The 20th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival took place from June 30 till July 8 2013 in Abu Dhabi City, the capital of the UAE. This event included many FIDE registered tournaments. Of greatest interest was the Masters Tournament, which was exclusive to players above 2200 Elo rating (with the exception of Abu Dhabi chess players). It was a nine-round Swiss with time controls of 90 min for each player with 30 sec increment for each move. The organizing committee provided free accommodation in five-stars hotel for players rated 2550 and above. Top prizes were US $8000, 6000, 4000, 2500, 2000, etc.

In addition there was an Open Tournament for anyone under 2200 Elo to participate, with top prizes of $2500, 2000, 1500, 1200, 1000 etc.; a Junior Tournament for players under 15 years (born from 1999 onwards) with top prizes of $1500, 1000, 700, 500, 400, 300, etc.; a Blitz Tournament with 11 rounds, played at 3 min + 2 sec increment; and a simultaneous exhibition by Russian grandmaster Aleksandr Rakhmanov, who played an exhibition match against 30 participants in the festival’s under-15 competition (Rakhmanov won 29 games, while settling for a tie with UAE youngster Saif Al Hamed).

The top games were broadcast on a giant projection screen

The Masters Tournament was won by Russian GM Igor Kurnosov (above), who tied for first with GMs Zahar Efimenko, Mikhailo Oleksienko abd Avetik Grigoryan, but beat them on tiebreak points. Kurnosov's performance was 2709.

Tie Break1: Direct Encounter (the results of the players in the same point group)
Tie Break2: Sum of the ratings of the opponents (whithout one result)
Tie Break3: Buchholz Tie-Breaks (variabel with parameter)

In second place: GM Zahar Efimenko of Ukraine

Third: GM Mikhailo Oleksienko, also from Ukraine

Fourth place: GM Avetik Grigoryan, Armenia

Top female player in the Masters: IM Anna Zozulia of Bulgaria

Top UAE player in the Masters: Ali Abdulkhaleq, place 44

Here is an especially attractive game played by the Masters Tournament winner Igor Kurnosov, above being interviews by UAE television:

The Open Tournament, with 124 participants, was won by Behrang Kaboodi (IRI, rated 1993) and FM Ahmed Al-Zayat (LBA, 2085) who both finished with 8.0/9 points, a full point ahead of the field. The Junior Tournament, with 140 players, was won by Ismayil Shahaliyev (AZE, 2056) with a score of 6.5 points from seven rounds.

The Junior section for players under 15

The Blitz Championship was won by Indian youngster Suri Vaibhav, who beat a host of more experienced and ranked players (121 players took part in the competition, 81 of them with titles). Suri, 16, produced his best in the final rounds of the nine-round, Swiss-format competition to collect 7.5 points and take the title ahead of grandmasters Gadir Guseinov, from Azerbaijan, in second place, and Vasily Papin, from Russia, in third. The pair also collected 7.5 points, but the title went to Suri in the tie-breaker. Ukrainian Grandmasters Mikhailo Olekseinko and Mikhail Kazakov finished fourth and fifth respectively with 7 points each.

All pictures and information supplied by Majed Ahmad

Videos by Vijay Kumar

Round 9 and Prize Distribution

Greatest Moment of 20th Abu Dhabi Int Chess Festival

Many more videos available here

Links Official tournament site Games in PGN You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs to replay the games in PGN. You can also download our free Playchess client, which will in addition give you immediate access to the chess server Playchess.com.