24 Grandmasters in fray for Dubai Open

Dubai: Some of the best chess players from around the world will take part in the 10th edition of the Dubai Open chess championship for the Shaikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Cup, to be held at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club from April 5-15.

"This tournament has grown from strength to strength and we want to make it special this year. For the first time, chess players from 30 nations will compete in this event," said Ebrahim Al Bannai, chairman of the Dubai Chess and Culture Club.

"Twenty four Grand Masters and 23 International Masters will compete for honours. We have increased the prize money to $45,000 and there will be special prizes for women players and participants from the UAE," added Al Bannai, who is also the President of the Arab Chess Federation.

"We have received entries from 146 players from countries like Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Palestine, Qatar, Iran, India, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Bangladesh, England and Egypt. For the first time, we have even chess players from Germany and Nigeria."

A record 32 players from India have confirmed their participation.

The youngest GM in the world at the moment, Parimarjan Negi and rising star Abhijeet Gupta are among the entries. India's Women's GM Nisha Mohota will also be here. World under-12 champion Srinath Narayanan and world under-9 champion Sahaj Grover have also confirmed their participation.

For UAE's International Master, Salem A.R. Saleh, this tournament may turn out to be a memorable one. He is currently one point short of the GM norm and is expected to clinch it during the competition.

The championship will be played in nine rounds according to the swiss system, where one hour 30 thirty minutes will be allotted to each player to finish the game with an incremental time of 30 second per move.

Grassroots level

"We are also keen to spread chess at the grass root level and have invited players from different chess schools in China, Russia and Azerbaijan," said Al Bannai, who is also keen to introduce chess as a subject in UAE schools.

World youth champion Ahmad Adly of Egypt will be another star attraction. With a rating of 2551, he has also won the African Youth Championship.

"To popularise chess among women, we have earmarked $6000 for the outstanding performers from among the women players," said Al Bannai.

UAE's Women FIDE Masters such as Fayeqa Bukhashem, Amal and Eman will get to compete against the best women players during the event.

THE FIELD

• Total number of players: 146
• Grand Masters: 24.
• Women Grand Masters: 6
• International Masters: 23
• Women International Masters: 5.
• FIDE Masters: 19
• Women FIDE Masters: 5

Maximum entries:

• India : 32 players, UAE: 22 players
• Iran: 15 players, China: 8 players. Azerbaijan and Russia: 7 players each.