Imad Hakki () is a Syrian chess international master who represented Syria in multiple regional chess championship and the son of Badi' Hakki, a writer and novelist.

Career

Hakki attended the Soviet Cultural Center in the seventies where he was taught professional chess by Ahmad Al-Rashidi. He participated in his first official championship in Damascus in 1973. He achieved International Master norm in 1987. Hakki did not appear in the 1999 World Chess Championship because of visa problems. He received forfeit losses due to his failure to appear for his games. However, he went on to win that year's men's

Arab Chess championship The Arab Chess Championship is an annual international chess competition organized by the Arab Chess Federation, with 18 member countries. Parallel Men's and Women's competitions have been held in various cities since 1983. Winners Arab Rapid ...

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

. Hakki played many times for the Syrian

Olympiad An olympiad (, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the Ancient Olympic Games, ancient and Olympic Games, modern Olympic Games. Although the ancient Olympics were established during Archaic Greece, Greece ...

team, playing on board 1 in the 32nd and

34th Chess Olympiad The 34th Chess Olympiad (), organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to all players. and women's tournament, took place between Oc ...

, board 3 in the 37th, and on board 5 in the 38th edition of the Olympiad. Hakki played in his last championship in

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

in 2012.

Illness

After his championship in Jordan and the rise of the Syrian Civil War, Imad's health deteriorated considerably, and he had to get surgery for his eyelids, which the Syrian chess union didn't pay. The fees were paid by someone else. Hakki later contracted

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

and became homeless, sleeping in the streets and parks of Damascus. As of 2021, he was in a senior home in Damascus.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hakki, Imad 1957 births Chess Olympiad competitors Living people Chess International Masters Chess players at the 2006 Asian Games Syrian chess players Asian Games competitors for Syria