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Grandmaster Salem Saleh indispensable beryllium the world’s strongest chess subordinate among policemen. He was erstwhile ranked 44th successful the world. The 33-year-old from the UAE is the best-ever subordinate produced by the Arabian Peninsula and is presently the World No. 86. Excerpts from an interrogation Saleh gave The Hindu:
Do you inactive enactment with the police?
Yes, I inactive person my job, but I person been connected sports permission for a agelong time.
Earlier, you utilized to enactment adjacent portion playing, right?
Yes, that was the case. Then the authorities decided to stake connected maine that I tin possibly amended and go a amended player.
And you were touching 2700 astatine that time.
Yes, exactly. I was astir 2700.
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So earlier the authorities sanctioned your leave, what was your enactment successful the constabulary like?
I worked with the Dubai Police. I was successful the prime power department. And I worked during the pandemic, too. So my occupation was to marque definite that we enactment immoderate information rules and to cheque that radical are pursuing the protocols. Things similar societal region and each kinds of sanitising.
While you were doing each that, were galore radical alert that you were 1 of the world’s apical chess players?
In my department, radical knew. The constabulary person thing similar 23,000 employees, I don’t deliberation everybody knows astir me. And precise fewer extracurricular the constabulary cognize me, due to the fact that chess is not precise popular.
Is it due to the fact that of deficiency of support?
Not actually. Now I deliberation the concern successful the UAE, erstwhile it comes to the support, is astir apt the champion ever. We person bully clubs, we person bully coaches, and we person tournaments successful the UAE.
How did this alteration happen?
I deliberation it was immoderate large tournaments, similar the World Championship, that truly helped.
The World Championship lucifer betwixt Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi successful Dubai successful 2021…
Yes. And the UAE has besides organised different large events similar the World Rapid and Blitz Championships. Then, of course, determination is the Sharjah tournament. So each these tournaments person helped chess summation a batch of interest, compared to earlier times. The Fujairah Masters has besides go a large event. Yes, the organisers are doing a bully occupation successful the UAE, though determination is ever country for improvement. Hopefully, this volition continue.
Are you seeing talented kids emerging from the UAE?
From Sharjah, determination is 1 kid who I deliberation is good. His sanction is Rashid Alhammadi. He plays well, but the aboriginal you volition ne'er know. We had immoderate bully players successful the past too, similar Saeed Ahmed Saeed. He had a standing of 2435, and helium was adjacent to becoming a Grandmaster. But helium stopped precise early, astatine the property of 18. I deliberation helium has beaten Viswanathan Anand.
How was the concern successful the UAE erstwhile you started out?
There were not galore bully tournaments backmost then, but I was sent by the [Sharjah Chess] Club and by the federation to Europe. That was the lone mode to get your norms. Now much radical are showing involvement successful chess, particularly aft the pandemic. I saw galore who wanted to larn the game. Even immoderate of my friends who knew that I was a chess subordinate since puerility learned chess during the pandemic. They started talking astir chess.
Once I was successful a chess library, and idiosyncratic asked me, ‘Can we play a game?’ I thought helium could beryllium a anemic player, but erstwhile I started the game, I recovered this feline was playing immoderate theory. He played Caro-Kann Defence. Afterwards, I asked him, ‘How bash you cognize this? And did you spell to a club?’ And helium said, ‘No.’ He told maine that during the pandemic, helium became funny successful chess and helium learnt the crippled by pursuing immoderate YouTube channels. So helium learnt it each himself. And helium was a decent player.
How did you get funny successful chess?
It was due to the fact that of my brothers. They were the UAE champions, 1 had a highest standing of 2300 Elo points and the different was 2200.
When did you go superior astir chess?
When I started winning tournaments. My brothers took maine to the Sharjah Chess Club. Sharjah was ever the best. Sometimes adjacent the full nationalist squad was from the Sharjah Chess Club.
In 2015, you won the Asian Championship successful your location country, astatine Al Ain.
It is 1 of my biggest wins. And it was a precise beardown tournament, too. I retrieve beating this Chinese player; I came up with a operation [of tactical moves], and that someway changed my mood; determination was a batch of praise from my coaches. Then I won the adjacent fewer games back-to-back.
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Have you ever been a tactical player, from the clip you were a kid?
Yes, I deliberation it is simply a taste thing. When I grew up, like, the coaches were each astir tactics, each astir combinations. And this, successful their eyes, is the quality of chess.
There were a batch of beardown players astatine that Asian Championship, weren’t there? Vidit Gujrathi, S.P. Sethuraman, Surya Shekhar Ganguly…
Yes, and determination was besides Vishnu Prasanna, the manager of the aboriginal World champion D. Gukesh. And I had beaten him.
Your thoughts connected Gukesh winning the World title?
I was surprised, actually. I had played against him successful Biel [in 2022]. I had besides played successful that adjacent tourney against Vincent Keymer and Nodirbek Abdusattorov. I had adjacent results with everyone. Then, not agelong aft that, Gukesh won the World Championship, which was a astonishment for me. It was wide to maine that helium was beardown erstwhile I played with him, but I did not deliberation that helium was going to beryllium the World champion [two years later].
I had beaten him successful classical chess, and it was achy for him, arsenic helium had conscionable crossed the 2700 standing for the archetypal time. So I bushed him, and helium went back. But past helium won 8 games successful a enactment astatine the Chess Olympiad. But I didn’t expect him to beryllium the World champion truthful soon. I similar his warring spirit. He defends and fights till the end. Even earlier the celebrated bang connected the array [by Carlsen], helium was conscionable defending. Some radical would conscionable lose. It seems to maine that helium is ever trying to learn.
