Tips on Chess in Qatar
Hey everybody, this is my first post in QL.
I've lived in Doha from 1984 till 2000, and since then I've been coming back for vacations every few years. I've always been an avid chess player, and it might come as a surprise (judging from all the unanswered questions on where to play chess on QL) to you that the Qatari government has actually given special attention to promoting the sport and its events, since the early 80s.
In any case, the Qatari chess association has a girls and boys training locations, which I personally attended as a child in the early 90s, which were overseen by professional IMs (and one GM), and were very fun and instrumental in my development in the game.
For adults, you can go directly to the main building on the corniche, the 13th floor, after 5-6 pm, where many strong players casually meet to play in proper settings with proper sets and clocks ..etc.
The official site where you can find directions and contact numbers is: http://www.qatarchess.com/
The coaches they had ranged from Filipino, to Russian, to Syrian ..etc, so whatever nationality you or your children may be, I think it's one of the very few venues left in the country to promote this mental game, since I don't know of any informal/official cafes or hangouts where decent players play chess on a regular basis.
If you have any tips on where to play, or if you're a player yourself and would like to meet other players, please use this thread which I hope can be stickied (is that possible here?) for reference.
Finally a salute to the Filipino community in Doha since those guys were always fun and exciting at the game, and actually made an effort to engage in tournaments in the country :)
TCA - Professional Chess Workshop - Qatar 2013 by International Master Lanka Ravi
Details of the workshop
1st Workshop : January 18th to 22nd
2nd Workshop : January 25th to 29th
Venue : TCA, Behind Gulftimes , C' Ringroad , Doha.
Contact: (+974) 4437 3259 ; (+974) 6652 3871 [email protected]
Please find full details of the workshop file and registration form.
http://db.tt/jZN8qFtU
http://db.tt/87cGpxgz
The workshop will be conducted by International Master Lanka Ravi , his brief profile as follows.
IM Lanka Ravi is a representative of Indian Team in a number of tournaments from the years 1986 to 2012. He has played in Chess Olympiads at Dubai and Manila and won Asian Rapid, Asian Individual Silver Medal and More importantly achieved his IM title at Doha Asian Zonal Championship in 1987! He has GM Norms to his credit.He has been conferred the highest award by FIDE as Sr.FIDE Trainer. He is also a FIDE Arbiter. His best rating was 2462.
He has been the coach of the Indian Team in
a) World Women Team Championship, China, 2009
b) World Junior Championships Poland, 2010
c) Asian Nations Cup, 2012 China
Note: From February 1st onwards Regular Chess classes will be taken by IM Lanka Ravi team.
I usually hang out at caribou cafe on Salwa road, where smoking is allowed upstairs, and the place is suitable for a chess game. If anyone is interested in watching/playing I'd be more than happy to meet up for a game or two. I'm only staying in Qatar for a week more before getting back to Germany, but a good friend of mine who lives here is a very strong player who although amateur, regularly takes games from IMs, so an introduction for those interested would be welcome :)
this is good... i hope to visit it soon =)
You Neoczar... appreciate the tips. Love this game.. it stimulates and exhaust your mind to keep it more working. That would be of much fun if there are cafes to hangout and play chess! Hope to have one...