Andrey Esipenko wins Qatar Masters

by Johannes Fischer
12/13/2024 – The young Russian grandmaster Andrey Esipenko (photo) won the highly competitive Qatar Masters with 7½ points after 9 rounds of play. Second and third place were shared by Arjun Erigaisi and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, each with 7 points. Arjun missed the opportunity to overtake Fabiano Caruana in the FIDE Circuit. Whoever has the most FIDE Circuit points at the end of the year will qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament. | Photo: Anna Shtourman / Qatar Masters
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.

Esipenko secures convincing victory

With an Elo rating of 2682, Andrey Esipenko was seeded sixth at the Qatar Masters. However, this did not stop the young Russian grandmaster from winning the tournament convincingly. He began with a score of 3/3, followed by two draws and then a second streak of three consecutive victories. In the final round, a safe draw against Arjun Erigaisi secured him the outright tournament win.

In round 7, he achieved a nice victory in the Najdorf Sicilian against Saleh Salem.

Indian grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi was the top seed. However, his focus at the Qatar Masters was primarily on securing first place in the FIDE Circuit.

Arjun Erigaisi | Photo: Anna Shtourman/Qatar Masters

The winner of the 2024 FIDE Circuit qualifies for the 2026 Candidates Tournament. The circuit consists of a series of tournaments where players can earn circuit points. With just over two weeks remaining in the year, Fabiano Caruana holds a narrow lead over Arjun. However, the Indian youngster could still overtake Caruana by earning more points than him at the World Rapid and Blitz Championships at the end of the year.

Source: FIDE

Final standings

Rg. Snr Name Typ sex Gr FED EloI Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4
1 6
GM Esipenko, Andrey FID 2682 7,5 0 2860 46,5 2
2 1
GM Erigaisi, Arjun IND 2801 7 0 2787 48 3
3 2
GM Abdusattorov, Nodirbek U20 UZB 2777 7 0 2695 40 2
4 13
GM Sargsyan, Shant ARM 2646 6,5 0 2758 48 3
5 15
GM Karthikeyan, Murali IND 2637 6,5 0 2738 45,5 2
6 18
GM Salem, A.R. Saleh UAE 2622 6,5 0 2690 46 2
7 22
GM Idani, Pouya IRI 2603 6 0 2683 44 1
8 31
GM Abdisalimov, Abdimalik UZB 2536 6 0 2680 44 1
9 30
GM Zemlyanskii, Ivan U14 FID 2543 6 0 2677 43,5 1
10 24
GM Pranesh, M U18 IND 2582 6 0 2654 42 1
11 8
GM Nihal, Sarin U20 IND 2676 6 0 2646 45,5 2
12 26
GM Lodici, Lorenzo ITA 2564 6 0 2643 40 3
13 23
GM Daneshvar, Bardiya U18 IRI 2600 6 0 2630 45,5 1
14 5
GM Tabatabaei, M. Amin IRI 2695 6 0 2620 43 1
15 20
GM Paravyan, David FID 2620 6 0 2617 42 2
16 14
GM Mendonca, Leon Luke U18 IND 2642 6 0 2608 42,5 3
17 4
GM Artemiev, Vladislav FID 2701 6 0 2604 42 0
18 9
GM Yakubboev, Nodirbek UZB 2668 6 0 2603 43,5 1
19 19
GM Pranav, V U18 IND 2621 6 0 2566 39 2
20 41
IM Srihari, L R U20 IND 2484 6 0 2566 37,5 3
21 28
GM Bharath, Subramaniyam H U18 IND 2561 5,5 0 2601 42 2

...138 players

All available games

Official website...

Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".