8/23/2025 – The Abu Dhabi Masters, the main event of the 31st Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival, is currently under way in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Bringing together a strong international field, the nine-round Swiss event is played at classical time control with a prize fund of 55,000 USD. With two rounds remaining, China's Zeng Chongsheng leads the standings, pursued closely by a group featuring a few higher-seeded contenders. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy
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A sole leader with two rounds to go
The 31st Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival is taking place in Abu Dhabi from 15 to 24 August 2025, held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Nahyan bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Among the festival’s various events, the Masters Tournament is the flagship competition, attracting strong international participation.
The Masters Tournament is open to all FIDE-rated players with a published standard rating of 2300 ELO and above as of 1 August 2025, with the exception of members of the Abu Dhabi Chess Club. The event follows a 9-round Swiss system, played at a classical time control of 90 minutes per player plus a 30-second increment from move one, with a 15-minute tolerance for late arrivals.
Master your middlegame with the complete strategy series – now available as a bundle at a reduced price. Take your chance to save and improve! Master your middlegame with the complete strategy series – now available as a bundle at a reduced price. Take your chance to save and improve!
The total prize fund for the Masters stands at 55,000 USD. The first prize is to be awarded outright, while prizes from second to fifteenth place will be distributed according to the Hort System. Tiebreaks will be resolved in the following order:
Direct Encounter
Buchholz (Cut 1)
Buchholz (Cut 2)
Sonneborn-Berger
ARCO (Cut 1)
Tournament progress
After seven rounds, GM Zeng Chongsheng (China, age 32) leads the standings as the sole leader with 6 points. Entering the competition as the 15th seed, Zeng made an excellent start with five consecutive wins, all against lower-rated opponents. He then drew against his compatriot Xue Haowen and against Arkadij Naiditsch, maintaining both his undefeated record and his position at the top.
Close behind Zeng is a group of eight players on 5½ points, including three members of the original top-ten seeds:
Arkadij Naiditsch (2nd seed, now representing Bulgaria)
The Alapin Variation (1.e4 c5 2.c3) offers a simple yet highly effective solution to all major Sicilian lines, by sidestepping them with 2.c3. Facing the Sicilian doesn’t have to be complicated. The Alapin Variation (1.e4 c5 2.c3) offers a simple yet highly effective solution to all major Sicilian lines, by sidestepping them with 2.c3. Whether your opponent plays the Najdorf, Taimanov, or Dragon, the Alapin lets you take control of the game as early as move two.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 2...g6
In the eighth round, Zeng will face Lazavik with the black pieces in what promises to be a critical encounter for the final standings. The last two rounds are scheduled for Saturday 23 August and Sunday 24 August.
The playing hall during round seven | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
Videos: Nico Zwirs examines two Petroffs from the 2026 Candidates. Robert Ris has a tip against the Caro-Kann Advance Variation with 3…c5. Fiona Sieber reveals a surprise weapon against the Najdorf. ‘Lucky Bag’ with 40 analyses by Ganguly, L'Ami et al.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
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In this video course experts examine the games of Bent Larsen. Let them show you which openings Larsen chose, where his strength in middlegames were, how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame & you’ll get a glimpse of his tactical abilities!
From the 2026 Candidates Tournament, featuring a video review by Dorian Rogozenco, to Jan Werle’s opening video on the French Tarrasch Defence, and Oliver Reeh’s tactical column ‘Top Grandmasters at Work’. Analyses by Giri, So, Wei Yi and many others.
You will learn how Black's dynamic piece activity and structural counterplay more than compensate for White's extra tempo in the colour-reversed setups.
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