Salem Abdulrahman Mohamed Saleh (right) ponders a move against Niemann Hans Moke as Sheikh Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Mualla and Omar Noman Al Ali look on.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter
 
The third round of the Sharjah Masters International Chess Championship produced some interesting results.

The fourth edition of the Sharjah Masters International Chess Championship is being held under the patronage of His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah.

Top 60 players representing 30 countries are taking part in the championship which carries a prize purse of $60,000.

The third round of the tournament was held under the supervision of Raja'i Al Sousi, Executive Director, Omar Noman Al Ali, Assistant Secretary General of the Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club, and Husan Turdialiyev, Vice-President of the Chess Federation of Uzbekistan.

Sousi praised the strength of competition and the level of chess players’ participating in the Sharjah Masters International Championship.

“41 Grandmasters, two women Grandmasters, 13 International Masters and two FIDE Masters showcases the strength of players the championship has attracted despite the challenges posed by the pandemic,” he added.

Such was the high level of the competition that Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club’s organising committee had to reject the participation of 80 players as they failed to match the required standard.

“With the fourth edition of Sharjah Masters, the Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club proves its pioneering role, by hosting such a strong competition and earning praise for its organizational capabilities and infrastructure.”

Aiming to lift the trophy on home turf, UAE Grandmaster Salem Abdulrahman Mohamed Saleh dominated the proceedings from the beginning. Making some superb moves on the board, the Emirati beat American Grandmaster Niemann Hans Moke.

In 2017, Salem finished in a tie for first place in the 1st Sharjah Masters International Chess Championship with Wang Hao, B. Adhiban, Martyn Kravtsiv, Yuriy Kryvoruchko and SP Sethuraman.
Indian Grandmaster SL Narayanan, who enjoyed a fair amount of success in online chess tournaments during the coronavirus pandemic, stunned veteran Turkish Grandmaster Mustafa Yilmaz.

Egyptian Grandmaster Ahmed Adly drew with French Grandmaster Jules Moussard while Georgia’s Mchedlishvili Mikheil also drew with Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi.
Iranian Grandmaster Seyyed Mohammad Amin Tabatabaei defeated Turkish Grandmaster Can Emre.

On the fifth board, Ukrainian Grandmaster Pavel Eljanov, who has won two team gold medals and one individual silver medal at the Chess Olympiads, got the better off Armenian Grandmaster Tigran K Harutyunyan.

The third round also witnessed some surprises as Indian Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta, who is the first player to win the Commonwealth Chess Championship five times, pulled off an upset by defeating Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

Bassem Amin, a highest rated Egyptian and African player, drew with German-Swiss Grandmaster Sebastian Bogner.

UAE and Dubai Chess Club’s Saeed Ishaq was pitted against Ukrainian Grandmaster Vitaliy Bernadskiy.

International Master Ishaq managed to beat Bernadskiy after a close contest.

Syrian FIDE Master Sohib Okla tasted success after victory over Indian’s Dushyant Sharma.

After the conclusion of the third round, Salem, Moussard, Mikheil, Adly and Erigaisi are leading the Sharjah Master International Chess Championship with 2.5 points each.
Narayanan and Amin Tabatabaei are sharing second place.

Fast Contracting Company, National Paints and Centro Sharjah Hotel are the sponsors of the fourth edition of the Sharjah Masters International Chess Championship.

The Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club was established in 1979 and joined the UAE Chess League in June 1981 with the objective of spreading the game across the Sharjah emirate.