Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
The Qatar Masters Open 2014 was held from November 25 to December 5 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Doha, Qatar. There were 92 grandmasters participating, or 60% of the 154 total players. 56 GMs were rated over 2600, and an incredible 14 over 2700. Let those numbers sink in for a moment! This tournament truly was a convention of brilliant chess minds.
After eight hard-fought rounds, there was still a ninth and final round to be played on Thursday here in Doha, Qatar. The leader going into the last round was former World Champion GM Vladimir Kramnik, who was simply rampaging through everyone after a slow start. This was evidenced by his six game winning streak, which put him on an astronomical 7.0/8! Top seed, GM Anish Giri, who had started off with a phenomenal 6.0/6, one win short of a “caruana,” had slipped to joint third after sudden back-to- back losses against Kramnik and Yu Yangyi, a talented Chinese junior who rejoined the 2700 club last month. This all resulted in a final round showdown between Kramnik and Yangyi, to determine the winner of the strongest open tournament ever.
The start of the decisive final round: Vladimir Kramnik vs Yu Yangyi
Kramnik needed only a draw to secure the victory, and so, as expected, he played his trademark Berlin, a line knows for its solidity. Yangyi responded with a quiet positional line 5.Bxc6!?, a move which is probably not sufficient for an advantage, but is just aiming to get a playable position without much risk (Magnus Carlsen-esque). It seemed harmless enough for Black, when suddenly things started tilting in White’s favor as Yangyi built up a pleasant positional advantage. A few moves later Kramnik made an erroneous recapture which gave White a strong advantage. Knowing it was only a matter of time before his position collapsed, Kramnik gave up material to try and generate some play on White’s king. But with surgical precision, Yangyi navigated through the minor complications and emerged victorious. After uprooting the two top seeds, Yu Yangyi became the deserving winner of the Qatar Masters 2014!
This victory must have felt extra special for Yangyi, as he had narrowly missed out at a chance for first place at the Millionaire Chess tournament in October. With this result, he adds 25 rating points, and is now number 24 in the world in the live ratings, at a hefty 2730! None of the bookmakers saw this coming at the beginning of the tournament, and Yangyi turned out to be the surprise winner. The Dark Horse from the Chinese city of Huang Shi swept in and took away the beautiful first place trophy, and a rewarding $25,000 prize for his efforts.
The winner Yu Yangyi in action, watched by his opponent Kramnik and kibitzer Anish Giri
Kramnik was not at all in his element in the last round. He played recklessly sacrificing his pawns without any clear compensation. The round starting three hours earlier than the usual time everyday could have played a role in Kramnik's poor play. But full credit to Yu Yangyi for taking advantage of all the mistakes made by his opponent. He was accurate right upto the last move. Beating two 2750+ opponents (Giri and Kramnik) in two consecutive rounds is really an awesome feat! And he is just 20 years old! A bright and dazzling future awaits this young Chinese player.
Anish Giri had suffered two back to back losses in the last two rounds. But today it seemed he came refreshed to the game and full of energy. He was able to exploit the small inaccuracy made by his opponent, Vladimir Akopian. But the game soon turned wild and it could have been anyone's game. Giri proved to be the man with superior nerves.
High-level GM chat before the start of the game: Anish Giri, Nils Grandelius, Erwin l'Ami
The game was crazily complicated. After the opening inaccuracy with 16.Na4, Akopian played really well to take the best possible practical chance. At some point it was even possible for him to be better but only with computer like play. In the game, Giri turned out to be the much superior player. With this win, Anish moved to the second place ahead of Kramnik. After being on a high with 6.0/6 and then on a low with 0/2, it was nice to see Anish finish off the tournament on a winning note and take the second place.
| Rk. | Sd. | Ti. | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
| 1 | 13 | GM | Yu Yangyi | CHN | 2705 | 7.5 | 2905 | 47.0 | 50.5 |
| 2 | 1 | GM | Giri Anish | NED | 2776 | 7.0 | 2870 | 48.0 | 52.5 |
| 3 | 2 | GM | Kramnik Vladimir | RUS | 2760 | 7.0 | 2829 | 48.0 | 52.5 |
| 4 | 19 | GM | Sjugirov Sanan | RUS | 2673 | 6.5 | 2774 | 43.5 | 47.0 |
| 5 | 42 | GM | Durarbayli Vasif | AZE | 2621 | 6.5 | 2734 | 43.5 | 46.5 |
| 6 | 28 | GM | Efimenko Zahar | UKR | 2644 | 6.5 | 2733 | 42.5 | 46.0 |
| 7 | 62 | GM | Salem A.R. Saleh | UAE | 2586 | 6.0 | 2775 | 48.0 | 51.0 |
| 8 | 39 | GM | Volokitin Andrei | UKR | 2627 | 6.0 | 2753 | 45.0 | 47.5 |
| 9 | 4 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | FRA | 2751 | 6.0 | 2743 | 44.0 | 48.0 |
| 10 | 10 | GM | Tomashevsky Evgeny | RUS | 2714 | 6.0 | 2734 | 44.5 | 47.5 |
| 11 | 31 | GM | Shankland Samuel L | USA | 2642 | 6.0 | 2732 | 44.0 | 47.5 |
| 12 | 45 | GM | Perunovic Milos | SRB | 2619 | 6.0 | 2727 | 48.0 | 51.5 |
| 13 | 8 | GM | Eljanov Pavel | UKR | 2719 | 6.0 | 2725 | 42.5 | 46.5 |
| 14 | 30 | GM | Ivanisevic Ivan | SRB | 2643 | 6.0 | 2723 | 46.0 | 50.5 |
| 15 | 11 | GM | Bu Xiangzhi | CHN | 2707 | 6.0 | 2720 | 41.5 | 44.5 |
| 16 | 14 | GM | Moiseenko Alexander | UKR | 2701 | 6.0 | 2719 | 43.0 | 47.5 |
| 17 | 5 | GM | Ding Liren | CHN | 2730 | 6.0 | 2718 | 40.0 | 43.5 |
| 18 | 38 | GM | Safarli Eltaj | AZE | 2628 | 6.0 | 2694 | 41.5 | 45.0 |
| 19 | 25 | GM | Movsesian Sergei | ARM | 2659 | 6.0 | 2692 | 41.5 | 45.5 |
| 20 | 26 | GM | Akopian Vladimir | ARM | 2657 | 6.0 | 2684 | 43.0 | 47.5 |
| 21 | 41 | GM | Salgado Lopez Ivan | ESP | 2622 | 6.0 | 2669 | 38.5 | 41.5 |
| 22 | 7 | GM | Jobava Baadur | GEO | 2722 | 6.0 | 2664 | 38.0 | 41.0 |
| 23 | 32 | GM | Vovk Andrey | UKR | 2640 | 6.0 | 2654 | 42.0 | 46.0 |
| 24 | 36 | GM | Adhiban B. | IND | 2630 | 6.0 | 2612 | 37.0 | 37.5 |
| 25 | 69 | GM | Grandelius Nils | SWE | 2573 | 5.5 | 2728 | 49.0 | 51.5 |
| 26 | 44 | GM | Oleksienko Mikhailo | UKR | 2620 | 5.5 | 2719 | 45.5 | 49.5 |
| 27 | 84 | GM | Khotenashvili Bela | GEO | 2504 | 5.5 | 2716 | 43.5 | 47.5 |
| 28 | 3 | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | AZE | 2757 | 5.5 | 2698 | 42.5 | 46.0 |
| 29 | 12 | GM | Kryvoruchko Yuriy | UKR | 2706 | 5.5 | 2690 | 45.0 | 49.5 |
| 30 | 6 | GM | Harikrishna P. | IND | 2725 | 5.5 | 2689 | 41.0 | 45.0 |
| 31 | 70 | GM | Cornette Matthieu | FRA | 2566 | 5.5 | 2686 | 45.5 | 49.5 |
| 32 | 43 | GM | Naroditsky Daniel | USA | 2620 | 5.5 | 2679 | 42.5 | 45.5 |
| 33 | 16 | GM | Cheparinov Ivan | BUL | 2684 | 5.5 | 2658 | 41.5 | 45.5 |
| 34 | 34 | GM | Romanov Evgeny | RUS | 2636 | 5.5 | 2630 | 41.5 | 45.0 |
| 35 | 18 | GM | Melkumyan Hrant | ARM | 2678 | 5.5 | 2630 | 39.0 | 43.0 |
| 36 | 27 | GM | Mamedov Rauf | AZE | 2652 | 5.5 | 2626 | 40.5 | 44.0 |
| 37 | 56 | GM | Miton Kamil | POL | 2601 | 5.5 | 2621 | 38.0 | 41.0 |
| 38 | 20 | GM | Berkes Ferenc | HUN | 2669 | 5.5 | 2599 | 38.5 | 43.0 |
| 39 | 33 | GM | Rakhmanov Aleksandr | RUS | 2636 | 5.5 | 2580 | 38.5 | 42.0 |
| 40 | 71 | GM | Gabuzyan Hovhannes | ARM | 2565 | 5.5 | 2570 | 34.5 | 37.0 |
| 41 | 49 | GM | Swiercz Dariusz | POL | 2616 | 5.5 | 2550 | 36.0 | 38.5 |
| 42 | 107 | GM | Sundararajan Kidambi | IND | 2415 | 5.5 | 2549 | 33.5 | 36.0 |
| 43 | 47 | GM | Hamdouchi Hicham | FRA | 2616 | 5.5 | 2542 | 36.5 | 40.0 |
Standings and results of all 150 players here
Best female player was Bela Khotenashivili, with 5.5/9 and a performance of 2716
| The top games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
 |
