Qatar Chess Association President Mohammed Al Mudahka attends the ceremonial first move on Board 1 to start the match between India's Arjun Erigaisi and Kazakhstan’s Murtas Kazhgaleyev yesterday.
Doha: India’s top-seeded grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi was yesterday held to a draw by Kazakhstan’s 40th-seeded Murtas Kazhgaleyev in an unexpected turn of play on the second day of Qatar Masters Open 2024 chess championship.
The round-2 mishap against the 701 ranked player of the world pushed the World No. 4 Erigaisi outside the top 20 following two rounds.
A general view during the second day of the Qatar Masters Open.
While Erigaisi was the only player among the top 5 to secure a win in Round 1 of the Doha event, Iranian GM M Amin Tabatabaei became the only top-five player to win yesterday at the Aspire Zone. Tabatabaei, seeded No.5, beat Mongolian IM Ganzorig Amartuvshin.
After losing the opening match on Tuesday, defending Qatar Masters Open champion GM Nodirbek Yakubboev bounced back from his surprising first-round defeat yesterday to secure a point against Scotland’s FIDE Master Murad Abdulla of Scotland. Yakubboev’s Uzbek compatriot, last year’s runner-up and World No. 6 Nodirbek Abdusattorov drew with Oman’s Omran Al Hosani.
No.3 seed GM Parham Maghsoodloo was held for a second time in a row, this time by Iranian compatriot Artin Ashraf, while Vladislav Artenmiev, the No.4 seed, was held by WIM Afruza Khamdamova of Uzbekistan who is significantly lower ranked than the Russian grandmaster.
Qatar’s top player, international master Husain Aziz lost to Uzbekistan’s Abdulmalik Abdisalimov, while Iranian player Medhiavi Reza, ranked 71st, topped the standings with two points after defeating Mexico’s 36th-seeded Galvez Medina Sun.
India’s No.73 seed IM Vantika Agarwal also did well to hold No.12 seeded Vietnamese Grandmaster Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen, continuing her impressive run in Doha after holding Grandmaster Vladislav Artemiev in a draw on the opening day of the event.
The second day of the Championship began with Qatar Chess Association President Mohammed Al Mudahka attended the ceremonial first move on Board 1 to start the match between Erigaisi and Kazhgaleyev.
QCA’s Executive Director and Championship Director Hamad Al Tamimi expressed his delight at the high-caliber participation in the fourth edition of the prestigious event, highlighting the presence of 50 international grandmasters and major title holders.
Al Tamimi praised the efforts of the Ministry of Sports and Youth in ensuring the championship’s organisational success and highlighted the educational collaboration with the Ministry of Education to involve school visits as part of a broader ‘Chess in Schools’ initiative.
Ghada Al Khalifi, a member of the organizing committee, also underlined the importance of the event in providing Qatari players with opportunities to compete against a diverse array of opponents, gaining valuable experience.
Meanwhile, in the B Championship which is run in parallel to the main event, saw Qatar’s Ahmed Saif defeating India’s Nair Shrisht, Fahd Al Mansoori securing a win over India’s Rishi Gancherathinam, and Khaled Al Jamaat overcoming Egypt’s Safwat Tarek Mostafa.
The tournament, organized in the Swiss system over nine rounds, features 300 players from 25 countries, and continues today.
