Theย 1st Jeddah Chess Festivalย took place from 24-30 January in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with two events on the programme: Jeddah Young Chess Masters and the Arabian Karpov Chess Cup.
The Jeddah Young Chess Masters was a 10-player invitational tournament that gathered young chess stars born in 2005 or later. IM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus emerged as the Winner of the event despite his last-round loss to GM Volodar Murzin. Scoring 6.5/9 points, 13-year-old Turkish International Master became the sole winner of the event and secured his second GM norm already after 7 played rounds. Yagiz Kaan finished the event with the performance of 2651, earning 15.6 ELO points. All games from the event can be replayed here.
As many as three players tied for the second place scoring 6 points (each): GM Volodar Murzin, GM Raunak Sadhwani, and IM Andy Woodward. Having the lowest tiebreak criteria, IM Andy Woodward came fourth on the final rankings, but he earned his final GM norm in the tournament fulfilling all conditions to become the Grandmaster. After FIDE’s approval of the title, Andy Woodward will become one of the youngest players in the world to currently hold the highest title a chess play can obtain!
WCM Alserkal Rouda Essa emerged as the Winner of the Arabian Karpov Chess Cup. Scoring 7.5 points, two players tied for first, but Alserkal had better tiebreaks to win the event. Alzaabi Humaidan Mohamed finished second, while Alvaro Bravo De La Vega and Cristina Sureda Gonzales tied for the third place with 7 points. Final rankings of both events can be found below.
Final rankings – Jeddah Chess Festival 2024:
| Rk. | Name | FED | RtgI | Pts. | |
| 1 | IM | Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan | TUR | 2524 | 6.5 |
| 2 | GM | Murzin, Volodar | FID | 2635 | 6 |
| 3 | GM | Sadhwani, Raunak | IND | 2654 | 6 |
| 4 | IM | Woodward, Andy | USA | 2501 | 6 |
| 5 | IM | Seemann, Jakub | POL | 2439 | 5 |
| 6 | GM | Pranav, V | IND | 2611 | 5 |
| 7 | IM | Klimkowski, Jan | POL | 2531 | 4.5 |
| 8 | FM | Rey Martinez, Jaime | ESP | 2342 | 2.5 |
| 9 | WGM | Francisco Guecamburu, Candela Be | ARG | 2295 | 2 |
| 10 | FM | Oro, Faustino | ARG | 2357 | 1.5 |
| Rk. | Name | FED | RtgI | Pts. | |
| 1 | WCM | Rouda Essa, Alserkal | UAE | 1882 | 7.5 |
| 2 | Humaidan Mohamed, Alzaabi | UAE | 1565 | 7.5 | |
| 3 | Bravo De La Vega, Alvaro | ESP | 2121 | 7 | |
| 4 | Sureda Gonzalez, Cristina | ESP | 1818 | 7 | |
| 5 | Robledo Sanchez, Saul | ESP | 2000 | 6.5 | |
| 6 | Al-Qudaimi, Abdullah | YEM | 1494 | 6.5 | |
| 7 | Garijo Perez, Hugo | ESP | 2270 | 6 | |
| 8 | Rashed Abubaker, Alhemeiri | UAE | 1654 | 6 | |
| 9 | Fates, Omer Salah | LBA | 1867 | 6 | |
| 10 | Shahan, Abu Sayeed | IND | 1087 | 6 | |
| 11 | Sureda Gonzalez, Miquel | ESP | 1849 | 6 | |
| 12 | WCM | Sawan, Eman | PLE | 1807 | 6 |
| 13 | Al Jaefi, Moataz | YEM | 1289 | 6 | |
| 14 | CM | Eisa Mohmood, Alkhoori | UAE | 1541 | 6 |
| 15 | Romero Barkouk, Rayan | ESP | 1868 | 5.5 | |
| 16 | Toquero Gracia, Laura | ESP | 1727 | 5.5 | |
| 17 | Sultan, Zaid. | SYR | 0 | 5.5 | |
| 18 | Haithm, Rashad Al Sadi | YEM | 0 | 5.5 | |
| 19 | Alsenari, Yousef Mohammed | KSA | 1506 | 5.5 | |
| 20 | CM | Amrane, Abdellah | ALG | 1881 | 5 |
| 21 | Hamdan Edrees, Alhamed | UAE | 1565 | 5 | |
| 22 | Almutairi, Musaad H | KSA | 0 | 5 | |
| 23 | Ahmed Gamal El Deen, Yaseen | EGY | 1456 | 5 | |
| 24 | Al Qasem, Osama Yousof M | KSA | 0 | 5 | |
| 25 | Chbihi, Abdourahmane | MAR | 1533 | 5 | |
| 26 | Alqarni, Khalid Mohammed M | KSA | 0 | 5 | |
| 27 | Mera, Abdulaziz Aidarous | UAE | 1242 | 5 | |
| 28 | Albalawi, Sultan Qalit | KSA | 0 | 5 | |
| 29 | Gari, Muhammad Abdulbasit I | KSA | 0 | 4.5 | |
| 30 | Al Khoori, Noora Mahmood Abdulla | UAE | 1185 | 4.5 | |
| 31 | Al Maawali, Ammar | OMA | 1145 | 4.5 | |
| 32 | Almutairi, Mashhour Hassan S | KSA | 0 | 4.5 | |
| 33 | Al Maawali, Yousuf | OMA | 0 | 4.5 | |
| 34 | Rahali, Mohamed Hedi | TUN | 0 | 4.5 | |
| 35 | Aldiri, Mohammed Nail T | KSA | 0 | 4.5 | |
| 36 | Alsairafi, Moahmmmed | FID | 0 | 4 | |
| 37 | Yehia, Jana | EGY | 0 | 4 | |
| 38 | Alshuraim, Turki Mohammed S | KSA | 0 | 4 | |
| 39 | Al Riyami, Mohammed | OMA | 1137 | 4 | |
| 40 | Rahali, Yassmine | TUN | 0 | 4 | |
| 41 | Alzahrani, Yzeed Hatem | KSA | 0 | 4 | |
| 42 | Al Riyami, Majd | OMA | 1087 | 4 | |
| 43 | Ismail, Iyed | TUN | 0 | 4 | |
| 44 | Albabtain, Mouath Ali Abdulrahman | KSA | 0 | 4 | |
| 45 | Al Harthi, Ahmed Ibrahim J | KSA | 0 | 4 | |
| 46 | Al Ghafri, Noor | OMA | 0 | 3.5 | |
| 47 | Al Saud, Khalid Bin Talal | KSA | 0 | 3.5 | |
| 48 | Maki, Abdulla | BRN | 0 | 3.5 | |
| 49 | Khalil, Omar | SYR | 0 | 3.5 | |
| 50 | Turki, Yousef Hattan A | KSA | 1001 | 3 | |
| 51 | Shaaban Kabakibo,, Osama. | SYR | 0 | 3 | |
| 52 | Gazzaz, Abdullwahab Ahmed Hassan | KSA | 0 | 3 | |
| 53 | Al Ghafri, Fathima | OMA | 0 | 3 | |
| 54 | Almutairi, Nahyan Abdullah | KSA | 0 | 2.5 | |
| 55 | Al Saud, Faisal Bin Talal | KSA | 0 | 2.5 | |
| 56 | Almutairi, Marwan Abdullah Mohammed | KSA | 0 | 2.5 | |
| 57 | Almurbati, Maryam Khaled | BRN | 0 | 2.5 | |
| 58 | Mohamed Abdel Fattah, Hamza | EGY | 0 | 2 | |
| 59 | Alshanqiti, Hassan Ahmed | KSA | 0 | 1 | |
| 60 | Alesawi, Marzoq Ali Khaled | KSA | 0 | 1 | |
| 61 | Al Shanqiti, Mustapha Ahmed | KSA | 0 | 1 | |
| 62 | Hoor, Fatima | IND | 0 | 1 | |
| 63 | Almutairi, Aws Waleed M | KSA | 0 | 0 | |
| 64 | Daas, Mashel Ali Yahya | KSA | 0 | 0 | |
| 65 | Aljuhani, Ahmed Humoud Qasam | KSA | 0 | 0 |
