GMs Saleh A.R. Salem of the UAE, Daniil Dubov of Russia and Anton Korobov of Ukraine shared first place with 7.5 points each out of 9 rounds in the Abu Dhabi Masters Chess Championship at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Abu Dhabi.
Salem used the Sicilian Defense against GM Aravindh Chitambaram of India, sacrificed his Queen on the 31st move and forced resignation on the 38th move with a Knight fork recovering material. Dubov outmaneuvered the Nimzo Indian defense of GM Ivan Cheparinov of Georgia, won the Queen on the 46th move and sealed the win on the 80th move. Korobov and Gabriel Sargissian of Armenia played to a friendly draw in 10 moves of a Reti opening.
In the Bucchjolz tie break system, Dubov emerged first followed by Korobov in second and Salem in third. Sargissian placed 4th alone with 7 points. Eleven players follow with 6.5 each, namely Cheparinov and Jojua Davit of Georgia, Richard Rapport of Hungary, Wang Hao of China, Vladimir Fedoseev of Russia, Amin Bassem of Egypt, Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran, Murali Karthikeyan, Debashis Das and Harsha Bharathakoti of India and 14-year-old GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.
In the Open division of 236 players, Jemal Overzdurdiyeva of Turkmenistan and Kazybek Umbetov of Kazakhstan tied for first with 8 points each. In the juniors for under-16 players, IM D. Gubesh of India won with 8 points out of 9 rounds.
Over $61,000 in cash prizes were at stake in the tournament organized by the Abu Dhabi Chess Club and the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation under the patronage of H.H Sheikh Nahyan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Sport Council .
A strong field of 47 grandmasters, 30 International Masters, 7 Woman Grandmasters, 6 Woman International Masters, 20 FIDE Masters and 2 Woman FIDE Masters in a record field of 158 players from 32 countries saw action in the Masters event. The Festival consisted of an elite Masters championship for players rated above 2100, an Open tournament for those rated below 2100 and a Junior championship for players under 16 years of age.
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Photo caption:
Salem_Areavindh.jpg: GM Saleh A.R. Salem of the UAE (left) beat GM Aravindh Chitambaram of India (photo by Kevin Sarmiento).
Dubov_Cheparinov.jpg: GM Daniiel Dubov of Russia (left) beat GM Ivan Cheparinov of Georgia (photo by Kevin Sarmiento).
Sargissian_Korobov.jpg: GM Anton Korbov of Ukraine (right) drew with GM Gabriel Sargissian of Armenia (photo by Kevin Sarmiento).