The third edition of the Qatar Masters Championship continued today at the Lusail Sports Arena, featuring a lineup of some of the world’s top chess champions. The competition will run until Oct. 20.
In attendance for the second round of competitions was HE Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy Hassan Al Thawadi. He made the opening move alongside President of Qatar Chess Federation and the organizing committee Mohammed Al Mudahka, President of the UAE Chess Federation Tarim Matar Tarim, and the chief arbiter of the tournament Freyd Laurent, as well as several officials from participating federations.
The tournament follows a Swiss system format with 9 rounds, with each player having 90 minutes for the game plus 30 seconds per move. It has attracted 250 players from 45 countries, including 62 Grandmasters representing 16 Arab countries. India boasts the highest number of participants with 76 players and female players.
The total prize fund for the Qatar Masters International
Open Chess Championship is $120,000.
Qatar’s International Master Husain Aziz, ranked 141st in the tournament, lost to his German opponent Raphael Lagunow. This the second consecutive loss for Aziz.
Magnus Carlsen, the world’s top-ranked player, also faced a surprising loss in the second round against his Kazakh opponent, Alisher Suleymenov, who is ranked 47th in the tournament. This came as a major upset after Carlsen won his first game.
Al Mudahka expressed his delight with the atmosphere at the third edition of the competition, which features elite world-ranked players, including 152 internationally titled players. He mentioned that the second day of competition witnessed many intense matches, particularly Carlsen’s game, and also the and Hikaru Nakamura’s game. The opening round also saw some surprises with draws in several matches involving top-ranked players.
Al Mudahka highlighted the efforts of the organizing committee to provide a unique experience and acknowledged the significant contributions f
rom the Ministry of Culture and Sports to achieve the desired level of success in organizing the tournament.
In conclusion, Al Mudahka thanked the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy for their presence at the tournament and the positive initiative of distributing gifts to all players. He expressed the goal of maintaining the championship’s reputation, mentioning that the international B tournament also features the participation of several young Qatari players who have had very positive results in the first two rounds.
Source: Qatar News Agency