New fair play measures

About half an hour before the start of round 3, the organizers of the Qatar Masters shared a post on X announcing new “fair play measures”. This was a reaction to Thursday’s controversy surrounding Magnus Carlsen’s comments after his upset loss against 23-year-old Kazakh grandmaster Alisher Suleymenov (rated 2512).

The new measures included:

Games are broadcasted with a 15-minute delay.
The refreshment area and toilets are exclusively reserved to the players and arbiters, to the exclusion of any other participants.
After the first 10 minutes of the game, only authorised personnel may carry a phone when in areas restricted to the players, and shall not use it in the playing area and refreshment area.
Pens that are provided for the games by the organizer are expected to be used and left at the board at the end of each game.
Items that trigger the security scanners during checks at the entrance of the playing venue (e.g. pens, wallets, watches …), may have to be left at the security checkpoint.

The Keymer Variation - 1.Nf3 d5 2.e3

This video course features the ins-and-outs of the possible setups Black can choose. Youâ€™ll learn the key concepts and strategies needed to add this fantastic opening to your repertoire. An easy-to-learn and yet venomous weapon.

Even Vladimir Fedoseev, who in round 2 had left the board in a losing position with 94 minutes on his clock and not signed the scoresheet afterwards, showed up to play on Friday — he beat FM Khumoyun Begmuratov and now stands on 1/3 points. Apparently, he was satisfied with the new anti-cheating measures.

GMs SL Narayanan and Arjun Erigaisi are the only two Indians with a perfect 3/3 points at the Qatar Masters!

Narayanan won a very nice game with the White pieces against GM Alisher Suleymenov. Arjun took down GM Vugar Rasulov with the Black pieces!

📷: Aditya, @keti_chess pic.twitter.com/cHSxHI9zIC
— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) October 13, 2023

Out of the 21 players who entered the round with 2/2 scores, only five managed to score full points to remain atop the standings. Hikaru Nakamura and Anish Giri, seeded second and third in the tournament, do not belong to this group, as they signed draws with Shamsiddin Vokhidov and Aditya Mittal respectively.

The five co-leaders are now Arjun Erigaisi, Javokhir Sindarov, Narayanan S L, Rinat Jumabayev and Robby Kevlishvili. In this group, only Kevlishvili defeated a higher-rated opponent in round 3, as he got the better of Jakhongir Vakhidov with the white pieces.

Carlsen also won to join the large group with 2/3 points. His queen and knight turned out to be a stronger tandem than Al Muthaiah’s queen and bishop.

The white king escaped the checks via the dark squares, and once it was safe on f4, Carlsen manoeuvred his knight to f6, with a mating attack.

Understanding Middlegame Strategies Vol.1-6

In this Videocourse we deal with different aspects of the middlegame which are important to study and improve your general understanding of chess structures.

50.Nf6+ Kg7 51.Nh5+ (double check) Kf8 52.Qd6+ Kg8 53.Qd8+ and Black resigned.

Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen | Photo: Qatar Chess Association

Co-leader Sindarov showed good endgame technique to beat veteran Gregory Kaidanov on Friday, and had also demonstrated his technical prowess in the previous round, when he got the better of Kazybek Nogerbek — find below expert analysis by GM Karsten Müller.

Standings after round 3

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2
1	6	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	U20		IND	2712	3	6	3292
2	12	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	U18		UZB	2658	3	12	3278
3	13	GM	Narayanan.S.L,			IND	2651	3	13	3266
4	25	GM	Jumabayev, Rinat			KAZ	2585	3	25	3229
5	43	GM	Kevlishvili, Robby			NED	2521	3	43	3197
6	2	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru			USA	2780	2,5	2	2780
7	3	GM	Giri, Anish			NED	2760	2,5	3	2775
8	4	GM	Gukesh, D	U18		IND	2758	2,5	4	2678
9	5	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	U20		UZB	2716	2,5	5	2681
10	16	GM	Salem, A.R. Saleh			UAE	2632	2,5	16	2743
11	19	GM	Yakubboev, Nodirbek			UZB	2616	2,5	19	2721
12	20	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali			IND	2611	2,5	20	2697
13	26	GM	Kuybokarov, Temur			AUS	2584	2,5	26	2691
14	28	GM	Vokhidov, Shamsiddin			UZB	2578	2,5	28	2788
15	30	GM	Aditya, Mittal	U18		IND	2572	2,5	30	2771
16	40	GM	Fawzy, Adham			EGY	2535	2,5	40	2623
17	41	GM	Yilmazyerli, Mert			TUR	2533	2,5	41	2688
18	61	IM	Madaminov, Mukhiddin	U18		UZB	2484	2,5	61	2823
19	75	IM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu		w	IND	2448	2,5	75	2764
20	142	GM	Laxman, R.R.			IND	2322	2,5	144	2821

...158 players

All available games

Links

<< Leon Mendonca: The Keymer Variation - A review

The art of quiet moves >>

Topics: Qatar Masters 2023

Advertising

Books, boards, sets: Chess Niggemann

Carlos Alberto Colodro Carlos 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.

Discussion and Feedback Submit your feedback to the editors

Qatar Masters: Suleymenov crushes Carlsen, Carlsen questions organizers

10/12/2023 – In a shocking development, 23-year-old Kazakh GM Alisher Suleymenov (rated 2512) defeated Magnus Carlsen in round 2 of the Qatar Masters — it was a crushing 31-move victory. Carlsen later shared some concerns on his X account, noting that it is “incredibly frustrating to see organisers still not taking anti-cheating seriously at all”, as he had been distracted by Suleymenov’s playing with an analog watch. Carlsen clarified that he was not accusing his opponent of cheating. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

More...

Qatar Masters: Carlsen on the attack, Kushagra upsets Fedoseev

10/12/2023 – Super-GMs Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Anish Giri kicked off with wins at the Qatar Masters in Doha. Round 1 saw a few upsets though, with fourth seed Dommaraju Gukesh only managing a draw against IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh, and tenth seed Vladimir Fedoseev even losing to 19-year-old Indian IM Kushagra Mohan. The highest-rated woman player in the field, Bibisara Assaubayeva, also suffered a loss in the first round, against IM Rakesh Kumar Jena. | Photos: Qatar Chess Association

More...

Video

60m Caro Kann Exchange Variation

The Exchange Variation (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3) is a simple and easy to learn answer to the Caro-Kann. By clarifying the central tension White gives himself a clear plan of attack using the half open e-file and the e5 square. This is far from easy for Black to meet as Bobby Fischer, Jan Timman, Walter Browne and other leading Grandmasters have demonstrated in their games. Black too has his resources but he needs to know what he's doing. On this DVD you will find a clear explanation of the strategy for both sides as well as answers to popular treatments such as 4...Nc6 5.c3 Qc7. Whilst the main focus is on the White side of this opening you will also find ways for Black to defend.

View

News