Sharjah24: The 11th edition of The Sharjah Government Employees Chess Championship (SGECC) , was concluded on Monday with the participation of 52 male and female players from 25 government agencies and institutions in Sharjah, which was organised by the Sharjah Government Employees Club in cooperation with the Sharjah Cultural Chess Club and under the supervision of the Sharjah Sports Council.

A number of Sharjah Government institutions took part in the event including: the General Administration of Civil Defense, Sharjah Municipality, Department of Town Planning and Survey , Sharjah Institute for Heritage, Sharjah Educational Zone, Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), Sharjah Roads and Transport Authority, Sharjah Electricity, Water and Gas Authority, Bee’ah Company, Sharjah Broadcasting  Authority , the Emirates Red Crescent, Sharjah Airport Authority, the Holy Qur’an Academy , the Sharjah Awqaf Department, the Department of Culture, Sharjah Islamic Bank, Dibba Al-Hisn Cultural and Sports Club, Sharjah Health Authority, Al Qasimia University, Sharjah Media City - Shams, the Social Services Department, the Central Finance Department, Al Qasimi Hospital in Sharjah, and the Real Estate Registration Department.

The closing ceremony and honoring of the winners was attended by His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Humaid Al Qasimi, Vice President of the Sharjah Cultural Chess Club, His Excellency Counselor Hamid Ali Al Abbar, Vice President of the Sharjah Government Employees Club, His Excellency Omar Numan Al Ali, Assistant Secretary-General of the Sharjah Cultural Chess Club, and a number of members of the boards of directors of the Government Employees Club.

The results of the tournament showed that Othman Ibrahim Salem from the Sharjah Broadcasting Authority won the championship title after obtaining the full score of 6 points from 6 rounds, while three players were equal with 5 points, and after resorting to tie-breaking systems, the final results came. As follows: International Professor Kholoud Issa Al Zarouni from the Department of Economic Development achieved second place with 5 points, and the third came the player, Abdel Fattah Ibrahim from the Municipality of Sharjah City, and the fourth place came the player Mustafa Mahmoud Bashir from the Sharjah Educational Zone, while the fifth place came the player Mahmoud Helmy from the Sharjah Heritage Institute.

For his part, His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Humaid Al Qasimi, Vice President of the Sharjah Cultural Chess Club, praised the activities organised by the Sharjah Government Employees Club, which is considered a civilized destination for employees of the Sharjah government, confirming that the Sharjah Chess Club opens its doors to all segments of society to play chess, emphasizing that such tournaments are a good opportunity to build bridges of communication with government institutions and agencies in order to tie aspects of cooperation , appreciating the efforts of the Sharjah Sports Council for its sponsorship and supervision of all events organized in Sharjah.

His Excellency Counselor Hamid Ali Alabbar, Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Sharjah Government Employees Club, confirmed that these activities come in line with the directives of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah in activating sports activities among members of Sharjah Government to increase communication between them in order to develop employees' skills.