Grandmasters Muradli, Grebnev share lead at Dubai Open Chess Tournament

Grandmaster (GM) Mahammad Muradli bolstered his quest to defend his title after picking up his third straight point in as many rounds on Thursday night in the 25th Dubai Open Chess Tournament at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club.

Muradli of Azerbaijan is in a two-way with Russia’s teenage talent GM Aleksey Grebnev for the lead going into the next round, where both players will face off for the tournament’s sole leadership.

In it’s 25-year history the Dubai Open has seen only two players winning the title twice, and both times in back-to-back fashion - GM Gawain Jones of the UK (2016-17) and GM Aravindh Chithambaram of India (2022-23). It will be an uphill battle for Muradli to become the third player to achieve the feat against a tough GM-laden field, but the Azerbaijani is off to a good start.

Muradli defeated Austria’s International Master (IM) Dotzer Lukas with the white pieces in a Reti Opening that quickly spiraled into a complex middlegame. Lukas signaled his aggressive intentions early by offering a pawn sacrifice on the third move, which Muradli declined. The Austrian then launched a serious kingside assault, prompting Muradli to secure his king on the queenside, but Lukas was severely running short on time-a factor that played a major role in his eventual loss.

Grebnev won over Fide Master (FM) Panesar Vedant in a Larsen Attack opening where the 18-year-old Russian ripped open the Indian’s kingside defense with his major pieces. Grebnev said he used an attacking idea successfully employed by Dutch number one Anish Giri in a game last year at the Tata Steel Masters.

“My opponent was not prepared for this line and he made a few mistakes and missed some tactics,” said Grebnev, who is playing in his fourth straight tournament this month - from the Rusian Team Championship in Sochi that started in late April, to the Asian Individual Championship in Al Ain, Sharjah Masters, and now the Dubai Open.

“I’m fine,” he said of his demanding schedule. “It’s my fourth tournament in a row, so I just want to show a good game.”

The matches between the four other second-round leaders ended in draws, including top-seed GM Nihal Sarin of India who could only manage half a point against compatriot IM Rohith Krishna. Playing the black pieces, Sarin sacrificed a knight on the 17th move to pry open Krishna’s kingside and create a potentially dangerous passed pawn. Krishna defended accurately and the game petered out into a drawn endgame. GM Yair Parkhov of Israel also halved the point with IM Nitish Belurkar of India. The four players dropped half a point behind Muradli and Grebnev with 2.5 points each.

In Category B, five players led by Iran’s FM Mahdi Nikookar share the lead with three points each. Nikookar, the seventh seed and the highest-rated player among the leaders, defeated India’s Shashish Subbiah for his third straight point. Also with three points are Mukund Hemant Agarwal of India, FM Syed Mahfuzur Rahman of Bangladesh, Zhang Zhi of China, and Candidate Master (CM) Alankar Sawai Vandan of India.

The tournament offers a prize pool of $52,000 to be handed out to the winners of both categories. Category A, contested by players with a rating over 2300, has a total prize fund of $39,500 with $12,000 going to the champion, while Category B, open to players rated below 2300, offers $12,500 in total prizes and $2,000 awarded to the champion.

Special prizes will also be distributed to top performers among rating categories, unrated, youth, women, and UAE players.

The tournament follows a 9-round Swiss system with a 90-minute time control plus a 30-second increment per move. Games are played every day from 5pm, except the final round on June 4, which starts at 10am. The awarding ceremony is on June 5.

Earlier, Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri clinched the Masters title after securing 7 points out of 9 rounds at the recently concluded Sharjah Masters Chess Championship, marking the first time a European player has won the championship. Serbian Grandmaster Aleksandar Indjic and top-seeded Uzbek Grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov both scored 6.5 points, with Indjic taking second place and Abdusattorov finishing third on tiebreaks. Winners of the B and C categories were also honored during the ceremony.