Doha: Reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway and five former world champions head a list of over 145 players who will be seen in action at the ten-day Qatar Masters Chess tournament which begins at Aspire Women’s Sports Committee Hall here today.
Besides Carlsen, GM Vladimir Kramnik of Russia and GM Anish Giri of the Netherlands are the top three players in the list while reigning champion GM Yu Yangyi of China is also back to defend his crown, won last year.
Joining them are GM Sergey Karjakin, GM Evgeny Tomashevsky and GM Dmitry Jakovenko of Russia; GM Chao Li and GM Wei Yi of China; GM Shakhriya Mamedyarov and GM Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan; GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek of Poland; GM Anton Korobov, GM Vassily Ivanchuk and GM Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine; and GM David Howell of England.
“We’re very happy to have Carlsen. To have Carlsen in Qatar is a big thing and this has further reinforced the fact that this year’s championship is the strongest ever in the history of open chess tournaments,” Qatar Chess Association (QCA) Secretary and Tournament Director Mohamad Al Medaikhi said.
Talking about the tournament, Al Medaikhi said: “The idea of organising the tournament is to spread the game’s popularity in Qatar and make it a chess destination in the Gulf region.”
“We’ve added one rest day to the tournament unlike last year which was played at a stretch for nine days,” he said.
Incidentally, it was in 2007 that Carlsen played in an open tournament as a 16-year-old and with a rating of 2710, the youngest 2700+ player in the history of the game at that point, the record was recently broken by Wei Yi.
Carlsen said participating in an open ‘would be something special’ and will be happy to usher the New Year in Qatar.
The ten-day tournament ends on December 29 with one day rest on December 26.
“The Qatar Masters Open 2015 just got bigger, better and stronger,” said QCA President Khalifa Mohammed Al Hitmi, during the opening ceremony yesterday.
“We are happy that the reigning World Champion and world number one Magnus Carlsen is here to play and we thank him for that. He’ll play in what is going to be one of the most amazing open events in chess history,” he added.
The chess game is gaining in popularity and more sponsors are coming forward to support the game worldwide, said the QCA official.
“We thank the sponsors from Qatar who have thrown their weight behind the tournament by sponsoring the tournament.
The total prize money for the tournament is $130,000 and it is open to all chess players with ELO rating 2300 and above.
The winner will get $27,000 and the runner-up $16,000 and the third place finisher $12,000.
Prizes will also be given to the best women players and three top Arab players and three junior players.
The tournament also features a host of Indians including ninth seed P Harikrishna. In the women’s section, second seed Koneru Humpy will be donning the tri-colour.
Two Qatari players Al Sayed Mohammed and Nezad Husein Aziz will be seen in action.
Matlakov Maxim of Russia, Hou Yifan of China, Adhiban B. of India Fedoseev Vladimir of Russia, Duda Jan-Krzysztof of Poland, Dubov Daniil of Russia Bologan Viktor of Moldova, Khismatullin Denis of Russia, Akopian Vladimir of Armenia and Ganguly Surya Shekhar of India are the other prominent contestants.
The Peninsula
