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French GM Romain Edouard (right) beat top seed Anton Korobov of Ukraine in yesterday’s final round to win the 16th Dubai Open Chess Championship. Looking on are Dubai Chess Club Mohammed Husseini of Egypt (right) and Deputy Chief Arbiter IA Naji Mohamed Al Radhi of the UAE.
Round 9
French GM Romain Edouard, 23, defeated top seed GM Anton Korobov of Ukraine yesterday to win the 16th Dubai Open Chess Championship alone in first place, undefeated with an impressive 8 points out of 9 rounds. Edouard won the Sheikh Rashid bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Cup and the top cash prize of $10,000 in the event organized by the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai, UAE.
The Frenchman played the Black side of a Queen’s Pawn game and sacrificed the exchange of a Rook for Knight on the 30th move to expose his opponent’s castled King. Faced with a mating net, Korobov resigned two moves later.
Erstwhile leader GM Abhijeet Gupta of India lost to GM Eduardo Iturrizaga of Venezuela. Gupta used the Gruenfeld defense but was squeezed in as Iturrizaga maintained the initiative of the White pieces and controlled the center files. Gupta was forced to exchange Queens on the 22nd move and lost two pawns which proved crucial in the endgame where he resigned on the 51st move. The win gave Iturrizaga a total of 7 points and a share of 2nd and 3rd places.
GM Yuriy Kozubov of Ukraine extracted revenge against Russian GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov to finish in a tie Iturrizaga at 7 points each. Kuzubov crushed the Modern Defense of Rakhmanov in 58 moves. The Ukrainian created passed pawns on both wings and managed to promote his pawn to a Queen when the Russian resigned on the 58th move.
Gupta finished in a tie for 4th to 9th places at 6.5 points each together with GMs Zaven Andriasian and Tigran L. Petrosian of Armenia, Hrvoje Stevic of Croatia, Andrei Istratescu of France and Gawai Jones of England. Andriasian beat GM Anuar Ismagambetov of Kazakhstan, Petrosian outplayed IM Ebrahim Ahmadinia of Iran, Stevic and Jones drew with each other while Istratescu won over Pontus Carlsson of Sweden.
Nineteen other players trail with 6 points each to share in the spoils of the $50,000 total prize fund, namely Korobov Anton of Ukraine, Rakhmanov Aleksandr or Russia, Akopian Vladimir of Armenia, Kotsur Pavel and Petr Kostenko of Kazakhstan, Balogh Csaba of Hungary, Rahman Ziaur of Bangladesh, Brkic Ante and Jankovic Alojzije of Croatia, Ghaem Maghami Ehsan of Iran, Solak Dragan of Turkey, Shyam Sundar and Babu Lalith of India, Bogner Sebastian and IM Nico Georgiadis of Switzerland, Amin Bassem of Egypt, Iordachescu Viorel of Moldova, Mchedlishvili Mikheil of Georgia, Stojanovic Mihajlo of Serbia.
French GM Romain Edouard (second from left) receives the cup and winner’s prize from General Secretary Ibrahim Abdulmalik of the General Authority of Youth and Sports. Looking on are, from left, Dr. Ahmed Al Sharif, General Secretary of the Dubai Sports Council, Dubai Chess Club president Ibrahim Al Bannai and General Coordinator Mohammed Husseini.
A total of 148 players from 39 countries participated in the 16th Dubai Open Chess Championship including 38 GMs and 8 WGMs, 16 IMs, 3 WIMs, 10 FMs and 5 WFMs. Since its inception in 1999, the Dubai Open has been considered one of the major Swiss open tournaments in the chess world. Top boards were broadcast live on the Dubai Chess Club web site where viewers may download games and photos and find links to round by round video coverage on Youtube. Visit chess-results.com for results and final standings.
Round 8: French, Indian GMs in 1-2 position
Grandmasters Romain Edouard of France and Abhijeet Gupta of India beat their respective 8th round opponents to lead alone in first and second slots, respectively, after the penultimate round of the Dubai Open Chess Championship at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai.
Edouard smashed the Modern Benoni defense of GM Anuar Ismagambetov of Kazakhstan by controlling the center and attacking on the kingside. Constricted in space and facing a mating attack, Ismagambetov resigned on the 31st move, giving solo lead to Edouard at 7 points.
Edouard (left) and Ismagambetov shake hands before the match...
... while Gupta (right) ponders his strategy against Sebastian Bogner of Switzerland.
Gupta crushed the Slav Defense of GM Sebastian Bogner of Switzerland, penetrating with his Rook on the seventh rank on move 25. Bogner was forced to give the exchange on the 37th move and resigned six moves later. Gupta is alone in second slot with 6.5 points.
Six players trail with 6 points each, namely GMs Hrvoje Stevic of Croatia, top seed Anton Korobov and Yuriy Kuzubov of Ukraine, Aleksandr Rakhmanov of Russia, Eduardo Iturrizaga of Venezuela and Gawain Jones of England.
In the 8th round, Korobov beat GM Axel Bachmann of Paraguay, Jones outplayed GM Pavel Kotsur of Kazakhstan, Iturrizaga won over GM Goran Dizdar of Croatia, Rakhmanov bested GM Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh, Stevic beat GM Petr Kostenko of Kazakhstan and Kuzubov outplayed GM Mihajlo Stojanovic of Serbia.
Sixteen players follow with 5.5 points each in the race for the $50,000 in cash prizes for the top 16 places with a first prize of $10,000.
In the 9th and last round, leader Romain Edouard faces top seed GM Antono Korobov, Abhijeet Gupta meets Eduardo Iturrizaga, Stevic and Jones play each other while Ukraine’s GM Yuriy Kuzubov has a chance to get even with Russian GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov.
The tournament is free for spectators and starts 5:30pm at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai. Closing ceremony is at 7pm on 16th April.
Other exciting last round matches among 5.5 pointers, with first named playing White and GMs unless otherwise indicated, are: Andrei Istratescu (FRA) vs. Pontus Carlsson (SWE), Sebastian Bogner (SUI) vs. Csaba Balogh (HUN), Ante Brkic (CRO) vs. Bassem Amin (EGY), Ehsan Ghaem Maghami (IRI) vs. Dragan Solak (TUR), Alojzije Jankovic (CRO) vs. Mokhjeil Mchedlishvili (GEO), Tigran Petrosian (ARM) vs. Ebrahim Ahmadinia (IRI), Anuar Ismagambetov (KAZ) vs. Zaven Andriasian (ARM) and Sundar Shyam (IND) vs. Babu Lalith (IND).
Solo leader GM Romain Edouard (right) shakes hands with GM Sebastian Bogner of Swtizerland on table 1...
... while Indian GM Abhijeet Gupta (left) drew with GM Anton Kuzubov of Ukraine on table 2
Round 7
Grandmaster Romain Edouard of France maintained solo lead after 7 rounds of the Dubai Open Chess Championship as leaders tread carefully to draws in the homestretch at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai, UAE.
Edouard declined the Queen’s Gambit of GM Sebastian Bogner of Switzerland and an early exchange of Queens on the 9th move led to a drawn Rook and Pawn endgame as they halved the point on the 31st move. The truce kept the solo lead for Edouard at 6 points. Bogner follows half a point behind at 5.5 points together with Indian GM Abhijeet Gupta and GM Anuar Ismagambetov of Kazakhstan.
Gupta used the Gruenfeld Defense to reach the Rook and Knight endgame a pawn up against GM Yuriy Kuzubov of Ukraine when they drew on the 42nd move after a repetition of position.
Ismagambetov essayed the Steinitz Defense of the Ruy Lopez to beat GM Viorel Iordachescu of Moldova. Iordachescu had to give up two Knights for a Rook on the 33rd move and, faced with futher loss of a piece, resigned on the 45th move.
Kuzubov and 18 other players are bunched together with 5 points each, namely Grandmasters Eduardo Itirruzaga of Venezuela, top see Anton Korbov of Ukarine, Hrvoje Stevic, Ante Brkic and Goran Dizdar of Croatia, Zaven Andriasian and Tigran Petrosian of Armenia, Axel Bachmann of Paraguay, Pavel Kotsur and Petr Kostenko of Kazakhstan, Aleksandr Rakhmanov of Russia, Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran, Csaba Balogh of Hungary, Bassem Amin of Egypt, Mihajlo Stojanovic of Serbia, Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh, Gawain Jones of England and IM Nico Georgiadis of Switzerland.
In the penultimate 8th round, Edouard is paired with GM Ismagambetov while Gupta faces Bogner in the top two matches. In the homestretch, leaders take fewer risks and usually tread careful draws.
Top boards are broadcast live at the Dubai Chess Club web site with photo gallery, games download and links to video coverage on Youtube. See results and standings in chess-results.com. At stake is the Sheikh Rashid bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Cup. A total of $50,000 in cash prizes is up for grabs for the first 16 places with a top prize of $10,000 for the champion.
Games are open free to the public and start 5:30 pm at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai. Among the 5 pointers, round 8 matches pit (first named play White) Korobov vs. Bahmann, Balogh vs. Brkic, Jones vs. Kotsur, Sojanovic vs. Kuzubov, Amin vs Ghaem, Dizdar vs. Iturrizaga, Andriasian vs. Petrosian, Rakhmanov vs. Rahman, Kostenko vs. Stevic and Dragan Solak of Turkey vs. Georgiadis.
Iturrizaga (second from right) receives the champion’s trophy from Nageeb Saleh of the Organizing Committee. Looking on are Dubai Chess Club General Coordinator Mohammed Husseini (left) and Chief Arbiter Mahdi Abdulrahim (right).
Round 6
French Grandmaster Romain Edouard won in the 5th and 6th rounds on Saturday to grab solo lead with 5-1/2 points at the homestretch of the Dubai Open Chess Championship at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai. Edouard beat two former Dubai Open champions, erstwhile solo leader Abhijeet Gupta of India in the morning 5th round and GM Vladimir Akopian of Armenia in the evening 6th round.
Gupta essayed the Queen’s Gambit and had a strong attack against Edouard but miscalculated his Knight sacrifice on the 43rd move and resigned five moves later. In the evening, Edouard penetrated the Sicilian Defense of Akopian with two Rooks on the seventh rank and transposed to the endgame with the advantage of two pieces for a Rook. Facing two passed pawns, Akopian resigned on the 74th move.
Gupta and Sebastian Bogner of Switzerland trail in second slot at 5 points each. In round 6, Gupta beat GM Pavel Kotsur of Kazakhstan while Bogner made short work of GM Constantin Lupulescu of Romaina. Thirteen players are bunched together with 4.5 points each, namely, Grandmasters Axel Bachmann of Paraguay, Eduardo Iturrizaga of Venezuela, Hrvoje Stevic and Ante Brkic of Croatia, Zaven Andriasian of Armenia, Anuar Ismagambetov of Kazakhstan, Anton Korobov and Yuriy Kuzubov of Ukraine, Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran, Aleksandr Rakhmanov of Russia, Viorel Iordachescu of Moldova, Tigran L. Petrosian of Armenia and Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh.
In round 6, Rahman smashed the Modern Defense of Istratescu in 72 moves, Petrosian used the Slav Defense to beat GM Babu Lalith of India in 56 moves while Brkic beat Amirreza Pourramezanali of Iran from the black side of a Guico Piano when he was about to promote a pawn on the 63rd move.
The other games among the leaders were drawn. Akopian, Kotsur and 27 other players trail with 4 points each with 3 rounds to go in the 9-round Swiss System tournament.
On the free day last Friday, GM Eduardo Iturrizaga of Venezuela won the Dubai Open Blitz championship where players have five minutes each for the whole game. Fifty five players joined the one-day 9-round Swiss and four players ended in a tie with 7 points each. Sudden death tie break matches were held. In the semifinals, Iturrizaga beat Yuriy Kuzubov of Ukraine while Tigran Petrosian of Armenia thrashed Romain Edouard. In the finals Iturrizaga beat Petrosian to claim the blitz title.
Top boards are broadcast live at the Dubai Chess Club web site with photo gallery, games download and links to video coverage on Youtube. See results and standings in chess-results.com. A total of $50,000 in cash prizes is up for grabs for the first 16 places with a top prize of $10,000 for the champion.
GM Abhijeet Gupta
Round 4: Indian GM Abhijeet Gupta grabs solo lead in Dubai Open Chess Championship
Former Dubai Open champion GM Abhijeet Gupta of India grabbed solo lead of the 16th Dubai Open Chess Championship at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Gupta beat giant killer International Master Hatim Al-Hadarani of Yemen to be alone with 4 points out of as many rounds.
Gupta turned back Al-Hadarani’s pet opening, the Colle System. The Indian GM transposed to a Rook and pawn ending and threatened to advance his pawns to force resignation on the 28th move.
In the race for $50,000 in cash prizes, six players are bunched together in second slot with 3.5 points each, namely GMs Edouard Romain of France, Zaven Andriasian of Armenia, Eduardo Iturrizaga of Venezuela, Constantin Lupulescu of Romania, Axel Bachmann of Paraguay and Anuar Ismagambetov of Kazakhstan.
Lupulescu crushed the Dutch Defense of GM Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh in 36 moves. Andriasin used the English opening and gained the Rook for Bishop exchange to force resignation on the 63rd move.
The other games among the leaders were hard fought draws. Romain essayed the Queen’s Gambit Declined against Axel Bachmann to draw in 53 moves. Iturrizaga used the Sicilian Defense against Ismagambetov and forced a draw by three time repetition of position on the 50th move.
There were no games on Friday. On Saturday, Gupta plays White against Edouard Romain. In other top matches Bachman faces Lupulescu, Iturrizaga plays Andriasian and Istratescu goes up against Ismagambetov.
Games are scheduled 5:30 pm daily except on the rest day, Friday, when there will be a blitz tournament. The strong field includes 38 Grandmasters and 8 Woman Grandmasters, 16 International Masters, 3 Woman International Masters, 10 FIDE Masters and 5 Woman FIDE Masters.
The tournament is going on until 16th April at the Dubai Culture and Chess Club. Top boards are broadcast live at the Dubai Chess Club web site with photo gallery, games download and links to video coverage on Youtube. See results and standings in chess-results.com.
Cash prizes shall be awarded the top 16 places with a top prize of $10,000 for the champion. Special prizes shall be awarded to Arab players and ladies, local players and club players.
Indian Grandmasters Grover Sahaj vs. Abhijeet Gupta (right)
Round 3
Former Dubai Open champion GM Abhijeet Gupta of India and five other Grandmasters share the lead with perfect scores after three rounds of the 16th Dubai Open Chess Championship at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai, UAE.
Gupta crushed the Nimzo Indian defense of compatriot GM Grover Sahaj in 58 moves to register 3 points in a tie for the lead with GMs Edouard Romain of France, Alex Bachmann of Paraguay, Eduardo Iturrizaga of Venezuela and Anuar Ismagambetov of Kazakhstan, and FM Hatim Al-Hadarani of Yemen.
Romain used the Queen’s Gambit Accepted to turn back GM Pavel Kotsur of Kazakhstan in 46 moves. Ismagambetov beat GM Baseem Amin of Egypt in 42 moves of a Ruy Lopez game. Iturrizaga smashed the King’s Indian Defense of GM Pontus Carlsson of Sweden in 35 moves. Bachmann needed only 29 moves of a Catalan opening to beat untitled 15-year-old V. Karthik of India.
FIDE Master Hatim Al-Hadarani of Yemen continued his giant killing ways. Al-Hadarani used the Colle System to penetrate with his major artillery and threaten mate against GM Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan in 32 moves. Al-Hadarani had beaten GM Goran Dizdar of Croatia in the previous round.
Eighteen players follow with 2-1/2 points each in the race for $50,000 in cash prizes. A total of 143 players from 39 countries are competing in the 9-round Swiss system tournament.
Games are scheduled 5:30 pm daily except on the rest day, Friday, when there will be a blitz tournament. The strong field includes 38 Grandmasters and 8 Woman Grandmasters, 16 International Masters, 3 Woman International Masters, 10 FIDE Masters and 5 Woman FIDE Masters.
The tournament is scheduled until 16th April at the Dubai Culture and Chess Club. Top boards are broadcast live at the Dubai Chess Club web site with photo gallery, games download and links to video coverage on Youtube for rounds one, two and three. See results and standings in chess-results.com.
The clash of leaders in the next round pit GM Edouard Romain against GM Axel Bachmann, GM Ismagambetov vs. GM Iturrizaga and FM Al-Hadarani against GM Gupta.
Cash prizes shall be awarded the top 16 places with a top prize of $10,000 for the champion. Special prizes shall be awarded to Arab players and ladies, local players and club players, and for the blitz tournament.
GM Abhijeet Gupta ponders his move with the black pieces against IM Nezad of Qatar as Filipino giant killer Jobannie Tabada looks on in back.
Round 2: Gupta and 4 other Indian players among leaders in Dubai Open Chess Championship
Upsets rocked the second round of the $50,000 Dubai Open Chess Championship the other day at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai as former champion Abhijeet Gupta and four other Indian players maintained their share of the lead after two rounds of the tournament.
Young Indian players remained tied with the leaders at 2 points each. GM Debashis Das, 21, GM Shyan Sundar, 22, GM Grover Sahaj, 19, IM Ghosh Diptayan and 15-year-old Karthik V. Ap kept pace with the lead pack. The teenager, who is accompanied by his mother, upset Grandmaster Athanasios Mastrovasilis, 2535, of Greece. In a Closed Ruy Lopez game, Karthik, rated 2250, had two pawns up in the minor piece ending to win on the 58th move.
Gupta needed only 31 moves of a Gruenfeld defense to outplay International Master Nezad Husein Aziz of Qatar. Grover also made short work of Gustav Halvarsson of Sweden in 34 moves of a Scotch Four Knights Game. Diptayan used the Slav Defense to threaten mate after 35 moves.
Untitled Filipino Jobannie Tabada, president of the Dubai-based Filipino Chess Players League, upset the French Defense of GM Petr Kostenko (2506) of Kazakhstan in a marathon 75 moves to tie for the lead at 2 points. The Filipino was about to promote his pawn when the Kazak resigned on the 75th move.
It was a day for upsets as FIDE Master Hatim Hadarani (2249) of Yemen used the Gruenfeld Defense to shock GM Goran Dizdar (2513) of Croatia in 38 moves.
Grandmasters with perfect scores after two rounds are Zaven Andriasian of Armenia, Stevic Hrvoje, Jankovic Alojzige and Ante Brkic of Croatia, Amin Bassem of Egypt, Edouard Romain and Andrei Istratescu of France, Csaba Balogh of Hungary, Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran, Rinat Jumabayev, Pavel Kotsur and Anuar Esmagambetov of Kazakhstan, Axel Bachmann of Paraguay, Constantin Lupulescu of Romania, Anton Korobov of Ukarine, and Eduardo iturrizaga of Venezuela and FM Amin Tabatabaei of Iran.
At stake in the tournament is the Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Al maktoum Cup. The event will be played as a 9-round Swiss system competition. Games are scheduled 5:30 pm daily except on the rest day, Friday, when there will be a blitz tournament. The strong field includes 38 Grandmasters and 8 Woman Grandmasters, 16 International Masters, 3 Woman International Masters, 10 FIDE Masters and 5 Woman FIDE Masters. The tournament is scheduled until 16th April at the Dubai Culture and Chess Club. Top boards are broadcast live at the Dubai Chess Club web site with photo gallery and games download. See results and standings in chess-results.com
Round 1: Dubai Open Chess Championship
The Dubai Open Chess Championship reeled off Monday with a strong field of 143 players from 39 countries seeing action at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai, UAE. Heading the list are 38 top Grandmasters competing for $50,000 in cash prizes.
Fourteen Indian players won their first round assignments to take the early lead with other favorites in the 16th Dubai Open Chess Championship at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Young Indian Grandmasters led the charge as 19-year-old GM Grover Sahaj, Shyam Sundar, 22, Debashis Das, 21, and former champion Abhijeet Gupta, 25, outplayed their opponents. Other Indians joining the lead pack also with 1 point each are International Masters Ghosh Diptayan, Ashwin Jayaram, Swapnil Dhopade and Das Sayatan, Candidate Master Prince Bajaj and untitled Nandu Gagarin, Karthik V. Ap, Deshpande Aniruddha, Abhishek Kelkar and Krishna C.R.G.
Twenty year old Woman Grandmaster Mona Khaled of Egypt, 89th seed, rocked the tournament with her upset victory over highly ranked 14th seed GM Tigran Petrosian of Armenia, rated 2647.
At stake in the tournament is the Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Al maktoum Cup. The event will be played as a 9-round Swiss system competition. Games are scheduled 5:30 pm daily except on the rest day, Friday, when there will be a blitz tournament. The strong field includes 38 Grandmasters and 8 Woman Grandmasters, 16 International Masters, 3 Woman International Masters, 10 FIDE Masters and 5 Woman FIDE Masters.
GM Anton Korobov of Ukraine heads the list with a rating of 2698 followed by former Dubai Open champion Vladimir Akopian with 2674. Twenty players rated over 2600 are strong contenders for the crown. Since its inception in 1999, the Dubai Open has been considered one of the major Swiss open tournaments in the chess world.
The tournament is scheduled from 7th to 16th April at the Dubai Culture and Chess Club. Top boards are broadcast live at http://www.dubaichess.ae/dubaiopen2014/ in the Dubai Chess Club web site. See results and standings in http://www.chess-results.com/tnr130214.aspx?lan=1&wi=821&turdet=YES. Chief Arbiter is Mahdi Abdulrahim of the UAE while Tournament Director is Dubai Chess Club manager Mohammed Husseiny.
Other Grandmasters with one point each are Anton Korobov of Ukraine, Vladimir Akopian and Zaven Andirasian of Armenia, Edouard Romain and Andrei Istratescu of France, Constantin Lupulescu of Romania, Csaba Balogh of Hungary, Amin Bassem of Egypt, Eduardo Iturrizaga of Venezuela, Dragan Solak of Turkey, Mikheil Mchedlishvili of Georgia, Aleksandr Rakhmanov of Russia, Hrvoje Stevic, Alozije Jankovic, Goran Dizdar and Ante Brkic of Croatia, Viorel Iordachescu of Moldova, Axel Bachman of Paraguay, Sebastian Bogner of Switzerland, Rinat Jumabayev, Petr Kostenko, Anuar Ismagamberov and Pavel Kotsur of Kazakhstan, Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran, Athanasios Mastrovasilis of Greece, Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh, Slavko Cicak and Carlsson Pontus of Sweden.
Starting the clock on top board between GM Anton Korobov (right) and WIM Ivana Maria Furtado, are, from left: Chief Arbiter Mahdi Abdulrahim, General Secretary Ahmad Al-Fardan of the Sharjah Sports Council, Dubai Chess Club president Ibrahim Al Bannai, General Secretary Ibrahim Abdulmalik of the General Authority of Youth and Sports, Sharjah Chess Club president Sheikh Saud Al Mualla and Vice President Abdulaziz Khoory of the UAE Chess Federation.
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