Filipino Elwin Retanal wins Saudi rapid chess meet
By Marlon Bernardino
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 30 Jun 2025
Seasoned woodpusher and National Master (NM) Elwin Retanal is once again a Kingdom of Saudi Arabia champion.
Retanal topped the 2nd Only Move International FIDE Rated Rapid Chess Tournament early Sunday morning (Philippine time) at the Alfaisal University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The 1997 Philippine Junior chess champion Retanal from Minglanilla, Cebu finished the 7-round Swiss competition with a perfect 7.0 points.
He swept past Yousuf Omar Gharib, Balamurugan Rithita, and Arena International Master Nasser Asain in his first three matches.
Retanal then dismantled Jordanian Master Ghayth Ababneh before subduing Mohammed Alaqeel Abdulaziz, who is a member of Saudi Chess Federation (SCF) team in the World Chess Olympiad, in the fifth round.
Maintaining his momentum, Retanal dealt Grandmaster Abdelrahman Hesham and FIDE Master Hatem Eldesoky, both from Egypt, to complete a clean sweep that earned him 6,000 Saudi Riyal (P90,500) in cash prize.
"I would like to dedicate my victory to my countrymen," the Saudi based Retanal said.
Grandmaster Mohamed Haddouche of Algeria came second with 6.5 points, followed by Egypt's Ismail Ammar, Jordan's Ababneh Ghayth and Pakistan's Arena International Master Hamid Hassan with 6.0 points each.-Marlon Bernardino-
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