Ulibin topples Magerramov's cart

The UAE youngster Ahmed Abbass Khory won the Children's title at the 12th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival on a day when Azerbaijan Grand Master Elmar Magerramov suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Russian counterpart Mikhail Ulibin in the Masters Championship.

The defeat has dealt Mager-ramov's title hopes a big blow and opened up the race for the top spot with one point at stake for all three contenders.

Ulibin, the top seed, kept his best for last and proved his class by beating the former leader in a highly tactical encounter to increase his tally to six points. He now shares the lead with his countryman GM Evgeny Gliezerov and Uzbekistan GM Safin Shukharat.

Gliezerov beat compatriot IM Vladimir Dobrov while Shukharat defeated his countryman GM Iuldachev Saidali in an unexpectedly fast match in which Saidali failed to show his usual high standards of the game.

In the other top matches of the Masters Championship, UAE's Salim Gholom played brilliant chess and forced Russian GM Maxim Turov to settle for a tie.

Russian GM Sergey Arkhipov beat Indian IM Bakre Tijas, Egyptian IM Esam El Jindi drew with GM Viktor Komliakov of Moldova and IM Rufat Bagirov of Azerbaijan drew with IM Tahir Vakhidov of Uzbekistan.

In the last round, Ulibin will face his countryman Gliezerov, Shukharat will meet Magerramov while Arkhipov will play against Saidali.

UAE's Abdullah Abbass Khory, the elder brother of Ahmed the children's champion, continued his strong performance and beat Indian Abu Bakr Ali to increase his tally to seven points from as many matches.

He leads the Open Tournament with compatriot Ali Mahmoud Khory, the top seed who is close behind after beating his fellow UAE player Ali Shaheen to take second place with 6.5 points.

Abbass will have to at least win half a point from a draw against Ali in the eighth and last round to win the title while Ali has to beat the leader to emerge champion of the tournament for which he has come from the U.S. where he is studying.

UAE's Saif Hassan shared the third place with four other players with six points each. He defeated Indian Abdul Hakim Sameer while his countrymen Fahad Ahmed beat Egyptian Majdi Al Saab and Hussain Mohammed defeated Russian woman player Jolnara Merozeova.

Also in third place are Indian Arjon Shankar, Olina Nikova from Ukraine and her Lebanese husband Abdo Simov.

In the last round, Fahad will face Saif, Hussain will play against Shankar and Abu Bakr will meet Nikova.

Ahmed Abbass Khory of the UAE won the childern's title in style after settling for a tie against his cousin and most serious rival Ibrahim Mohammed Khory, who needed to win to deprive Ahmed of the title.

But Ahmed kept his cool and forced Ibrahim to settle for a araw which was enough to win the title with 6.5 points from seven rounds.

UAE's Saeed Ishaag came second with six points after beating Indian Shankar. Ibrahim finished third, Hamad Abdul Razzag came fourth and Ali Khamis fifth with the UAE childern dominating all top places of the tournament, which is a sign of promising future for the youngsters and the UAE's chess.

The festival, organised by the Abu Dhabi Chess and Culture Club with cooperation from the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation under the patronage of Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Under Secretary of Ministry of Interior, will come to an end today with the trophies awards ceremonies.