Zagrebelny and Davidov lift titles

Grandmaster Sergey Zagrebelny of Uzbekistan and Samir Davidov from Azerbaijan emerged champions of the Masters and the Open tournaments respectively in the 11th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival.

With one more round to go, Zagrebelny, seeded 17th, won the title as he drew with second seeded GM Paveli Kotsur from Kazakhstan in the eight round to collect 6.5 points, one and a half points ahead of his nearest rivals.

Zagrebelny benefited from a series of ties played by his challengers.

All the top six matches ended in draws to leave 14 players in second place with five points each, including top seeded GM Evgeny Vladimirov from Kazakhstan, second seeded Kotsur, third seeded Russian GM Evgeny Gleizerov, fourth seeded Russian GM Mikhail Ulibin, fifth seeded GM Elmar Mageramov, Azerbaijan, sixth seeded Goran Dizdar from Croatia, seventh seeded GM Shukrat Safin from Uzbekistan.

Also in the second place are eight seeded Russian GM Alexander Volzhin, ninth seeded GM Sarhan Gouliev from Azerbaijan, 10th seeded Uzbek GM Saidali Iuldachev, 13th seeded Uzbek GM Alexi Barsov,16th seeded Uzbek IM Tahir Vakhidov and 18th seeded IM Rufat Bagirov from Azerbaijan.

In the ninth and last round, Zagrebelny will face Gleizerov, Kotsur will meet Javad Mherramzade, Gouliev will play against Ulibin, Vakhidov will face Dizdar, Vladimirov will play against Volzhin, Mageramov will meet Luldachev and Safin will face Barsov.

At the end of the eight round, Salim Gholom was the top placed UAE's player despite losing his match against Russian IM Alexander Raetsky to remain with four points. Gholom will face Pakistani IM Mahmoud Lodhi in the final round.

Davidov won his match against Filipino Leo Austria in the eight round and collected eight points. Indian Ali Mohul Din and Filipino Armando Nachor are hot on his heels, each with seven points.

Even if Davidov lose his last match against Nachor and if Mohul Din won his match against Syrian Hani Al Sherif, Davidov will secure the title since all three players will have eight points and in accordance with the Swiss Tie Breaking System, which the organisers will resort to, the title goes to Davidov.

In the Youth tournament, UAE's Yehiya Mohammed Salih has joined the leaders with 6.5 points after beating Qatari Omar Al Marri.

He shares the lead with Qatari Hamad Al Tamimi, who drew his match with Al Sherif, and Indian Abu Bake Ali with whom he will play in the final round. Al Tamimi will play against Tunisian Mohammed Ali Beqtash.

The festival is organised by the Abu Dhabi Chess and Cultural Club in cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation, will come to a close at 6 pm today. It will be followed by the awards presentation function.