Tribune News Network
Doha
Top-seed Arjun Erigaisi of India made a winning start to his Qatar Masters Chess 2024 campaign but defending champion Nodirbek Yakubboev and last year’s runner-up and World No. 6 Nodirbek Abdusattorov (both Uzbekistan) suffered opening round reversals at the Aspire Zone Hall on Tuesday.
Abdusattorov went down to the 71st seed FIDE Master Reza Mahdavi of Iran while his compatriot Yakubboev (seed No. 9) lost to India’s IM Amith Doshi Moksh in his opening game. The 22-year-old GM Yakubboev had won the tournament title last year in a blitz play-off.
There were no hic-cups for Erigaisi, who outsmarted Uzbek IM Mukhammadali Abdurakhmonov.
Earlier, the fourth edition of the prestigious Qatar Masters Open got underway with Mohammed Al Mudahka, President of Qatar Chess Association, in presence of several key officials, made the first official move in the opening round match between Erigaisi and Abdurakhmonov.
Al Mudahka expressed his delight at organizing the fourth edition of the tournament, emphasizing the extensive preparations made to ensure grand success having attracted top-ranked players from around the world.
Chief Arbiter Laurent Freyd highlighted the significance of the event in fostering global talent, adding that Qatar’s organizational excellence will contribute to the event’s success. He thanked Qatar for its efforts in promoting chess in the region, noting the importance of events of this calibre in nurturing the next generation of players.
There were more intriguing results on the opening day of the ten-day tournament with several top-ranked players including No.3 seed GM Parham Maghsoodloo and GM M Amin Tabatabaei being held by much lower-ranked players.
Iran’s Maghsoodloo was held to a draw by Mongolia’s IM Ganzorig Amartuvshin while his compatriot Tabatabaei agreed to a surprising draw with FM Artin Ashraf.
India’s IM Vantika Agrawal also moved spotlight on her holding Uzbekistan’s GM Vladislav Artemiev to a draw.
Qatar’s International Master Husain Aziz, meanwhile, earned an impressive draw against China’s IM Zhihang Xu, seeded 35th.
As many as 300 players representing 25 countries are participating in the tournament being held according to the Swiss system of 9 rounds "90 minutes per round + 30 seconds per move”.
The Qatar Masters Open B tournament also got underway on Tuesday with the participation of 153 players from 40 countries, competing at ratings under 2300.
Qatar’s CM Erfan Mohamad Firdaus beat Uzbekistan’s Abdulazizova Asmirakhon in his opening match while Firdaus’ compatrior Turki Al Kuwari secured a win over Englishman Alexander Torchinsky.
Khaled Aljamaat beat his Qatari compatriot Mohammed Al Subaiey, while CM Hamad Al Kuwari drew with Pakistan’s Muhammad Khan and Abdulrahman Al Atas shared a point with Tharun Ashok Kumar of India.