A multi-day public chess tournament concluded Sunday in Marib city, commemorating the 52nd anniversary of southern Yemen’s independence from British rule. On November 30, 1967, the last British soldier left what was the Aden protectorate. 

The chess tournament, which hosted intense competition between six teams from the Al-Wadi district in Marib governorate, is part of a series of sports events and tournaments held on national holidays.

Launched by the Marib branch of the Office of the Ministry of Youth and Sports last September, the campaign holds youth-oriented competitions on important Yemeni national holidays such as September 26, which marks the 1962 republican revolution against the ruling Imamate in northern Yemen and October 14, 1963, when the southern protectorates revolted against British rule.

The Marib branch of the Ministry of Youth and Sports has been fairly active throughout the war. It has in recent years hosted a number of competitions and sports tournaments for men and women, in part because of a high population density mainly from an influx of internally displaced persons.