Four Players Tie for First with 7 Points

Wesely So Won The Cup

The world's youngest Grandmaster, 14-year-old Wesley So of the Philippines won the Dubai Open with 7 points out of 9 rounds. The Filipino tied with GMs Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia, Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran and Li Chao of China but prevailed in the tie break of higher average opponent rating. Eight other players tied with 6.5 points each.
Wesley received a congratulatory telephone call from National Chess Federation of the Philippines President Prospero Pichay. He continues to Indonesia for a match with their champion, GM Megaranto Susanto before returning home to the Philippines for a Battle of Philippine Grandmasters.
Local hero FIDE Master Salem Abdulrahman Saleh, Asian under-14 champion, clinched his first GM norm with one round to spare.

4 New International Norm

Salem Abdulrahman from UAE and  Zhou Weiqi from China make Grandmaster Norm   and  and Also Soozankar Mohamad from Iran and Wu Xibin from China  made International Master Norms.
 

 Dubai Blitz  Open Tournament

Dubai Chess Club officials with the top 3 in the Blitz Tournament. From left are: Club Executive Director Mohammed Husseini, Mr. Nagueb Mohamed Saleh - Technical Manager, Dubai Chess Club and Chairman of Appeals Committee, 3rd placer GM Wesley So, runner-up GM Yuri Drizdovskij and champion GM Gadir Guseinov and Dubai Chess Club Board Member Mr.Sohail Tayeb.

See the full result of Blitz tournament 

 

Report of Round 7:

DUBAI — Wesley So, the whiz kid from Philippines, bounced back into the lead with a resounding victory over Indian grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta in 28 moves after the seventh round of Dubai Open Chess Championship held at Dubai Chess and Culture Club. A lackluster opening by Gupta led to a catastrophe when he lost the queen for a rook. Wesley wrapped up the issue neatly, a Press release said.
Grandmasters Li Chao B of China, Gagunashvili Merab of Georgia are at the top of the table with six points. Grandmasters Ghaem Maghami Ehsan of Iran, Drozdovskij Yuri of Ukraine and Arutinian David of Georgia shared the second spot with 5.5 points while a pack of 12 players are at the third spot with 5 points.
Mahdi Abdul Rahim, the National Arbiter from the UAE, said, “The tournament is running smoothly and several UAE arbiters are working and contributing to the technical success of the tournament.”

Li Chao won against FM Saleh A.R. Saleh of the UAE in 59 from a Gruenfeld defense. Li attacked in the queenside and took advantage of the pin on a 5-d1 diagonal. Salem gave up a piece to stir up complications. In a complicated endgame where Salem had passed pawns on sixth and seventh rank the Chinese grandmasters displayed excellent technique to clinch the issue. Despite the loss Salem is on track for the Grandmaster norm with an performance of 2580.

Among UAE players, Salem remained at the top with five points while IM Abdullah Hassan and FM Saeed Ishaq scored four points each. FM Alhuwar Jasem and FM Othman Moussa won their games and are at the third spot with 3.5 points.

Report of Round 6:

rd 6 report Salem A.R.Saleh came back into the reckoning with an impressive win over Gelashavilli Tamaz in the Dubai Open Chess Championship held at Dubai Chess and Culture Club.
Salem showed his skills in an immensely complicated endgame involving major pieces to enhance his rating performance to 2668. While Salem bounced back impressively as Wesley So‘s winning streak came to an end as the experienced Georgian grandmaster grind down a win in a complex endgame.
Fide master Salem A.R. Saleh of the UAE, rated 2429, shocked Grandmaster Gelashvili of Georgia, rated 2622. Salem revived his hopes for a grandmaster norm with this crucial win.

Grandmaster Gagunashvili Merab of Georgia defeated GM So Wesley of Philippines and is at the top of the table with 5.5 points after the sixth round. Gagunashvili defeated Wesley in 75 moves from a queen pawn opening. Wesley was saddled with an inferior endgame and despite resourceful play was unable to attain a draw.

Grandmasters Arutinian David of Georgia, Li Chao B of China, So Wesley, Abhijeet Gupta of India and Salem A.R. Saleh are half a point behind the leader. Grandmasters Adly Ahmed of Egypt, Ghaem Maghami Ehsan of Iran, Drozdovskij Yuri and Neverov Valeriy of Ukraine, Gleizerov Evgeny of Russia, Kotsur Pavel and IM Ismagambetov Anuar of Kazakhstan are at the third spot with 4.5 points.

Most of the matches ended in draws. and the top two boards saw prolonged battles with Salem and Gagunashvili prevailing in technical endgames. Among UAE players, Salem remained at the top with five points while FM Saeed Ishaq won against FM Mossavian Hamid of Iran and scored four points. IM Abdullah Hassan defeated Tabada Jobannie of Philippines and is at the third spot with 3.5 point

Report of Round 5:

Young boy Grandmaster So Wesley of Philippines emerged as sole leader with 5 points after the fifth round of Dubai Open Chess Championship held at Dubai Chess and Culture Club. Grandmaster Gagunashvili Merab of Georgia won against GM Kotanjian Tigran of Armenia and is half a point behind the leader. FM Salem A.R. Saleh of UAE, GM Kotsur Pavel of Kazakhstan, GM Gelashvili Tamaz and GM Arutinian David of Georgia, GM Drozdovskij Yuri and GM Neverov Valeriy of Ukraine, GM Abhijeet Gupta of India, Ghaem Maghami Ehsan and Sadatnajafi M of Iran, GM Adly Ahmed and IM Frhat Ali of Egypt, GM Li Chao B of China, and GM Gleizerov Evgeny of Russia are at the third spot with 4 points.

 So Wesley defeated Salem A.R. Saleh in 34 moves from a Sicilian Defence. Weslwy deployed his pieces well and gave up a rook for minor piece and pawns to destroy the opponent’s castled position. In a tactical melee, Wesley activated his queen to conduct a decisive mating attack. The rest was routine technique.

 In a Queen Pawn opening, Gagunashvili Merab gave up a pawn for quick development in the queenside. In rook and minor piece endgame, Gagunashvili was exchange up and his rook created havoc in White’s camp and won the game in a cavalier fashion.

 Among UAE players, Salem A.R. Saleh is at the top with 4 points while IM Abdullah Hassan scored 2.5 points and FM Othman Moussa and FM Alhuwar Jasem scored 2 points each.

 Report of Round 4:

Salem A.R.Saleh of UAE and Wesley So of Philippines emerged as joint leaders in the Dubai open Chess Championship after defeating grandmaster Zhou Weiqi of china and World junior champion Ahmed Adly of Egypt in the crucial fourth round matches held at the Dubai chess club
While Wesley and Salem A R Saleh kept a perfect score to top the table with 4 points each grandmasters Kotsur Pavel (Kazakhstan) ,Gelashvili Tamaz (Georgia) ,Drozdovskij Yuri ( Ukraine) Gupta Abhijeet ( India) , Kotanjian Tigran and Gagunashvili Merab ( Georgia) were close behind with 3½.
Wesley outplayed his opponent with an aggressive style while Adly forced on defensive with his king in the middle defending all the time which made it easier for the world’s youngest grandmaster to collect his seventh point to keep his perfect scoreline
UAE's youngster Salem A.R.Saleh registered a brilliant result in the fourth round when he defeated the more experienced grandmaster Zhou Weiqi to collect four points. Salem was in form as he summarily outwitted the Chinese gm . Salem won a pawn and his active pieces clinched the issue.Also in the same round, Gelashvili Tamaz won a exiciting match against GM Safarli Eltaj to post his third win

 Report of Round 3:

11 players shared the lead by scoring 3 points in as many rounds . The highlight of the day was UAE’s youngster Fide master Salem A.R. Saleh had an upset win over Grandmaster Neverov Valeriy of Ukraine rated 2568. Grandmaster So Wesley of Philippines won against GM Pantsulaia Levan of Georgia. Both young talents played resourceful and Wesley  defeated the second seeded gm in 48 moves. Wesley had a slight edge and he managed to win a pawn and attain a powerful passed pawn on sixth rank which clinched the issue.

 Salem was able to turn the trend against him in the endgame when gm neverov made a technical mistake in the endgame . salem penetrated the  black’s camp and managed to create decisive threats.

 Among UAE players, FM Alhuwar Jasem held to a draw International master Khader Sami of Jordan in 41 moves from a Sicilian defence while Marwan Abdulwahab,and Khalil Ibrahim drew their respective games against Poleschikov Alexey of Russia and Darwish Mohamed of Syria.

 Report of Round 2:

Twenty players emerged at the top of the table with 2 points after the second round of Dubai Open Chess Championship held at Dubai Chess and Culture Club. FM Othman Moussa of UAE rated 2335 had an upset win over Grandmaster Negi Parimarjan of India rated 2514. Othman Moussa won against Parimarjan in 55 moves from a Pirc Defence. Othman started attacking the queenside after Parimarjan castled long. In a rook and minor piece endgame, Othman coordinated his pieces well and placed his rook on the 7^th rank which gave him an undue advantage. Othman swiped the pawns on the 7^th rank and won extra pawns and the game.
FM Moosavian Hamed of Iran rated 2404 defeated top seed Grandmaster Guseinov Gadir of Azerbaijan rated 2625 in 59 moves from a Sicilian Defence. Moosavain went for attacking the centre early in the opening and positioned his pieces well, Moosavian penetrated into Black’s camp with his isolated central pawn and gained space advantage. In a tactical melee, Moosavian played brilliantly and delivered a powerful checkmate on the 7^th rank.
Other Grandmaster registered facile victories to remain at the top boards. UAE had a good day when FM Salem A.R. Saleh, FM Alhuwar Jasem and Saeed Ishaq registered fine victories. Salem won against Al-Housa Khalil of Palestine in 31 moves from a Colle system while Jasem won against FM Marwan Abdulwahab of UAE and Saeed against Taghikhani Amir Ali of Iran.

 Report of Round 1:

 10th Dubai Open Chess Championship started off with a record number of 132 players from 24 countries. 74 title holders - 23 Grandmasters, 19 International masters, 18 Fide masters, 6 Women Grandmasters, 3 Women International masters and 5 Women Fide masters are participating in this prestigeous event. Grandmaster Guseinov Gadir of Azerbaijan rated 2625 is the top seed while Grandmasters Gelashvili Tamaz   rated 2622 and Pantsulaia Levan rated 2617 of Georgia, Ghaem Maghami Ehsan of Iran rated 2604 and Kuzubov Yuriy of Ukraine rated 2603 are expected to give tough competition to the top seed.

 Fide master Soozankar A M of Iran rated 2221 held to a draw Grandmaster Arutinian David of Georgia rated 2593 while Darwish Mohamed of Syria rated 2157 held Grandmaster Safarli Eltaj of Azerbaijan rated 2524. All the other top board players registered facile victories in the inaugural round.

 Soozankar held the Grandmaster in just 14 moves from a Sicilian defence Accelerated Dragon variation. Players agreed to split the point as the position is equal and no scope for further play.

 In a Sicilian Defence, Najdorf variation, Darwish went for exchanging the queens in the early game and went for attacking the kingside. They reached a rook and pawn endgame and neither were in a position to promote the pawn and bring back the game into action.

 UAE delegation is led by FM Salem A.R. Saleh followed by IM Abdullah Hassan, FM Othman Moussa, FM Alhuwar Jasem, FM Mohamed Hossein and FM Saeed Ishaq.

Reports by IM. RaviKumar