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Relieved after getting our visas, on 22nd of August, my wife Amruta and I, who had received a kind invitation, headed towards the United Arab Emirates with great excitement – to take part in the to play in the 2015 Abu Dhabi Masters, the second strongest open tournament in Asia (first is Qatar). It’s very rare that you get see top players like Almasi, Kryvoruchko, Rapport, Jobava and many others in action.
In spite of being nestled in the Arabian Desert, it is mind-boggling to see how well-developed UAE is!
In order to play in the event you could take a direct flight to Abu Dhabi or reach Dubai or Sharjah. Both those cities are approximately 150 kilometers away from Abu Dhabi, and the organizers provide transport from all the three airports. The journey from Dubai to Abu Dhabi took us around two hours and was quite comfortable.
It is a wonderful feeling when the organizers are there to receive you right on time at the airport
Abu Dhabi lies in the T shaped-island in the Persian Gulf. And yes you read it right! The temperature in the afternoons is as high as 45 degrees! But if you are going to travel in an air conditioned automobile and then stay in air conditioned hotel which is also the venue of the tournament, you won’t really have to interact with this punishing climate.
All invited players and grandmasters are given accommodation in the five-star
Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche, the official hotel and venue for the Abu Dhabi Masters.
The room is spacious and comfortable and when you open the curtains …
… this is what awaits you!
The organizers make great use of the television in the rooms to send updates and reminders to players in form of personalized messages like this one which says, “We would like to inform you that your technical meeting will be tomorrow at 12 in Crystal Ballroom, P2 level.”
Choosing the perfect cereal for your breakfast is as tricky as deciding on the right opening for the game!
It was for the first time in my life that I tasted Pitaya or dragon fruit (in the foreground)
The opening ceremony took place at 6 p.m. in the ballroom on the August 23, with a fast paced LED show
And on the spot live painting of Khalifa bin Zahyad Al Nahyan
who is the President of UAE and the ruler of Abu Dhabi
An attendant provides you with a cup of Arabic tea
13 and a half hour flight journey from the United States of America and still in great spirits:
Samuel Shankland at the inauguration (with guess who sitting to his left – solution below)
"And his back rank was totally undefended!" A live wire on and off the board,
Baadur Jobava tells his stories as GMs Debashis Das and Abhijeet Gupta listen in a state of trance!
GM Alexander Kovchan with his wife
The tournament has one game each day except on 25th August which has double rounds. There is a rest day on the 28th. The first round began a little late, mainly because many of the players who had confirmed their entries did not show up. The arbiter decided against changing the pairing and there were as many as ten walkovers in the first round.
Abhishek Kelkar is given the "bad news" that his opponent and the top seed of the event
Igor Kovalenko is not going to turn up. Kovalenko’s non-appearance makes...
... Zoltan Almasi the top seed and the only 2700 player in the event
[Event "Abu Dhabi Chess Masters"] [Site "Abu Dhabi"] [Date "2015.08.24"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Almasi, Zoltan"] [Black "Rohan, Ahuja"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C84"] [WhiteElo "2700"] [BlackElo "2389"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "133"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:02:54"] [BlackClock "0:02:35"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4 Bd7 9. c3 O-O 10. Bc2 b4 11. Nbd2 Rb8 12. Re1 h6 13. h3 Re8 14. d4 bxc3 15. bxc3 exd4 16. cxd4 Nb4 17. Bb1 d5 18. e5 Nh7 19. Nf1 Nf8 20. Be3 Ne6 21. Ng3 c5 22. Nf5 cxd4 23. N3xd4 Nxd4 24. Bxd4 Bxf5 25. Bxf5 Nc6 26. e6 fxe6 27. Bxe6+ Kh8 28. Rc1 Nxd4 29. Qxd4 Bf6 30. Qxd5 Qxd5 31. Bxd5 Rxe1+ 32. Rxe1 a5 33. g3 Rd8 34. Bc4 h5 35. h4 Kh7 36. Re6 Rd2 37. Be2 Kg6 38. Kf1 Ra2 39. Bb5 Kf5 40. Bd7 Ra1+ 41. Kg2 Bd4 42. Ra6+ Ke5 43. Rxa5+ Kd6 44. Be8 Ke7 45. Bxh5 Ra2 46. Rf5 Rxa4 47. Rf4 Rb4 48. Re4+ Kd6 49. Bf7 Kc5 50. f4 Rb2+ 51. Kh3 Rb1 52. Re6 Rh1+ 53. Kg4 Rg1 54. Rg6 Bf2 55. Kf3 Bd4 56. h5 Rh1 57. Kg4 Bf6 {[#]White with his two extra pawns should of course be winning, but opposite coloured bishop endings can often be tricky. Almasi finds a very simple and straight forward way to break his opponent's blockade.} 58. Rxf6 $1 {Not very difficult to find for a player of Almasi's calibre.} gxf6 59. Kf5 Rh3 60. Kxf6 (60. g4 Rf3 61. h6 Rh3 62. Bh5 $18 {was also winning.}) 60... Rxg3 61. h6 Rh3 62. Kg7 Kd4 63. Bg6 Ra3 (63... Ke3 64. f5 $18 {and the h-pawn queens.}) 64. h7 Ra7+ 65. Bf7 Ra8 66. Bg8 Ra7+ 67. Kg6 1-0
Second seeded Yuriy Kryvoruchko played a model game with his knights in the first round.
[Event "Abu Dhabi Chess Masters"] [Site "Abu Dhabi"] [Date "2015.08.24"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Gevorgyan, David Sh"] [Black "Kryvoruchko, Yuriy"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E43"] [WhiteElo "2374"] [BlackElo "2697"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "128"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:01:05"] [BlackClock "0:20:51"] {The game between Gevorgyan and Kryvoruchko was a battle between the bishops and knights. Look how Yuriy makes sure that the position is never opened up for his opponent's bishops.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Qc2 c5 8. a3 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 d6 10. O-O Bxf3 $5 11. gxf3 {[#]The game becomes very interesting from the point of view of the imbalances in the position. Black has the knights and wants to keep the position closed, while White has the bishops and wants to open diagonals for them at all costs.} e5 12. d5 Re8 13. a4 a5 $1 {A strong positional move. Even though b6 becomes a backward pawn on an open file it was more important not to let White open lines.} 14. Kg2 $6 (14. Kh1 {[%cal Gf1g1] followed by Rg1 looks more logical.}) 14... Nbd7 15. Bd2 Nf8 16. Rh1 Nh5 (16... Ng6 $5 {was a nice idea. The important point being} 17. h4 {is met by} e4 $1 18. fxe4 Nd7 $1 {With an attack on the h4 pawn.} 19. f4 (19. h5 Nh4+ 20. Kf1 Qg5 $17) 19... Nxh4+ 20. Kf2 Ng6 21. Rag1 $13) 17. Rag1 Qf6 18. Bf5 g6 19. Bd3 Kh8 20. h4 Nd7 21. Be2 Qe7 22. Kf1 f5 23. Ke1 Ndf6 24. Kd1 Qd7 25. Kc1 e4 26. f4 {[%csl Gd2] Look at the d2 bishop. It has absolutely no scope and no future!} Ng4 27. Be1 Nhf6 28. Kb2 Kg7 $1 {The king is transferred to the queenside before opening the kingside.} 29. Ka3 Kf7 30. Qb2 Ke7 31. Rg2 (31. Qxb6 Rab8 32. Qc6 Qa7 $19 { [%csl Rc6] and Rec8 will trap the queen.}) 31... Kd8 $1 {Setting a bait - Black is ready to give up the b-pawn with a check!} 32. Qb5 (32. Qxb6+ Ke7 33. Qb5 Qa7 34. Qb2 Rab8 $17 {White pieces stand quite horribly on the kingside.}) 32... Rg8 33. Bd2 Rb8 34. Rb1 Rg7 35. Qxd7+ Kxd7 36. Rh1 h6 37. Kb3 Rbg8 38. Be1 g5 {The final breakthrough for the rooks to enter the position.} 39. hxg5 hxg5 40. fxg5 $6 (40. Bd2 gxf4 41. exf4 $11 {And it is not very easy to breakthrough as White will play f3 on the next move.}) 40... Rxg5 41. Rgg1 Ne5 42. Rxg5 Rxg5 43. Kc2 Rg2 44. Bf1 Rg7 45. Be2 Ke7 46. Kd2 Nh7 $1 {The knight is going to the f3 square.} 47. Rh5 Ng5 48. Kd1 Ngf3 49. Rh1 (49. Bxf3 Nxf3 50. Rxf5 Rg1 $19) 49... Rg4 50. Kc2 Rg2 51. Kd1 Nh2 {Blocking the h-file. White's rook has to remain passive now.} 52. Kd2 Kf6 53. Kd1 Nef3 54. Bxf3 Nxf3 55. Ke2 Rg1 56. Rxg1 Nxg1+ {[#]Material is even, but look how the knight simply cleans up the white pawns.} 57. Kd1 Nf3 58. Ke2 Ne5 {No way to defend the c4 pawn.} 59. f4 exf3+ {Number one.} 60. Kf1 Nxc4 {Number two.} 61. Bg3 Nxe3+ {Number three.} 62. Kf2 Nxd5 {Number four.} 63. c4 Nc3 64. Bxd6 Ne4+ {The only active move by the bishop resulted in its death!} 0-1
World’s greatest experts on unorthodox play captured in one frame – Baadur Jobava, Richard Rapport
When the opponent makes an early g-pawn push, Vladimir Akopian shows the best way
to react – keep your cool, drink a cup of tea and yeah, play in the center!
[Event "Abu Dhabi Chess Masters"] [Site "Abu Dhabi"] [Date "2015.08.24"] [Round "1.9"] [White "Oganisian, Roman"] [Black "Akopian, Vladimir"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "2328"] [BlackElo "2647"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:00:59"] [BlackClock "0:35:20"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 b6 5. g4 $5 {Only one game has been played with this move before: Indjic against Efimenko, which ended in a win for Black.} Bb7 (5... Nxg4 6. Rg1 {Recovers the pawns and gives excellent play. }) 6. g5 Ne4 7. Qd3 d5 {It's very nice to see how Akopian plays in the center against the flank attack by his opponent.} 8. cxd5 exd5 9. h4 c5 10. Bd2 O-O $1 {When you have not broken any rules of opening play you shouldn't be afraid to 0-0. Even if your opponents pawns are so far advaanced.} 11. a3 Bxc3 12. Bxc3 Re8 13. b4 Ba6 14. Qc2 Nc6 15. Bb2 Rc8 {Each and every move that Black makes is a developing move and towards the center of the board.} 16. Qa4 Bc4 17. dxc5 bxc5 18. e3 Bxf1 19. Kxf1 d4 $1 {Of course! The culmination of Black's central strategy. White's pawns on h4-g5 have been able to cause absolutely no damage.} 20. exd4 Qd5 21. Qd1 cxd4 22. Rh2 d3 23. Nd2 Nxd2+ 24. Qxd2 Ne5 25. Qf4 d2 26. Rd1 Nf3 {The h2 rook is hanging and with Re1+ coming up. Roman resigns. A very instructive game by the experienced Armenian grandmaster.} 0-1
Completely focused and determined – Samuel Shankland
"Oh dear, the flag is wrong!" The crosses seem to indicate that Gawain Jones is playing
for Georgia instead of England! We want to stress that this is not a case of a federation change!
Did you guess right (who was sitting next to Shankland at the opening ceremony)?
It was Nils Grandelius, from whom you can expect a new look in almost every tournament.
The photographer of this report, Amruta Mokal, and WGM Soumya
Swaminathan posing in the Instagram booth outside the playing hall
Chess is everywhere – on the walls, on sofas and in the hearts of everyone at the 22nd Abu Dhabi Open
| Bo. | No. | Ti. | Name | Rtg |
Res.
|
Ti. | Name | Rtg | No. |
| 1 | 66 | Abhishek Kelkar | 2400 |
+--
|
GM | Kovalenko Igor | 2702 | 1 | |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Almasi Zoltan | 2700 |
1-0
|
FM | Rohan Ahuja | 2389 | 68 |
| 3 | 69 | IM | Gevorgyan David | 2374 |
0-1
|
GM | Kryvoruchko Yuriy | 2697 | 3 |
| 4 | 4 | GM | Rapport Richard | 2671 |
1-0
|
Kulkarni Rakesh | 2368 | 70 | |
| 5 | 71 | FM | Salih Akar Ali Salih | 2359 |
- - +
|
GM | Jobava Baadur | 2664 | 5 |
| 6 | 6 | GM | Sjugirov Sanan | 2664 |
1-0
|
IM | Tissir Mohamed | 2351 | 72 |
| 7 | 73 | FM | Nuber Blasius | 2339 |
½-½
|
GM | Areshchenko Alex. | 2661 | 7 |
| 8 | 8 | GM | Shankland Samuel | 2655 |
1-0
|
FM | Kowsarinia Amir | 2332 | 74 |
| 9 | 75 | FM | Oganisian Roman | 2328 |
0-1
|
GM | Akopian Vladimir | 2647 | 9 |
| 10 | 10 | GM | Jones Gawain C B | 2647 |
1-0
|
WGM | Soumya Swaminathan | 2325 | 76 |
| 11 | 77 | CM | Asadli Vugar | 2324 |
0-1
|
GM | Kuzubov Yuriy | 2638 | 11 |
| 12 | 12 | GM | Grandelius Nils | 2628 |
1-0
|
FM | Mansour Sameer | 2292 | 79 |
| 13 | 80 | Firouzja Alireza | 2277 |
--+
|
GM | Vovk Yuri | 2624 | 14 | |
| 14 | 15 | GM | Petrosian Tigran L. | 2623 |
1-0
|
WIM | Severina Maria | 2276 | 81 |
| 15 | 82 | FM | Mahdavirad Mehdi | 2274 |
0-1
|
GM | Rakhmanov Aleksandr | 2620 | 16 |
| 16 | 17 | GM | Gupta Abhijeet | 2619 |
1-0
|
Fendereski Nima | 2268 | 83 | |
| 17 | 84 | IM | Heydarli Kanan | 2256 |
½-½
|
GM | Onischuk Vladimir | 2618 | 18 |
| 18 | 19 | GM | Swiercz Dariusz | 2617 |
1-0
|
Antonio Viani D'cunha | 2255 | 85 | |
| 19 | 86 | FM | Saleh Nabil | 2249 |
0-1
|
GM | Ghaem Maghami Ehsan | 2609 | 20 |
| 20 | 21 | GM | Kovchan Alexander | 2605 |
1-0
|
Raja Harshit | 2247 | 87 |
| Bo. | No. | Ti. | Name | Rtg | Res. | Ti. | Name | Rtg | No. |
| 1 | 35 | GM | Belous Vladimir | 2566 | GM | Almasi Zoltan | 2700 | 2 | |
| 2 | 3 | GM | Kryvoruchko Yuriy | 2697 | GM | Vaibhav Suri | 2552 | 37 | |
| 3 | 40 | Predke Alexandr | 2548 | GM | Rapport Richard | 2671 | 4 | ||
| 4 | 5 | GM | Jobava Baadur | 2664 | GM | Horvath Adam | 2540 | 43 | |
| 5 | 42 | GM | Timofeev Artyom | 2542 | GM | Sjugirov Sanan | 2664 | 6 | |
| 6 | 44 | GM | Vakhidov Jahongir | 2525 | GM | Shankland Samuel L | 2655 | 8 | |
| 7 | 9 | GM | Akopian Vladimir | 2647 | GM | Pakleza Zbigniew | 2520 | 45 | |
| 8 | 46 | GM | Harika Dronavalli | 2509 | GM | Jones Gawain C B | 2647 | 10 | |
| 9 | 11 | GM | Kuzubov Yuriy | 2638 | GM | Debashis Das | 2489 | 47 | |
| 10 | 48 | IM | Sadzikowski Daniel | 2480 | GM | Grandelius Nils | 2628 | 12 | |
| 11 | 14 | GM | Vovk Yuri | 2624 | IM | Ezat Mohamed | 2476 | 49 | |
| 12 | 53 | IM | Pascua Haridas | 2447 | GM | Petrosian Tigran L. | 2623 | 15 | |
| 13 | 16 | GM | Rakhmanov Aleksandr | 2620 | IM | Padmini Rout | 2444 | 54 | |
| 14 | 55 | GM | Czebe Attila | 2439 | GM | Gupta Abhijeet | 2619 | 17 | |
| 15 | 57 | IM | Yagubi Asif | 2431 | GM | Swiercz Dariusz | 2617 | 19 | |
| 16 | 20 | GM | Ghaem Maghami Ehsan | 2609 | Vignesh N R | 2430 | 58 | ||
| 17 | 59 | Visakh N R | 2411 | GM | Kovchan Alexander | 2605 | 21 | ||
| 18 | 22 | GM | Prohaszka Peter | 2602 | IM | Karavade Eesha | 2409 | 60 | |
| 19 | 61 | IM | Asgarizadeh Ahmad | 2407 | GM | Papp Gabor | 2601 | 23 | |
| 20 | 24 | GM | Kravtsiv Martyn | 2599 | IM | Nezad Husein Aziz | 2404 | 62 |
Pictures by Amruta Mokal
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