Muscat, March 27
The 2026 Oman Individual Chess Championship got underway on Thursday evening at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher, with the event organised by the Oman Chess Committee from March 26 to April 2 and featuring 114 male and female players.
The championship is regarded as one of the most important domestic events on Oman’s chess calendar, bringing together experienced players and rising talents in an open competition expected to produce strong technical performances and an intense battle on the top boards until the final round.
The tournament is being held under the Swiss system over nine rounds, with a time control of 90 minutes for each player plus a 30-second increment per move. The format gives competitors greater room to display their technical and mental abilities, while also increasing the importance of every round in shaping the overall standings, especially with several players closely matched in level.
The opening round delivered excitement from the outset, producing the tournament’s biggest early upset as Abdulrahman al Sawafi, rated 1551, defeated top seed Amer al Maashani, who entered the event with a rating of 1994. The result immediately shook up the competition and confirmed that the championship will not be decided by rating differences alone, but will also depend on ambition, concentration and sound time management over the board.
The rest of the first-round pairings also saw strong performances from several leading contenders. Fide Master Salim bin Mohammed al Amri secured an important win over Khalid bin Ahmed al Maamari, while Candidate Master Hamood al Busaidy recorded a deserved victory against Zakariya al Jabri. Salem bin Muslim al Amri also overcame Mohammed bin Ahmed al Balushi; and Mohammed bin Khalfan al Saidi claimed an important win over Nasser al Shuraiqi.
The first round showed that the championship is likely to produce even more close battles and unexpected twists in the coming days, especially with the notable presence of young players capable of challenging more experienced names. That gives the competition an open character and adds greater value to every point in the race for the title.
The championship will continue daily over the next eight days according to the approved schedule, before reaching its climax in the ninth and final round on April 2, after which the winners and top finishers will be crowned in what is expected to be a tournament of high technical quality and strong competition until the very end.
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