Today's Edition
DUBAI/STAVENGER (ALETIHAD)
The 25th Dubai Open Chess Tournament got under way on Tuesday with defending champion Grandmaster (GM) Mahammad Muradli of Azerbaijan and reigning Asian junior chess champion GM Aleksey Grebnev off to a rousing start with wins at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club. Also winning was Nihal Sarin, right, against Akshay Borgaonkar in an all-Indian clash on the main board.
Grebnev was the first to get the full point after disposing of International Master (IM) Pham Tran Gia Phuc. The Russian, 18, opted for the Rossolimo Attack against Pham, 16, and then won a pawn on the 18th move when the Vietnamese missed a tactical blow. Grebnev consolidated his advantage and wrapped up the game on the 36th move.
Few minutes later, Muradli followed Grebnev, the former breezing past Israel’s IM Or Bronstein with a sizeable advantage on the board and clock during the course of a victory in 38 moves. Playing the white side of a Catalan game, Muradli won a pawn on the 23rd move and still had over an hour on his clock while Bronstein was already surviving on the 30-second time increment in a knight-vs-bishop endgame.
The field for the silver jubilee of the event comprises 29 GMs and is being held across two categories with more than 180 players from 34 countries taking part.
Al Serkal Makes History in Norway
In a landmark moment for UAE sport and the Arab world, 15-year-old Rouda Al Serkal, the country’s first Woman Grandmaster (WGM), made her debut at the prestigious Norway Chess Open tournament in Stavenger.
In her opening match, Rouda faced Ukraine’s GM Platon Galperin, playing with the white pieces in a tense 56-move encounter. Despite a valiant effort, she lost but Rouda stayed positive. “It is sad to not start with a win,” Rouda said with a smile.
“But it was also incredibly valuable. Playing at this level is intense, and I know I’ll grow from this.” She is competing as a wild card at the home event of Norwegian legend Magnus Carlsen, who is in the main tournament among the world’s elite, including Carlsen’s successor and world chess champion Gukesh Dommaraju of India. “She’s breaking barriers that we didn’t even know existed,” said Kjell Madland, founder and tournament director.
