Al Taher told Gulf News yesterday: "The first Asian Chess Cup will be held in 2010 with 24 countries taking part in the finals following qualification matches and ranking system which will depend upon the results of the participating teams in the Chess Olympics.

"The UAE will play host for the first Asian Chess Cup and the teams will be divided into four groups of competition."

"The ACC, under the guidance of Shaikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Bin Shakbout Al Nahyan, is keen to expand its activities and its membership and one way to improve the game is by organising many competitions on individual and team levels," Al Taher said.

"It is a well known fact that more competitions not only help in improving the technical standards of the game but also encourage big companies to sponsor the tournaments and a successful promotion and sports marketing will provide the ACC with additional financial resources which will help in implementing our ambitious plans," he added.

Regarding the first Asian Chess Champions League, Al Taher said, "The competition will be between players from 30 clubs from 24 Asian countries and will provide the competitors with good opportunities to meet and compete in an excellent atmosphere."

The league will kick off in Al Ain on Thursday.

Competing clubs are from: UAE, hosts Al Ain and either Dubai or Sharjah, India, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Singapore, Mongolia, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, China, Brunei, South Korea and Kyrgyzstan.