Kurdistan Universities Chess Championship

Today was a great day for me and my colleagues at Salahaddin University-Erbil. We took part in the first Kurdistan Universities Chess Championship, and I’m happy to share that our team won! Prof. Dr. Hawre Mustafa Bakr, President of Erbil Medical University, supervised the event, which was organized by the Sports Activities Directorate together with the Khanzad Chess Club. The tournament used a team match format where each team consisted of four players, and the total wins from all four players counted for each round.

Our Team

The tournament was held at the Khanzad Chess Club hall over five rounds. I was part of the Salahaddin University-Erbil team with my colleagues:

  1. Dr. Farhad Ali
  2. Dr. Shwan Othman
  3. Dr. Polla Fattah (me)
  4. Mr. Hazhar Jalal

The tournament brought together university lecturers and staff from across Kurdistan who like to play chess. It was a good chance to meet people from other universities and have some friendly competition.

Participating Universities

Eight universities from across Kurdistan took part:

  1. Salahaddin University-Erbil - Winner
  2. Catholic University in Erbil
  3. Soran University
  4. Tishk International University
  5. Erbil Polytechnic University
  6. University of Duhok
  7. University of Kurdistan Hewlêr
  8. Kurdistan Institute for Strategic Studies & Scientific Research
Final overall group photo of all participating university teams
Final overall group photo of all participating university teams

The Tournament Begins

Sitting for first round playing against University of Kurdistan Hewlêr
Sitting for first round playing against University of Kurdistan Hewlêr

During the Games

The tournament used a team match format, where each team fielded four players against another team’s four players. The team with the most individual wins in each match would win that round. This format required us to work together as a team and support each other, and I think we did a good job coordinating our efforts.

In the middle of the game against University of Duhok
In the middle of the game against University of Duhok

Our Victory

I’m really happy to share that our Salahaddin University-Erbil team won first place! This was a great day for all of us at the university. We worked well together as a team and managed to come out on top.

Our Salahaddin University-Erbil team picture after winning the trophies
Our Salahaddin University-Erbil team picture after winning the trophies

The Kurdistan Universities Chess Championship was a great event, and I’m happy to have been part of this victory with my colleagues Dr. Farhad Ali, Dr. Shwan Othman, and Mr. Hazhar Jalal. This was a really good day for all of us at Salahaddin University-Erbil!

Polla Fattah