Qatar Chess Federation President Mohammed Al Mudahka
Doha, Qatar: The Qatar Chess Federation (QCF) is preparing to host the third edition of the Qatar Masters International Open Chess Championship which will include an elite group of the most prominent world champions. The championship will be held at the Lusail Sports Hall from October 10-20.
Qatar Masters International Open Chess carries a total prize money of $110,000 with the title winner receiving $25,000. The championship will witness the participation of 170 players with the biggest and brightest chess stars present.
World No. 1 and five-time world champion Norwegian Magnus Carlsen is at the forefront of the participating stars as he makes his third appearance after having previously appeared in the 2014 and 2015 editions, along with American Hikaru Nakamura, ranked third in the world, Dutchman Anish Giri, ranked seventh in the world, and his compatriot Jorden van Forrest. In addition to Indian Dommaraju Gukesh, ranked eighth in the world, and the Iranian Parham Maqsoudlou.
Also participating in the championship is 17-year-old Indian Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, who defeated world champion Carlsen last year in the Airthings Masters Chess.
Kazakh International Master and Woman Grandmaster Bibisara Assaubayeva, the world blitz chess champion for the years 2021 and 2022, has also announced her participation in the women’s competition, which includes 16 players along with Indian International Master and Woman Grandmaster Ramesh Vaishali and her compatriot Vantika Agrawal.
Among the Arab players, Qatari participation is led by Hussein Aziz, besides Bassem Amin of Egypt and Salem Abdulrahman from the United Arab Emirates.
Qatar Chess Federation President and Organising Committee Chairman Mohammed Al Mudahka confirmed that the federation is putting the final touches on all arrangements in order to complete them on time, indicating that the tournament will witness many accompanying events through organizing the international tournament with the participation of a large number of male and female players from the affiliated training center for the Federation, as well as some players of different nationalities.
He added: “The Qatar Masters Championship is considered one of the strongest open tournaments, given that it includes the most prominent champions of the game in the world,” adding that the presence of the most prominent world champions will enrich the tournament and raise its technical level, especially in light of the participation World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and a number of other top chess stars.
For his part, Hamad Al Tamimi, Executive Director of the Qatar Chess Federation and Director of the Championship, confirmed that the matches will be broadcast on international chess websites, as well as the QCF’s website, in addition to the presence of studio analysis throughout the championship.
