In an attempt to promote chess activities in the Middle East region and give a global platform, the organisors of Norway Chess — one of the greatest tournaments in the Fide chess calendar — has invited Emirate’s first female grandmaster Rouda Essa Alserkal to play at the Norway Chess Open 2025 which will have participants from 31 countries.
Kjell Madland, Managing Director and the brainchild of Norway Chess, invited 15-yer-old Rouda during a press conference in Dubai on Wednesday.
Dr Mansoor Al Tamimi, Vice Technical Committee Chair and Technical Director from the Abu Dhabi Chess Club and Mind Games was also present at the grand occasion. So was Koneru Humpy, two-time women’s world rapid chess champion, who wished Rouda for her forthcoming competitions and joined the meeting virtually.
The Norway Chess Open 2025 is scheduled to take place between May 26 and June 1 at the IMI Forum in Stavanger, and is expected to draw both grandmasters and aspiring chess players looking to earn title norms and valuable competitive experience. A repeat participant is the reigning World Champion Gukesh D along with Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali, who, before her exponential rise in the sport, also played in the Norway Chess Open as teenagers. This event has positioned Norway as a crucial area of interest for players searching for sophisticated competitive encounters.
Rouda’s comments about being invited to participate in the Norway Open Chess 2025 show her excitement, “Like every chess player, I hope to get noticed by Norway Chess and I cannot wait to compete there as I know Norway Chess is nurturing the future stars of chess. It was hard for me to believe that I am being invited for the Norway Chess Open because this is the most prestigious tournament in the world and I am sure this experience will help me improve my game further.”
“Here we go again. I this time, I can’t wait to meet Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, and some of the Indian contestants like the new World Champion Gukesh who will attend Norway Chess 2025. ” – She remarked.
As per Madland’s words, the event will help Rouda in a different domain regarding the development of her game.
“The Norway Chess is very glad to welcome Rouda Essa Alserkal to compete in this year’s Norway Chess Open 2025. I wish to applaud Rouda for achieving the unprecedented achievement of becoming the first female Chess Grandmaster from the UAE, and to her all regional women, she is an idol to look up to. The Norway Chess Open is a stellar platform for Grandmasters and other Chess enthusiasts to polish and showcase their talent competitively. We hope to discover and nurture numerous potential future chess stars from the Middle East region to participate in the Norway Chess Open,” – Madland told the reporters.
In fact, him left hat told reporters from other news portal vreported that recalled reportedly that the same caught his attention.
“We are considering the option of organizing Norway Chess tournament in the Middle East and interested sponsors may reach out to us. We are also working towards streaming live coverage of Norway Chess for the audience in the Middle East,” he stated.
In the Norway Chess Open, the highest rated competitor Rinat Jumbayev from Kazakhstan is headlining the list, with stout competition coming from Hungary’s Gergely Kantor, Austria’s Valentin Dragnev, Germany’s Vitaly Kunin, Norwegian Frode Urkedal, and Chinese grandmaster Jiner Zhu.
The Norway Chess Open will give ample opportunities to achieve title norms in the upper tier’s Master Division, as well as double rounds on May 29 and May 30. Rouda, who has received an invitation to the Grandmaster Group, sponsored will compete in nine-round, Master Division, with ample opportunities for title norms, and a total prize pool of 13,000 euros.