Players who have played in the Dubai Masters did not have to travel far to play in the Sharjah Masters: the centres of the two emirates are only abaout 10 km apart.
However, not all participants in the Dubai Open were able to take advantage of this opportunity, as the organisers of the Sharjah Chess and Culture Club limited the number of participants to 20 per federation.
The Chess and Culture Club
This restriction mainly affects the Indian players, who travelled in large numbers to the Dubai Open. Now, only some of them will be able to play in the Sharjah Open. There are nineteen Indians in the Masters. About the same number still play in the Challengers (players under 2500) and the Futures junior tournament.
Players wishing to participate in the Sharjah Masters must have a minimum Elo of 2500. A few exceptions are made for talented players. The $52,000 prize pool, with a $12,000 first prize, has attracted 88 players to the Masters, 81 of whom hold the Grandmaster title. With nine players above 2700, the tournament is very strong.
Top seed is Arjun Erigaisi. He is the defending champion in Sharjah and after his first round win he is also India's number one. With a live rating of 2765 he is one point and one place ahead of World Championship challenger Gukesh.
In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM” with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.
In round one Erigaisi won with White against GM Eltaj Safarli from Azerbaidschan. In a positional line of the Najdorf Erigaisi showed how strong passed pawns can be.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Be3 Be6 9.Nd5 9.0-0 0-0 10.f4 exf4 11.Rxf4 Nc6 9...Nxd5 10.exd5 Bf5 11.Qd2 Nd7 12.Na5 Qc7 13.c4 0-0 14.0-0 Bg6 15.b4 f5 16.f4 Nf6 16...exf4 17.Bxf4 16...Rac8 17.Rac1 17.fxe5 Ne4 17...dxe5 18.c5 f4 19.Bf2 Ne4 20.Qe1 Bf6 21.d6 Qd7 22.Rd1 Rae8 23.Kh1 Bd8 24.Bh4 Bxh4 25.Qxh4 Bf5 26.Bf3 Nc3 27.Bxb7 Nxd1 28.Bc6 Qd8 29.Qxd8 Rxd8 30.Rxd1 Kf7 31.Bb7 Bg4 32.Re1 Kf6 33.Kg1 g5 34.Bxa6 f3 35.gxf3 Bxf3 36.Bb7 Ke6 37.Bxf3 Rxf3 38.Nc6 Ra8 39.Nd4+ 18.Qe1 dxe5 19.c5 Bf6 19...f4 20.d6+- 20.d6 Qd7 21.Nc4 Rae8 22.Nb6 Qd8 23.d7 Re7 24.Rd1 Kh8 25.Bd3 f4 26.Bc1 Ng5 27.Bxg6 hxg6 28.Qh4+ Nh7 29.Qg4 29...g5 30.Nc8 Rxd7 31.Qxd7 Qxc8 32.Rfe1 a5 33.a3 axb4 34.axb4 Qa8 35.h3 Re8 36.Qd5 Nf8 37.Bb2 Qa4 38.Qxb7 g4 39.hxg4 Qc2 40.Qf7 f3 41.gxf3 Bh4 42.Qh5+ Kg8 43.Qxh4 Qxb2 44.Qf2 Qxb4 45.Qa2+ 45.Qa2+ Kh7 46.Rxe5 Rxe5 47.Qh2++- 1–0 Games - Masters
| Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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Games - Challengers
| Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
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