Dubai: Back-to-back defending champion Grandmaster (GM) Gawain Jones of the UK will return to vie for an unprecedented third consecutive title against a field of over 170 players from 40 countries in the 20th edition of the Dubai Open Chess Tournament — Shaikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Cup.

The tournament runs from April 2-11 at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club.

Jones, the only player to ever win twice in the Dubai Open, is among 40 grandmasters competing in the annual event, considered one of the strongest in the world.

The field also includes former champions GM Alexandr Rakhmanov (2013) of Russia, GM Abhijeet Gupta (2011) of India, GM Eduardo Iturrizaga (2010) of Venezuela and GM Levan Pantsulaia (2007) of Georgia.

To commemorate the 20th year of the tournament, Armenian chess icon GM Vladimir Akopian, the inaugural champion of the Dubai Open in 1999, will join tournament and club officials in a special ceremony during the opening round.

Shaikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum will inaugurate the tournament.

Two decades

Over the past two decades, the tournament has produced champions who went on to become among the world’s most elite players, including the tournament’s youngest winner, GM Wesley So (2008), the Filipino prodigy who now represents the US, and GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan.

Both are currently playing in the Fide World Chess Candidates Tournament in Berlin, where the winner will challenge the current world champion GM Magnus Carlsen of Norway.

Carlsen himself was a product of the Dubai Open, where he earned his grandmaster title during the 2004 tournament.

Apart from the grandmasters, the formidable cast also includes seven Woman Grandmasters (WGM), 23 International Masters (IM), seven Woman International Master (WIM) and 18 Fide Masters (FM).

Ukraine’s GM Yuriy Kryvouchko is this year’s highest-rated player, while national team players FM Saeed Ishaq and IM Omar Noaman will spearhead the UAE contingent in the nine-round Swiss system tournament. Also competing are the Egyptian duo of GM Bassem Amin and GM Ahmed Adly, the tournament’s highest-rated Arab players.  

In line with the tournament’s thrust to produce world-class players, this year the Dubai Chess Club has invited students of top chess schools from countries such as China, Russia and Azerbaijan.

“We continue to introduce fresh ideas to make the competition more exciting and truly global,” said Ibrahim Al Bannai, chairman of the Dubai Chess and Culture Club. “With participants coming from 40 countries, the games will be closely followed by chess fans from all over the world.”

Al Bannai, who also heads the organising committee, further disclosed that the games will be broadcast live on the club’s website (www.dubaichess.ae), the Arab Chess Federation website (www.arabfide.com) and several other popular chess portals.

Other members of the organising committee are Jamal Al Abdoli, Najeeb Saleh, tournament coordinator Mohamed El Husseiny and chief arbiter Mahdi Abdulrahim.

The tournament arbiters  are deputy chief arbiter Saeed Yousuf, Gamal Qasem and Walid Abu Obidah.

With a total prize fund of $50,000, the tournament will award $10,000 to the winner along with the Shaikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Cup. The rest of the top 15 finishers will also receive cash prizes, along with the top UAE players and ladies.

The Dubai Open Blitz Tournament, a side event that will be held during the tournament break on Friday, will have a total prize fund of $4,000.

The tournament allots one hour and 30 minutes with an increment of 30 seconds per move for each player to complete a game.