Kareen Jalaluldeen from Iraq
Hi Kareen, let’s talk about chess in Iraq.
Chess is a popular game in Iraq and my city is 450 km from capital Bagdad. There are 10 chess clubs and the national chess federation is in Bagdad and supported by government and Olympic council. I learned to defend in chess with chess books and my father is my coach. He taught me chess when I was 7 years old
What was your first tournament and what success you had in junior chess?
I played many junior events and won the Iraq junior under 10 , 12, 14, 16 events in success with chess knowledge based on books. I am the youngest member of the Iraq team and we are looking for a grandmaster chess coach.
What is your ambition and your favourite player?
I am now an untitled player with no ELO rating and I want to become a an ELO rated player and my favourite chess player is Judit Polgar.
How is the Olympiad and what is special about it?
Dresden Olympiad is fun and I have made many new friends and very good to meet different nationalities she speaks only Arabic and it’s keen to learn foreign languages like English, German and French
What improvement you want to see in your country?
Iraq is now a good place for chess development and now there are more chess tournaments over there. We need a good coach and more international events and perhaps come and participate in asian and fide events.
Interview by Vaidyanathan Ravikumar