The Drum goes to Qatar!
The Chess Drum’s Dr. Daaim Shabazz will be in Doha, Qatar next week to visit local universities and will certainly seek out the chess venues. The small nation on the Arabian peninsula is home to GM Mohamed al-Modiahki and his wife GM Zhu Chen. Zhu now plays under the Qatari flag.
Qatar is one of the nations in the region making a push to promote high-level chess events. Bahrain recently had a successful event and Qatar has hosted a number of tournaments. The United Arab Emirates has also done a great for promoting chess and will host half of the 2010 Linares SuperGM tournament.
The Gulf region of the Middle East may just become the next rising chess region on the globe. The Chess Drum will be there to find out!
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Qatar women win Category E prize at the
2008 Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany.
Photo by Daaim Shabazz.
have a great time. What a great experience.
Its 8:11am in Philadelphia, cold but sunny. Houses are lined together in row fashion. Some are in good repair, some are not. Blacktop streets, cold concrete pavements. What’s the environment in Qatar? Are the people friendly? Have you played any CHESS. I would set up a board and clock in an busy area and see the response. Give us the feed back. What a culture experience!!!!! take care Daaim.
hello Mr. Shabazz,
Have you visited Education City? That is where I will be working next year. Let me know what chess clubs you find. I am very interested in the chess situation there. Have a great trip!
Noah Spaulding
Daaim – Great pictures from Qatar. It’s nice to see that their chess federation has the appropriate stature .. being housed in the building of the QOC. Just like a real sport!
So glad the beat is still going. I have to make one of these trips with you. Maybe sometime this fall/winter.
Frank
Great pictures. Nice hotel. It looks like a beautiful city.
how about pictures of houses where people live. Greats pics. neighbors of the common man and uncommon man. Show some pictures of you crushing the local chess players.
Great pics! The area looks clean and well kept. Was your trip bussiness? or pleasure? Looks like you enjoyed yourself. I did notice some players smoking. Is that the norm there? Take care, Mel
Wow! Beautiful pictures and obviously a lovely place with lovely people ,thanks brother Shabazz. A friend of mine just visited there about a month ago now I have an insight as to why! haha
Great pics Daaim,
I can’t wait to move there in September!
Noah
Ha! I hear you. Mall shopping in the US is more like a competitive sport than a family social event. Although the growing trend of these multi-use, outdoor style developments may be changing that. Shopping + dining + big bookstore + movie theaters + residential, in a community designed to simulate an old time, small town, downtown.
Regarding the fashion that you described, I noticed the same thing at the Olympiad in Turin. While the garments may evoke conservatism and modesty, the accessories .. shoes, jewelry, etc, can often be quite stylish .. lots of bling.
What is the Islamic view of playing Chess? What does the Koran say about it ??
3/22/09
Wow! Brother Daaim sounds and looks like you had a wonderful trip! Are there any plans for the U.S. youth to compete in Qatar! Are any programs available for chess sponsorship, international scholarships, and overseas chess seminars and training.
Respectfully,
Abdul Khabeer Abdus-Shakoor MA, MPA
Community Visioneer
Hi, Daaim your pics are really cool, they make me want to visit Qatar, I loved the creativity of the creators of those buildings, the forms are beautiful and so innovated, I have a friend that lives in pakistan but in 2 months he´s going to live at Qatar, that´s why I was looking pictures from there and found your site with these pictures, well take care!
ciao