Latest news with #Sargsyan
Gulf Today
4 days ago
- Sport
- Gulf Today
Grebnev wins 25th Dubai Open Chess title
After a month of non-stop competition - playing one tournament after another across three cities in the UAE with little rest in between - teenage Grandmaster (GM) Aleksey Grebnev finally hit his stride in Dubai. Needing only a draw to secure the title, the 18-year-old Russian stayed composed despite an opening surprise by his opponent to calmly collect the half point he needed to clinch the championship in the 25th Dubai Open Chess Tournament on Wednesday at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club. Grebnev drew his final-round game against GM Shant Sargsyan of Armenia to finish with seven points in the nine-round tournament on account of five wins, four draws, and no losses. While he has won the Asian Junior Championship twice in 2023 and 2024 and was the 2023 U18 World Youth champion, Grebnev considers the Dubai Open as the biggest win in his young career. 'I am very pleased that I managed to show a good performance and win the tournament,' said Grebnev after the title-clinching draw. 'This is my first time winning a tournament of this level.' Playing white against Sargsyan, Grebnev said he was surprised to see the Caro-Kann defense on the board, which he countered with the Two Knights' Attack. 'Before the game, I decided that I had to play hard (despite needing only a draw to win the tournament),' he said. 'My opponent surprised me in the opening by defending with the Caro-Kann, but I responded well and the position quickly equalised and he offered a draw.' The Dubai Open was Grebnev's fourth tournament in a row - and third successive event within a month in the UAE. He played at the Asian Men's Championship in Al Ain and the Sharjah Masters last month with uninspiring results, but Dubai proved to be the turning point. 'I feel tired,' he said of playing high-pressure games almost every day for a month. 'But I'm very happy with the results of the tournament.' To celebrate, Grebnev said he plans to explore some of Dubai's must-visit spots with his mother Helena, who accompanied him during the Dubai leg of his four-week campaign in the UAE. 'I just want to take a break from the tension,' he said. 'This is my first time in Dubai and I was planning to go to the Dubai Mall tomorrow. After Dubai, I plan to rest for a week and then I'll play in the Higher League of the Russian Championship.' GM Alan Pichot of Spain also finished the tournament with seven points after defeating Iranian prodigy GM Sina Movahed, but settled for second place with an inferior tiebreak score, which calculated the average rating of a player's opponents. Russia's GM Ivan Zemlyanskii, who defeated Vietnam's IM Pham Tran Gia Phuc, Sargsyan, and GM Aleksandar Indjic of Serbia, who won over India's GM Bharath Subramaniyam, scored 6.5 points each and finished third to fifth, respectively.
Gulf Today
5 days ago
- Sport
- Gulf Today
Grebnev hangs on to slim lead despite draw
A draw was sufficient for Grandmaster (GM) Aleksey Grebnev to maintain his half-point lead after a catastrophic collapse by one of his closest pursuers in the eighth round of the 25th Dubai Open Chess Tournament at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club. Grebnev of Russia upped his score to 6.5 points after a relatively short, uneventful 21-move draw with Iran's GM Sina Movahed, one of two players who were just half a point behind the tournament leader. Grebnev's compatriot GM Ivan Zemlyanskii, the other player within striking distance of the lead, dropped out of the running for the championship after losing to Armenia's GM Shant Sargsyan. Movahed, Sargsyan, and Spain's GM Alan Pichot, who defeated IM Rohith Krishna S of India, closely trail Grebnev with six points each going into the final round. Playing the white pieces in an Italian Game, Sargsyan sacrificed a pawn that created room for his pieces to operate on both sides of the board. Looking for counterplay, Zemlyanskii decided to strike in the centre with a pawn break on the d-file, a flawed plan that allowed Sargsyan to win back the sacrificed material and enter the endgame with a strategically won position. Zemlyanskii stirred the game into complications in a bid to provoke errors and create practical chances, but despite a few imprecisions in technique, Sargsyan maintained control and converted with a tactical blow to finish the game. Grebnev will take on Sargsyan in Wednesday's final round, while Movahed faces Pichot, with all four players in the running for the title. In Category B, after six straight wins to start the tournament, Fide Master (FM) Mahdi Nikookar conceded a second consecutive draw, allowing India's Candidate Master (CM) Alankar Sawai Vandan to tie him for the lead. Nikookar drew his game with India's M. Mridav, while Vandan defeated Sri Lanka's Pesandu Rashmitha Liyanage. Both have seven points, a full point ahead of five others. Tournament format, schedule, prizes 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 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. International arbiter team & live coverage International Arbiter Majed Al Abdooli of the UAE spearheads the tournament's international team of arbiters who will manage and oversee the competition. Chess fans from around the world can watch the Category A games live on the club's website as well as chess platforms such as and
