Tehran - August 14, 09 (Hamsayeh.Net) - Iranian Chess Grand Master Morteza Mahjoob successfully managed to overcome a simultaneous chess game against 500 opponents here in Tehran.
The simultaneous tournament lasted over 21 hours beginning at 8:30 a.m. yesterday and ending at 5 o'clock this morning. Morteza Mahjoob scored 397 victories, 90 draws and lost 13 games that makes him eligible as the new holder of the world record in the GUINNESS world book of records.
The previous simultaneous chess record belonged to Bulgarian GM Kiril Georgiev with 360 simultaneous games.
Morteza Mahjoob's victory monitored by a FIDE official who was present at the cite confirming the new record. Mahjoob played against different groups of players including a number of expert players, ordinary chess enthusiasts as well as artists and athletes in other fields.
The game of chess after a relatively long period of obscurity is now becoming very popular in Iran. The Iranian GM Morteza Mahjoob plays in the national team alongside GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami.
The Iranian Chess Federation is working on signing a contract with GM Anatoly Karpov of the Russian Federation to coach the national team for the future events.