Dubai Police Global Chess Challenge was a new event started and hosted by Dubai Police from 4th to 12th May. I have played multiple times in United Arab Emirates including the Sharjah Masters and Abu Dhabi Masters.
This was my 5th time playing in UAE.
Organization
The Master Event is very nicely organized in the Dubai Police Officers Club. Organizers have arranged transport from official hotels to the tournament venue. They were very welcoming and gave a lot of respect to players.
UAE has a great history of organizing big chess events including the Dubai Open, Sharjah Masters, Abu Dhabi Open, etc. This tournament will be a new addition and hopefully, they will organize this every year.
Organizers provided Black Tea, Desi Tea (Karak Tea), Coffee, and a selection of different cakes and croissants. All the boards are Digital Chess Board and the tournament games are published on Lichess broadcast and on other websites.
The other two events, Open and Youth, were organized at Dubai Chess Club. It’s a different venue. I will talk specifically about the Masters event.
Accommodation
Organizers provided a list of hotels. Players are allowed to book it from anywhere or they can even choose different hotels. (Staying in the official hotel was not compulsory)
I stayed at the Kingsgate Al Jaddaf Hotel which is one of the hotels mentioned by the Organizers in the list. I paid 28500 INR ($350) for 9 Nights for a single room without breakfast. I booked it from an Indian booking website.
Team Dubai Police provided pick up and drop up from the hotel.
Overall, the hotel stay was very good and the price was also very moderate. For the hotel and overall stay experience, I would rate 9.5/10.
Schedule
From 4th to 12th May Daily single round. Everyday round starts at 5 PM except the last day at 10 AM.
The event consisted of a total of 9 rounds.
Playing Field
The Master’s category is open for above 2300 players. The total number of players was 135 and 124 players were 2300+
Three 2700 players participated including Yu Yangyi, Tabatabaei Amin, and Artemiev Vladislav. 35% of the total participants were Grandmasters and almost all players had some title.
Should you play in the Next Edition?
As I said above, this was my 5th time playing classical events in UAE country and I would highly recommend it. I always feel very safe while traveling. Food is cheap and hospitality is great.
There is not a single thing to complain about the event.
Here are some ratings according to me
Organization – 10/10
Food – 9/10 (I ordered from nearby restaurants. Mostly Indian food)
Accommodation – 9.5/10
Expenses Breakdown
When I published my last article about the Rilton Cup, I got 2 messages from players to include a breakdown. (USD figures are approximate)
- Stay – 28500 INR / $350
- Flights – 22000 INR / $260
- Visa and Insurance – 8000 INR / $100
- Entry Fee – 4000 INR / $50
- Food – 8000 INR / $100
- Taxi (Home – Airport – Hotel) – 1500 INR / $20
- Other Expenses – 3000 INR / $35
Total – 75000 INR / $915
My Performance
I scored and gained some points. But in this type of article, I am not going to include anything about my performance. This article is purely about information purpose about the event and I would not like to include chess things. Maybe if I get enough comments, I can write a different article on it.
Read More: Tournament Review: Rilton Cup 2023-24 (Published on my personal website)
Photos
Just miscellaneous photos of the hotel, food, Dubai, etc.
Photo References – (Best packaged coffee, Shawramaa, Lunch, Thai Boba Tea, Dubai Downtown, Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, Buttermilk Pack)
All the following images are taken by Nikhil Dixit
