Armenia's Shant Sargsyan (right) beat India’s Murali Karthikeyan (left) yesterday to jump to the top of the leaderboard.
Doha: Armenian grandmaster Shant Sargsyan yesterday jumped to the top of the leaderboard while main title contenders Arjun Erigaisi, Andrey Esipenko and Salem Abdulrahman continued to push for top positions with crucial wins at the end of the sixth round of the 2024 Qatar Masters Open.
Sargsyan, seeded 13th, defeated India’s Murali Karthikeyan to make it 5.5 points under his name while India’s top-seed and pre-tournament favourite Erigaisi defeated Russian No.20 seed David Paravyan to bring his score to 5 points.
UAE Abdulrahman, the leading Arab contestant, also joined the top cluster by defeating Iran’s Bardiya Daneshvar, making it a three-way tie at five points, along with No. 6 seed Esipenko who defeated India’s Rithvik Raja.
Last year’s runner up Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan suffered a blow when he drew with Bulgaria’s Arkadij Naiditsch as both players were left with 4 points each.
His compatriot and the reigning Qatar Masters champion Yakubboev managed to raise his score to 4.5 points and keep his title hopes alive with a win over Russia’s Ivan Zemlyanskii.
Among other key players, Olympic champion Shamsiddin Vokhidov of Uzbekistan is at 4 points following a draw with Italy’s Lorenzo Lodici.
Qatar’s Husain Aziz secured his first victory in the tournament by defeating Poland’s Oliwia Kiolbasa, who is seeded 83rd. This win brings his total points to 2.5. Previously, Aziz had drawn matches against India’s Rajesh Nayak, Mongolia’s Turmunkh Munkhzul, and China’s Zhihang Xu, who is seeded 35th.
Qatar Chess Association President Mohammed Al Mudahka stated that the tournament has reached a critical stage, with the last three rounds has set the tone for a thrilling competition for the top spots in the standings.
Al Mudahka also highlighted the strong performances of Arab players, especially Salem Abdulrahman of the UAE, who is tied at five points, along with top stars Andrey Esipenko and Erigaisi.
Chief arbiter Laurent Freyd highlighted the balanced nature of the competition, with eight players vying for the title with just three rounds remaining. Freyd lauded the tournament’s high standards and global recognition, calling the Qatar Masters Open one of the most prestigious championships.
The tournament which offers a prize purse of $110,00, sees 300 players from 25 countries, including 50 grandmasters in action.
Meanwhile, in the Qatar Masters B tournament, unbeaten Uzbek Samandar Shermuhammadov leads the table with six points. Yesterday, in the sixth round competitions, Qatar’s Erfan Mohamad Firdaus beat India’s Dev Darshan, while Ahmed Saif secured a win over India’s Dhanaraja Srikan.
Al Naimi Ali beat Krishna Sai Sadhu Sukrith, while Turki Al Kuwari and Mohammed Al Subaiey drew with Turkiye’s Woman FIDE Master Amen Miladi and India’s Chockalingam Chidambaram respectively.
