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First Confucius Institute Xiang Qi (Chinese Chess) Championship
<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The Confucius Institute at Saint Joseph University of Beirut, in cooperation with the Lebanese Xiang Qi Federation, held the First Confucius Institute Xiang Qi (Chinese Chess) Championship on October 7, 2023, at the Humanities Campus of Saint Joseph of Beirut.</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Dr. Nisrine Abdel Nour Lattouf, the Director of the Institute, along with staff of the Institute, H.E. Qian Minjian, the Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon, Mr. Zhang Yajin the Cultural Attache and a crowd of Lebanese and Chinese families and fans attended the championship.</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">53 players, representing the Al Assifa Jal el Dib Club, the Lebanese Army Team, the Sanabel Beirut Club, the Beirut Sports Projects Club, the Al-Ahli Saida Club, the Al-Iman Aramoun School, the Saint Georges School of Bsalim, the Arab-Chinese Association for Cooperation and Development, and several Chinese residents in Lebanon participated in the championship.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The players were split into 2 categories:General – open 6 rounds and beginners – all ages 6 rounds.<br />
Round duration: 10 minutes and 3 seconds.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">After the tiebreak, the Colonel Oussama Jawhar announced the final results of the championship, and the awards, medals, and trophies were distributed to the winners by Mr. Qian Minjian, Dr. Nisrine Abdel Nour Lattouf, and the retired Brigadier General Elias Abou Jaoude.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">In addition, all prizes were given, courtesy of the Confucius Institute, to the top five players in the General – Open Championship and the top four players in the Beginners – All Ages Championship. Participation certificates were also handed out to all players.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">A thank-you speech was delivered by the retired Brigadier General Elias Abou Jaoude, the President of the Lebanese Federation of Xiang Qi (Chinese Chess), in which he expressed his gratitude to the Confucius Institute and Saint Joseph University for organizing and supporting this championship and for the valuable prizes awarded to the participants.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The results were as follows:</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">he General – Open Category:</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Ranked 1<sup>st</sup> Han Xiangdong ; 2<sup>nd</sup> Ahmad Najjar ; 3<sup>rd</sup> Amine Korkomaz ; 4<sup>th</sup> Marwan Sharbel & 5<sup>th</sup> Colonel Oussama Jawhar .</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The Beginners – All Ages Category:</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Ranked 1<sup>st</sup> Moslem Nasrallah ; 2<sup>nd</sup> Ossama Chaar, 3<sup>rd</sup> Angelo Maroun, 4<sup>th</sup> Joe Abou Jaoude & 5<sup>th</sup> Elaria Alam</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Ms. Serene Daoud received the Gold Medal for Best Female Player in the General – Open Championship.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Ms. Elaria Alam received the Gold Medal for Best Female Player in the Beginners – All Ages Championship.</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Click <a href="https://usj.edu.lb/photos/album/index.php?alb_id=3941&instid=0">her…; for photos</span></span></p>