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The 2018 Abu Dhabi Chess Festival is underway at Hotel Dusit Thani in the Emirati capital of Abi Dhabi. The tournament is a 9-round Swiss Open with a time control of 90 min per player plus 30 seconds per move starting from the first move.
Commentary by GM Viorel Iordachescu
| Bo. | No. | Name | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | No. |
| 1 | 16 | Salem A.R. Saleh | 6 | ½ - ½ | 6 | Dubov Daniil | 6 |
| 2 | 10 | Korobov Anton | 6 | 1 - 0 | 5½ | Rapport Richard | 2 |
| 3 | 3 | Cheparinov Ivan | 5½ | 1 - 0 | 5½ | Karthikeyan Murali | 22 |
| 4 | 15 | Maghsoodloo Parham | 5½ | 0 - 1 | 5½ | Sargissian Gabriel | 8 |
| 5 | 4 | Wang Hao | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5½ | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | 28 |
| 6 | 35 | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | Akopian Vladimir | 12 |
| 7 | 23 | Andersen Mads | 5 | 0 - 1 | 5 | Debashis Das | 36 |
| 8 | 34 | Nihal Sarin | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5 | Kuybokarov Temur | 44 |
| 9 | 1 | Le Quang Liem | 4½ | 1 - 0 | 4½ | Aryan Chopra | 38 |
| 10 | 5 | Fedoseev Vladimir | 4½ | 1 - 0 | 4½ | Firouzja Alireza | 33 |
| Rk. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | ||
| 1 |
|
GM | Korobov Anton | 2664 | 7,0 | 0,0 |
| 2 |
|
GM | Dubov Daniil | 2691 | 6,5 | 0,0 |
| 3 |
|
GM | Salem A.R. Saleh | 2636 | 6,5 | 0,0 |
| 4 |
|
GM | Sargissian Gabriel | 2680 | 6,5 | 0,0 |
| 5 |
|
GM | Cheparinov Ivan | 2718 | 6,5 | 0,0 |
| 6 |
|
GM | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | 2581 | 6,0 | 0,0 |
| 7 |
|
GM | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | 2539 | 6,0 | 0,0 |
| 8 |
|
GM | Debashis Das | 2539 | 6,0 | 0,0 |
| 9 |
|
GM | Rapport Richard | 2719 | 5,5 | 0,0 |
| 10 |
|
GM | Wang Hao | 2711 | 5,5 | 0,0 |
| 11 |
|
GM | Fedoseev Vladimir | 2707 | 5,5 | 0,0 |
| 12 |
|
GM | Amin Bassem | 2684 | 5,5 | 0,0 |
| 13 |
|
GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | 2636 | 5,5 | 0,0 |
| 14 |
|
IM | Nihal Sarin | 2556 | 5,5 | 0,0 |
| 15 |
|
GM | Pantsulaia Levan | 2587 | 5,5 | 0,0 |
| 16 |
|
IM | Kuybokarov Temur | 2499 | 5,5 | 0,0 |
| 17 |
|
GM | Kadric Denis | 2537 | 5,5 | 0,0 |
| 18 |
|
IM | Nguyen Anh Khoi | 2454 | 5,5 | 0,0 |
| 19 |
|
GM | Karthikeyan Murali | 2609 | 5,5 | 0,0 |
| 20 |
|
IM | Nitin S. | 2449 | 5,5 | 0,0 |
...158 players
Event poster
Besides the main event, the festival also consists of an Open tournament for players rated below 2100 (since July 1st, 2017), a Juniors’ tournament for players below 16 years of age a blitz event and a lot more.
Celebrating its silver jubilee this year, the festival’s premier event, the Abu Dhabi Masters, will feature a field of very strong grandmasters. More than 100 titled players from 25+ countries have confirmed their participation this year.
In comparison to the previous year when Nigel Short was the top seed of the event with an Elo of 2688, this year, the tournament features five grandmasters rated above 2700. The line-up includes some well-known names like Richard Rapport, Le Quang Liem, Ivan Cheparinov, and Short, currently focused on the FIDE Presidential race, is back as well.
Some of the top grandmasters in the fray
GM Nigel Short has taken some time off his presidential campaign to play in Abu Dhabi | Photo: Prashant Mullick
Also, there are tons of very talented youngsters who can unsettle these bigwigs. Last year, the inaugural round had seen both of the top two seeds held to draws by players rated around 300 points lower and at least 14 years younger.
| Bo. | No. | Name | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | No. |
| 1 | 1 | Short Nigel D | 0 | ½ - ½ | 0 | Arjun Kalyan | 62 |
| 2 | 63 | Gukesh D | 0 | ½ - ½ | 0 | Amin Bassem | 2 |
Round 1 results on the first two boards, last year
Starting rank (top 20)
| No. | Name | FED | Rtg | ||
| 1 |
|
GM | Le Quang Liem | VIE | 2727 |
| 2 |
|
GM | Rapport Richard | HUN | 2719 |
| 3 |
|
GM | Cheparinov Ivan | GEO | 2718 |
| 4 |
|
GM | Wang Hao | CHN | 2711 |
| 5 |
|
GM | Fedoseev Vladimir | RUS | 2707 |
| 6 |
|
GM | Dubov Daniil | RUS | 2691 |
| 7 |
|
GM | Amin Bassem | EGY | 2684 |
| 8 |
|
GM | Sargissian Gabriel | ARM | 2680 |
| 9 |
|
GM | Sjugirov Sanan | RUS | 2677 |
| 10 |
|
GM | Korobov Anton | UKR | 2664 |
| 11 |
|
GM | Short Nigel D | ENG | 2659 |
| 12 |
|
GM | Akopian Vladimir | ARM | 2655 |
| 13 |
|
GM | Kravtsiv Martyn | UKR | 2654 |
| 14 |
|
GM | Parligras Mircea-Emilian | ROU | 2645 |
| 15 |
|
GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | IRI | 2636 |
| 16 |
|
GM | Salem A.R. Saleh | UAE | 2636 |
| 17 |
|
GM | Adly Ahmed | EGY | 2634 |
| 18 |
|
GM | Lupulescu Constantin | ROU | 2619 |
| 19 |
|
GM | Vocaturo Daniele | ITA | 2617 |
| 20 |
|
GM | Gupta Abhijeet | IND | 2614 |
