Tribune News Network
Doha
The Qatar Chess Association (QCA) on Wednesday revealed preparations for fourth edition of the $108,000 Qatar Masters International Open which sees world’s top chess stars participating and will be held at the Aspire Zone from December 2 to 12.
Providing details at a press conference at the Torch Hotel, the organizing committee stressed that preparations were in the final touches to stage the tournament in Doha once again after the 2014, 2015 and 2023 editions.
Mohammed Al Mudhahka, President of QCA, said that 300 male and female players representing 25 countries will be taking part at Qatar Masters 2024, and that India has the largest contingent with 110 players.
Al Mudhahka added that the registration has closed and Uzbek GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, runner-up in the last tournament, will be at the forefront of the participating stars along with compatriot GM Nodirbek Yakubboev, winner of the last edition. Also competing would be India’s GM Arjun Erigaisi and GM D Gukesh besides Iranian GM Parham Maghsoudlou.
Al Mudhahka pointed out the IM Hussein Aziz will represent Qatar at the tournament in Group A while the Emirati champion Salem Abdulrahman, who won the Best Arab Player award in the last edition for the fourth time, will also be present besides many Arab players including Egyptian Adham Fawzy.
The QCA president also confirmed the presence of the world’s number one Indian WGM and IM Divya Deshmukh, along with compatriot Vantika Agrawal.
Five-time world champion Norwegian Magnus Carlsen won’t be playing in the tournament this time after being seen in the past three editions with commitments to several international events and crowded international agenda preventing him from attending the Doha event.
Al Mudahka said: “We would be missing Carlsen as also American Hikaru Nakamura, one of the top ranked players, and the Dutch-based Anish Giri after they participated in the previous edition, but efforts are on regarding the participation of some top-ranked players. All players are keen to confirm participation, the winner of which shall receive $25,000.”
Al Mudhahka, who also holds the position of Director of International Relations at FIDE, stressed on the strong relationship between QCA and the International Chess Federation, which classifies the tournament among the best open tournaments in the world. The 2015 edition previously won the award for the best open tournament in the world, and the new edition is the last tournament in 2024, the winner of will move on to participate at the next World Championship.
The QCA also revealed the organization of International B Championship within the tournament, which will witness a large participation. The Qatar team will be represented by 20 players. The organization of the tournament aims to provide an opportunity for many players to raise their level of classification and interact with different chess schools in the world, explained Al Mudahka.
Regarding the benefit of organizing this tournament for players ranked under 2500 ranking points, Al-Mudhahka said: “In recent years, we have been keen to promote chess with the Schools Project (Naqla), which is a very important project that includes 12 government schools, and there is cooperation with the Qatar Foundation in this framework, and thus the participation of Qatari players in this tournament in order to hone their skills and enhance the chess movement.”
The QCA President thanked the Ministry of Sports and Youth for its great support for the tournament, which he said will help chess grow in Qatar.
For his part, Hamad Al Tamimi, Executive Director of QCA and Director of the Tournament, said the tournament competitions at Aspire Zone represents an important addition as the venue, noting that the organizing committee will organize some accompanying events on the sidelines of the tournament, and various activities related to chess for those interested and the public.
