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The Chessable Masters Qualifier took place online on Sunday, 16 February, as part of the 2025 Champions Chess Tour. This year's tour features only two qualifying tournaments and will culminate in a much-anticipated grand finale at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the end of July. Organised by Chess.com, the tour continues to offer opportunities for players at all levels to progress through the competition.
A notable feature of the Chessable Masters is its open qualifier, which allows non-grandmaster titled players to compete for a chance to enter the main event. The qualifier was a 9-round Swiss open played with a 10+0 time control, attracting 115 participants. The top three finishers earned the right to compete in Monday's Play-In stage against a grandmaster field.
IM Saparmyrat Atabayev of Turkmenistan secured first place with a score of 7½/9, finishing the event with a crucial victory over Ukrainian GM Hulka Valentyn. IM Read Samadov from Azerbaijan also scored 7½/9, while Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov from Uzbekistan claimed third place with 7/9. Samadov and Suyarov - the only two players who finished the event undefeated - drew their final-round game to ensure their qualification, while Atabayev's final-round win allowed him to finish at the top of the standings.
The Play-In stage is scheduled for Monday, 17 February, starting at 17.00 CET (11.00 ET, 21.30 IST). Eight players from this stage will progress to the final event, where they will join eight elite players, including Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura, in a double-elimination knockout format.
Saparmyrat converted an advantageous bishop endgame into a win in the final round.
Despite the material balance, White's more active pieces (king and bishop) and the fact that Black's kingside pawns are stuck on light squares give the player from Turkmenistan a winning position. Ten moves later, his king had already penetrated Black's camp decisively.
Resignation came after 49...Bc6 50.Bxg6
| # | Player | Rating | Pts. |
| 1 |
IM Saparmyrat Atabayev |
2478 | 7.5 |
| 2 |
IM Read Samadov |
2614 | 7.5 |
| 3 |
IM Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov |
2615 | 7 |
| 4 |
IM Dmitriy Danilenko |
2513 | 6.5 |
| 5 |
FM Ulugbek Tillyaev |
2295 | 6.5 |
| 6 |
IM Robert Piliposyan |
2495 | 6.5 |
| 7 |
IM Almas Rakhmatullaev |
2700 | 6.5 |
| 8 |
IM Marco Materia |
2658 | 6.5 |
| 9 |
IM Khagan Ahmad |
2543 | 6.5 |
| 10 |
FM Valentyn Hulka |
2472 | 6.5 |
| 11 |
IM Maksim Tsaruk |
2411 | 6 |
| 12 |
IM Viktor Skliarov |
2390 | 6 |
| 13 |
IM Saidakbar Saydaliev |
2310 | 6 |
| 14 |
WIM Afruza Khamdamova |
2189 | 6 |
| 15 |
IM L R Srihari |
2477 | 6 |
