Grebnev hangs on to slim lead despite draw

A draw was sufficient for Grandmaster (GM) Aleksey Grebnev to maintain his half-point lead after a catastrophic collapse by one of his closest pursuers in the eighth round of the 25th Dubai Open Chess Tournament at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club.

Grebnev of Russia upped his score to 6.5 points after a relatively short, uneventful 21-move draw with Iran’s GM Sina Movahed, one of two players who were just half a point behind the tournament leader.

Grebnev’s compatriot GM Ivan Zemlyanskii, the other player within striking distance of the lead, dropped out of the running for the championship after losing to Armenia’s GM Shant Sargsyan. Movahed, Sargsyan, and Spain’s GM Alan Pichot, who defeated IM Rohith Krishna S of India, closely trail Grebnev with six points each going into the final round.

Playing the white pieces in an Italian Game, Sargsyan sacrificed a pawn that created room for his pieces to operate on both sides of the board.

Looking for counterplay, Zemlyanskii decided to strike in the centre with a pawn break on the d-file, a flawed plan that allowed Sargsyan to win back the sacrificed material and enter the endgame with a strategically won position.

Zemlyanskii stirred the game into complications in a bid to provoke errors and create practical chances, but despite a few imprecisions in technique, Sargsyan maintained control and converted with a tactical blow to finish the game.

Grebnev will take on Sargsyan in Wednesday’s final round, while Movahed faces Pichot, with all four players in the running for the title.

In Category B, after six straight wins to start the tournament, Fide Master (FM) Mahdi Nikookar conceded a second consecutive draw, allowing India’s Candidate Master (CM) Alankar Sawai Vandan to tie him for the lead. Nikookar drew his game with India’s M. Mridav, while Vandan defeated Sri Lanka’s Pesandu Rashmitha Liyanage. Both have seven points, a full point ahead of five others.

Tournament format, schedule, prizes 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 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. International arbiter team & live coverage International Arbiter Majed Al Abdooli of the UAE spearheads the tournament’s international team of arbiters who will manage and oversee the competition.

Chess fans from around the world can watch the Category A games live on the club’s website as well as chess platforms such as lichess.org and chess.com.