Eight players share lead at Dubai Open Chess Tournament

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Eight players remained with full marks after winning their matches in Monday’s third round of the Dubai Open Chess Tournament, setting up clashes between some of the highest-rated players in the fourth round at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club.

Second-seed GM Arjun Erigaisi and fourth-seed GM R. Praggnanandhaa of India are the only top 10 seeds to remain in the lead with three points each after beating compatriots GM Rithvik Raja and IM Shyaamnikhil P, respectively.

Erigaisi’s victory earned him a couple of rating points, enough to push him among the top 20 players in the world in the live ratings.

The duo are joined in the lead by GM Vladimir Akopian of the US, GM Aleksandar Indjic of Serbia, GM Aram Hakobyan of Armenia, GM Mahammad Muradli of Azerbaijan, GM Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan and GM Sahaj Grover of India.

Tournament top-seed GM Alexandr Predke of Russia could only manage a draw against IM Vignesh N R of India, dropping him half a point behind the leaders along with 18 others.

The top Arab player in the tournament, GM Ahmed Adly of Egypt, settled for a second consecutive draw, this time with France’s Julien Song. The other top Arab players in the event, IM Mohamed Tissir of Morocco, IM Basheer Al Qudaimi of Yemen and IM Husain Aziz of Qatar, were not as fortunate, dropping their respective matches to Indian players GM Harsha Bharathakoti, Prasannaa S and AGM Vishal Choudary B, who is a member of the Dubai Chess Club Academy.

 A portrait made by urban sketchers, visited Dubai Chess and Culture Club to sketch and paint portraits of the tournament players.

Palestinian youth player Raji Sayel Abu Azizah, meanwhile, drew his game against the higher-rated WIM Isha Sharma of India.   

Among the top scorers from the UAE, IM Omran Al Hosani missed a chance to join the leaders after losing to the tournament third-seed GM Mohammad Amin Tabatabaei of Iran, junior player Hamad Bader defeated FM Pavlov Mark of Russia, while IM Saeed Ishaq stumbled against India’s WIM Priyanka K.

A group of urban sketchers visited the tournament on Monday to sketch and paint portraits of the tournament players. The activity was organized by the tournament's organizing committee to promote the sport and the tournament across different circles of society.

The tournament’s team of arbiters are headed by the International Arbiter (IA) and lecturer Mahdi Abdulrahim, chairman of the Rules Committee of the International Chess Federation and chairman of the Arbiters Committee of the Asian Chess Federation.

It is the ninth Dubai Open tournament where Abdulrahim is serving as chief arbiter, and he also has the most number of participation as a tournament official in the event, having officiated in all previous editions of the Dubai Open.

The rest of the tournament arbiters include deputy chief arbiter IA Jamal Qasim of Yemen, Fide Arbiter (FA) Salman Al Taher and National Arbiter (NA) Majid Al-Abdouli of the UAE, NA Roberto Carandang of the Philippines, and Moheb Serag El Din of Egypt.