Dubai - Linares - one of the most-renowned tournaments in world chess - is surrendering to the power of an Arab businessman, who is set to bring the best players to the desert in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 2010.
'We pay the expenses of players and the prizes, I think around 2 million euros (some 2.5 million dollars),' Sulaiman Al Fahim told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in an interview in Dubai.
Dr. Sulaiman Al Fahim, CEO of Hydra Properties, was elected as a new president of UAE chess federation for the term period 2008 – 2012. Suleiman Al Fahim is currently the wealthiest man in British football, as his fortune is estimated at 16 billion euros. Interestingly enough, he is the president of the UAE Chess Federation, which is why he recently bought the prestigious Linares tournament, the Wimbledon of chess, ad he is also a UN good will ambassador.'From 2010, the tournament will be held in Spain and the UAE,' he said.
A powerful real estate businessman, he is better known outside his native country as the architect of the purchase of Premier League club Manchester City by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Al Fahim - at 31 a goodwill ambassador for the UN - has for years dreamt of bringing Linares to the UAE.
'Linares is a great tournament, I played there 10 years ago,' he said during an interview held at his office at Hydra Properties.
Like others, this real estate company is suffering the global financial crisis, particularly in the aftermath of Dubai's years-long real-estate boom.
Al Fahim does not plan to deprive the southern Spanish town of Linares, in the Andalusian province of Jaen, of its best promotional tool.
The so-called Wimbledon of chess is still set to be played in Linares. However, as was the case in 2006 and 2008 when it shared the spotlight with the Mexican city of Morelia, play is set to be split half and half between two sites.
Will the UAE site be in Dubai or in the capital, Abu Dhabi?
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