Magnus Carlsen and Bharath Subramaniam during their Qatar Masters Open Round 5 game yesterday.
Doha, Qatar: World No.1 Magnus Carlsen defeated young Indian Grandmaster Bharath Subramaniam in the fifth round to keep hopes of retaining the Qatar Masters Open title alive at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall, yesterday.
The victory took the Norwegian points tally to 3.4, propelling him 15 places up to 14th spot in the tournament’s rankings.
“It was alright. I think he chose a very dubious plan. I was not so sure if I was winning anymore because he could have, I think, forced an end game where I’m two points up, but it’s not that easy. But yeah, fortunately for me he had very little time and he went for a direct petrol which just didn’t work,” Carlsen said after his victory.
“This game was a little bit tougher than it should have been but I am happy to win,” he said after defeating the 15-year-old, who became an International Master at the age of 12 in 2019.
Carlsen said he will spend today’s rest day at a golf course, hoping to come up with an improved show.
“The rest day has come which I desperately needed,” he said with a smile. “I am going to play golf. I mean I am terrible at golf, but I love to play the game. I will play with my sister and brother-in-law. I think that will be good,” he added.
Meanwhile, American World No. 4 Hikaru Nakamura dropped one place in the standings after being held by Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov. This result pushed Nakamura’s score to four points, while S L Narayanan took over the lead after he saw off Indian compatriot Dommaraju Gukesh, his country’s No.1 ranked player.
Also yesterday, No.3 seed Dutchman Anish Giri, ranked seventh in the world, suffered his first loss in the tournament. The defeat against the 19-year-old Rudik Makarian, who competes under the international chess federation flag, caused Giri to tumble to 33rd place.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s chess star, Husain Aziz achieved a commendable draw against India’s Mohan Kushagra. Aziz showed excellent promise when he shared points with Kushagra, an International Master who is ranked 89th in the tournament. The Qatar player had previously secured a draw in the last round against China’s Yuxin Song, and had beaten Aayush Bhattacherjee.
In other matches, Indian player Arjun Erigaisi drew with Kazakhstan’s Rinat Jumabayev to accumulate four points, while his compatriot – ninth seed Sarin Nihal was held by Kazakhstan’s Kazybek Nogerbek, seeded 65th.
Meanwhile, the Qatar Masters Open B Championship, held concurrently with the marquee event, saw home players Kholoud Al Khelaifi securing a win against teammate Mohammed Al Qassabi, while Turki Al Kuwari defeated his teammaer Mohammed Al Subaiey and Mohammed Firdaus triumphed over Moroccan Adam Hamdouchi. Qatar’s Rawda Al Qassabi drew with Kuwait’s Zaid Alzaid in round 5.
The fifth round of the competition will take place tomorrow after the rest day.
