Latest news with #Muradli
Gulf Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- Gulf Today
Grandmasters Muradli, Grebnev share lead at Dubai Open Chess Tournament
Grandmaster (GM) Mahammad Muradli bolstered his quest to defend his title after picking up his third straight point in as many rounds on Thursday night in the 25th Dubai Open Chess Tournament at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club. Muradli of Azerbaijan is in a two-way with Russia's teenage talent GM Aleksey Grebnev for the lead going into the next round, where both players will face off for the tournament's sole leadership. In it's 25-year history the Dubai Open has seen only two players winning the title twice, and both times in back-to-back fashion - GM Gawain Jones of the UK (2016-17) and GM Aravindh Chithambaram of India (2022-23). It will be an uphill battle for Muradli to become the third player to achieve the feat against a tough GM-laden field, but the Azerbaijani is off to a good start. Muradli defeated Austria's International Master (IM) Dotzer Lukas with the white pieces in a Reti Opening that quickly spiraled into a complex middlegame. Lukas signaled his aggressive intentions early by offering a pawn sacrifice on the third move, which Muradli declined. The Austrian then launched a serious kingside assault, prompting Muradli to secure his king on the queenside, but Lukas was severely running short on time-a factor that played a major role in his eventual loss. Grebnev won over Fide Master (FM) Panesar Vedant in a Larsen Attack opening where the 18-year-old Russian ripped open the Indian's kingside defense with his major pieces. Grebnev said he used an attacking idea successfully employed by Dutch number one Anish Giri in a game last year at the Tata Steel Masters. 'My opponent was not prepared for this line and he made a few mistakes and missed some tactics,' said Grebnev, who is playing in his fourth straight tournament this month - from the Rusian Team Championship in Sochi that started in late April, to the Asian Individual Championship in Al Ain, Sharjah Masters, and now the Dubai Open. 'I'm fine,' he said of his demanding schedule. 'It's my fourth tournament in a row, so I just want to show a good game.' The matches between the four other second-round leaders ended in draws, including top-seed GM Nihal Sarin of India who could only manage half a point against compatriot IM Rohith Krishna. Playing the black pieces, Sarin sacrificed a knight on the 17th move to pry open Krishna's kingside and create a potentially dangerous passed pawn. Krishna defended accurately and the game petered out into a drawn endgame. GM Yair Parkhov of Israel also halved the point with IM Nitish Belurkar of India. The four players dropped half a point behind Muradli and Grebnev with 2.5 points each. In Category B, five players led by Iran's FM Mahdi Nikookar share the lead with three points each. Nikookar, the seventh seed and the highest-rated player among the leaders, defeated India's Shashish Subbiah for his third straight point. Also with three points are Mukund Hemant Agarwal of India, FM Syed Mahfuzur Rahman of Bangladesh, Zhang Zhi of China, and Candidate Master (CM) Alankar Sawai Vandan of India. 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. 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 awarding ceremony is on June 5. Earlier, Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri clinched the Masters title after securing 7 points out of 9 rounds at the recently concluded Sharjah Masters Chess Championship, marking the first time a European player has won the championship. Serbian Grandmaster Aleksandar Indjic and top-seeded Uzbek Grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov both scored 6.5 points, with Indjic taking second place and Abdusattorov finishing third on tiebreaks. Winners of the B and C categories were also honored during the ceremony.
Al Etihad
4 days ago
- Sport
- Al Etihad
Muradli and Grebnev share third-round lead at Dubai Open Chess Tournament
29 May 2025 23:10 DUBAI (ALETIHAD)Grandmaster (GM) Mahammad Muradli remains on track to become only the third player to defend his title after a hard-fought win on Thursday night, securing a two-way tie for the lead with Russia's GM Aleksey Grebnev after the third round of the 25th Dubai Open Chess Tournament at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club. Muradli defeated Austria's International Master (IM) Dotzer Lukas with white pieces in a Reti Opening that quickly spiralled into a complex middle game. Grebnev won over Fide Master (FM) Vedant Panesar in a Larsen Attack opening where the 18-year-old Russian blasted the Indian's king-side defence with his major pieces. The matches between the four other second-round leaders ended in draws. Top-seed GM Nihal Sarin of India could only manage half a point against compatriot IM Rohith Krishna in a balanced game. GM Yair Parkhov of Israel also halved the point with IM Nitish Belurkar of India. The four players dropped half a point behind Muradli and Grebnev with 2.5 points said he used an attacking idea employed successfully by Dutchman and last week's winner at Sharjah Masters Anish Giri in a game from last year, at the Tata Steel Masters. 'My opponent was not prepared for this line and he made a few mistakes and missed some tactics,' Grebnev said. Muradli was made to work hard by Lukas, who signalled his aggressive intentions early by offering a pawn sacrifice on the third move, which the defending champion declined. The Austrian launched a menacing king-side assault, prompting Muradli to secure his king on the queen side, but Lukas was running short on time – a factor that played a major role in his eventual loss. Muradli and Grebnev will play on the first board in Friday's fourth round to dispute the solo leadership. In Category B, five players led by Iran's Mahdi Nikookar, the highest-rated player among the leaders, are at the top of the standings with three points each. Nikookar defeated India's Shashish Subbiah for his third straight point. Also with three points are Mukund Agarwal of India, FM Syed Rahman of Bangladesh, Zhang Zhi of China, and Candidate Master (CM) Alankar Vandan of India.
Gulf Today
4 days ago
- Sport
- Gulf Today
Sarin and Muradli shine on opening day of 25th Dubai Open Chess Tournament
Top-seed Grandmaster (GM) Nihal Sarin of India and defending champion GM Mahammad Muradli of Azerbaijan won their respective matches with relative ease to lead 27 other players who hurdled their opening-round assignments at the start of the silver jubilee edition of the Dubai Open Chess Tournament on Tuesday at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club. Sarin, fresh from a two-way tie for first place in the Asian Individual Men's Chess Championships in Al Ain early this month, deployed the Scandinavian Defense against compatriot Fide Master (FM) Akshay Borgaonkar. The tournament top-seed sacrificed a pawn in exchange for strong pressure against white's queenside pawns, and then gradually outplayed Borgaonkar in a Queen and rook endgame. Playing the white side of a Catalan game, Muradli built a sizeable advantage on the board and the clock against Israel's International Master (IM) Or Bronstein on the way to a 38-move win. Muradli snatched a pawn on the 23rd move and still had over an hour on his clock while Bronstein was already surviving on the 30-second time increment when the game entered a knight-vs-bishop endgame. The 25th edition of the tournament was inaugurated by Khalid Ali Bin Zayed Al Falasi, Chairman of the Dubai Chess and Culture Club, in the presence of Saeed Mohammed Hareb, Secretary General of the Dubai Sports Council, and Nasser Al Rahma, Assistant Secretary General of the Council. A documentary film was presented highlighting the tournament's 25-year history, tracing its development since its inception in 1999 alongside the opening of the club. Falasi stated: 'Thanks to the unwavering support of our leadership and the vision to elevate chess in the UAE, we celebrate 25 years of the Dubai Open Chess Championship—an idea that began with ambition and has grown into a globally recognized event. 'This tournament is a source of pride for UAE sports and for the city of Dubai. It reflects our commitment to intellectual development, mental skills, and nurturing young talent.' He added: 'What sets this edition apart is the high caliber of international participation and the continuous improvements in organization and execution—thanks to our leadership, dedicated partners, and sponsors.' Reigning Asian junior champion GM Aleksey Grebnev, meanwhile, scored the tournament's first full point after disposing of Vietnam's IM Pham Tran Gia Phuc. The 18-year-old from Russia essayed the Rossolimo Attack against Pham and then won a pawn on the 18th move when the Vietnamese missed a tactical blow. Grebnev consolidated his advantage and wrapped up the game on the 36th move. The second and third seeds, GM Shant Sargsyan of Armenia and GM Aleksandar Indjic, the 2024 European champion from Serbia, were both held to a draw by Indian teenage international masters Jimmy Jubin and Neelash Saha, respectively. The biggest opening-round casualties, on the other hand, included fifth-seed GM Tin Jingyao, Singapore's number one player, who lost to 46th-seed GM G B Harshavardhan of India, and former Dubai Open champion GM Abhijeet Gupta, who was outplayed by his Indian compatriot IM Mayank Chakraborty, winner of the category B event in last week's Sharjah Masters. A total of 29 grandmasters are taking part in the jubilee edition of the event, which is being contested over two categories with more than 180 players from 34 countries vying for the championships. In Category B, top-seed FM Sargis A. Manukyan of Armenia was held to a draw by 12-year-old Dmitriy Al Novodvorskiy of Russia, while second-seed IM Anastasios Pavlidis of Greece led the day-one winners after scoring a victory over Indian youngster Shayan Noushad Ibrahim Muhammad. 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 USD$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.
