The eighth round of the fourth edition of the Qatar Masters International Open Chess Championship concluded yesterday, which concludes today with the participation of an elite group of the most prominent world champions.
At the summit of the eighth round at the first table, Sabah Rabia Al-Kuwari, Director of Public Relations, Social Responsibility and Sponsorships at Arid Company, participated alongside Mr. Mohammed Al-Madahka, President of the Qatar Chess Federation, in moving the first move to confront the Russian Andrey Isipenko, with the Armenian Shant Sarkisyan, ranked 13th, which ended in favor of the Russian player. Raising his score to seven points at the top of the standings.
On the second table, the Indian Arjun Arigaisi, ranked first in the tournament, defeated his compatriot Murali Karthikeyan, raising Arigaisi’s score to six and a half points in the runner-up standings, while Karthikeyan bid farewell to the competition.
Today, the identity of the defending champion will be determined through the ninth and final round, which begins at noon.
International professor Hussein Aziz, the Qatari national team player, lost his victories in the tournament to his Azerbaijani competitor, Junay Mammadzade, so Aziz’s score stopped at three and a half points.
Aziz had won in the seventh round against Polish Olivia Kilobasa and Indian Mahendru Javier in the sixth and seventh rounds, while he tied in the fifth round with Indian Rajesh, and also tied in the fourth round with Turmankh Munkhuzul from Mongolia, while he lost in the last two rounds to Cuban Luis Ernesto. Quesada and Uzbek Abdulmalik Abdusalamov, and tied in the opening round with Chinese Zhang Yu.
In the rest of the results recorded on the third table, the Uzbek Nodirbek Abdustarov, ranked sixth in the world and runner-up in the last tournament, defeated the Russian David Paravan, ranked 20th, raising the Russian player’s score to six points.
Uzbek Nodirbek Yakubayev, the defending champion of the last edition and ranked ninth, tied with Iranian Boya Edani, seeded 22nd, bringing the Uzbek player to the sixth point.
The Emirati Salem Abdul Rahman, the top Arab player ranking, defeated the Uzbek Muhyiddin Madaminov, ranked 38th, raising the Emirati player’s score to six points, maintaining his chances of competing for the first places.
At the level of Arab players, Egyptian Adham Fawzi lost at table 11 to Iranian Mohamed Amin Tabatabai, seeded fifth, knocking the Egyptian player out of the race for the title, but his hopes of occupying one of the top six places will depend on his victory in the final round.
The Emirati Imran Al Hosani defeated the Indian Arun Kataria, while the Moroccan Muhammad Tayseer lost to the Indian Das Priyansh.
For his part, Mr. Victor Bologan, head of coaches at the Qatar Chess Federation, confirmed that the Qatar Masters Championship has become one of the strongest open tournaments at the global level due to the volume of participation, whether from the top seeds or even the holders of international titles.
Bologan said: “We must praise the efforts made by the Qatari Federation by providing all the elements for success, especially the Aspire Zone Hall, which hosts the competitions.
Moldovan Bologan, Executive Director of the International Federation, stressed the importance of the Qatar Masters Championship and its role in the progress of Qatari chess.
