Qatar Masters Open

Chess tournament

For the golf tournament, see Qatar Masters.

The Qatar Masters Open is an open chess tournament organized by the Qatar Chess Association in Doha, Qatar. Its first edition took place from 25 November to 5 December 2014. It ran for two years in 2014 and 2015 before being discontinued. It was recontinued in 2023 and has been held annually since.

## Winners

[edit]

Year  | Winner

|

2014  |  Yu Yangyi (China)
2015  |  Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
2023  |  Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzbekistan)
2024  |  Andrey Esipenko (FIDE)

## Qatar Masters 2014

[edit]

The tournament was open to every player with Elo 2300 or above. The prize fund equaled over $100,000, with $25,000 for the winner.[1] There were also prizes for the best female and Arabic players, US$5,000 and US$3,500 for the first place in each category, respectively.

Yu Yangyi, a 20-year-old Chinese chess prodigy, became the Qatar Masters Champion,[2] scoring 7½/9; Anish Giri finished second and Vladimir Kramnik third, both scoring 7/9.

Place | Prize[3]

|

1st | $25,000
2nd | $15,000
3rd | $10,000
4th | $7,000
5th | $6,000
6th | $5,000

## Qatar Masters 2015

[edit]

This was the second edition of the Qatar Masters Open, played from December 20 to December 29, 2015. The time control for each of the tournament games was 90 minutes for the first 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. Tiebreak playoffs consisted of a 2-game blitz match with time control of 5 minutes with 3 seconds increment per move starting from the move 1.

Magnus Carlsen was the winner of the tournament, scoring +5 (7 points out of 9) and defeating Yu Yangyi in the tiebreak. There was a 5-way tie for third place, amongst Vladimir Kramnik, Sergey Karjakin, Sanan Sjugirov, Ni Hua, and Vassily Ivanchuk. Finally, Vladimir Kramnik finished third. The Prizes for the 10 best players of the tournament were as follows:

Place | Prize[4]

|

1st | $27,000
2nd | $16,000
3rd | $12,000
4th | $8,500
5th | $7,500
6th | $5,500
7th | $4,500
8th | $3,500
9th | $2,500
10th | $2,000

There were additional prizes for the best female players (ranging from $500.00 to $8000.00), best Arabic players (ranging from $1000.00 to $2500.00), top two Junior players, and special prizes in different rating groups.

## Qatar Masters 2023

[edit]

In January 2023 it was announced that the tournament will come back for a 3rd edition in 2023. The organizers said they are "working to secure sponsorship for the event to run annually until 2030". The tournament was held between October 10−20, and consisted of 9 rounds with one rest day. The tournament has a prize fund of $110,000, with $25,000 for the winner, $5,000 for the highest-scoring woman, and other prizes such as the best-scoring Arabic player and best-scoring junior. Participants included former World Champion Magnus Carlsen, five-time US Champion Hikaru Nakamura, current Dutch Champion Anish Giri, and several young talents such as Gukesh D, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Arjun Erigaisi.[5][6] The top-seeded woman participating was Bibisara Assaubayeva of Kazakhstan.

The winner of this tournament was Nodirbek Yakubboev, who beat compatriot Nodirbek Abdusattorov in a blitz playoff for the title.[7] As the 19th seed in the tournament, Yakubboev scored 7/9 (+5−0=4). Abdusattorov took second place, while Indian GM S. L. Narayanan finished third. The first woman's prize was won by Vaishali R, with 5/9, and the top Arabic prize went to Salem Saleh of the United Arab Emirates, who finished on 6/9. As Abdusattorov, the top junior in the tournament, had already achieved a prize, he could not receive the top junior prize,[8] and neither could Javokhir Sindarov, Arjun Erigaisi, or Gukesh D, who finished fourth, sixth, and eighth respectively, so it is likely that the prize went instead to Nihal Sarin, the highest-performing junior who had yet to receive a greater prize than the $2,000 awarded to the top junior.

## Qatar Masters 2024

[edit]

The 2024 edition of the tournament was held between December 3rd and December 13th of that year.[9] The tournament's A group was open to players rated 2300 or higher, and consisted of a nine-round Swiss-system tournament. Participants included world number four Arjun Erigaisi and world number six Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

Shant Sargsyan was the clear leader through round 6 as the sole contestant with 5½/6. He held Arjun to a draw in the seventh round, before losing a critical game to Esipenko in the penultimate round and eventually finishing fourth with a score of 6½/9.

6th seed Andrey Esipenko won the tournament with a score of 7½/9, drawing Arjun in the final round to claim the $25,000 prize for sole first. Arjun and Abdusattorov each finished with a score of 7/9, with Arjun earning $15,000 for coming second on tiebreaks and Abdusattorov receiving $10,000. IM Polina Shuvalova claimed the $5,000 for first woman's prize with 5½/9.

## External links

[edit]

* Tournament's official website

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ "Prizes — Qatar Masters Open 2014". Archived from the original on December 23, 2014. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
2. ^ "Current Ranking — Qatar Masters Open 2014". www.qatarmastersopen.com. Archived from the original on 2014-11-28.
3. ^ "Regulations — Qatar Masters Open 2014". Archived from the original on December 29, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
4. ^ "Regulations — Qatar Masters Open 2015". www.qatarmastersopen.com. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22.
5. ^ "Magnus Carlsen plays this year's revived Qatar Masters". chess24.com. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
6. ^ "Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - Qatar Masters Open 2023". chess-results.com. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
7. ^ McGourty (Colin_McGourty), Colin (2023-10-20). "Qatar Masters 2023: Yakubboev Wins Title After Arjun Heartbreak". Chess.com. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
8. ^ "Qatar Masters 2023 - All the Information". Chess.com. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
9. ^ Doggers (PeterDoggers), Peter (2024-12-12). "Esipenko Wins Qatar Masters; Arjun Misses Chance To Catch Caruana In FIDE Circuit". Chess.com. Retrieved 2025-06-18.

* v
* t
* e

Major recurring international chess tournaments

* Strong chess tournaments
* Mini chess tournaments
* Round-robin chess tournaments

Major present
(average rating > 2700;
round-robin system generally)|

* Chennai Grand Masters (since 2023)
* Grand Chess Tour (since 2015)
* Grenke Chess Festival (since 2013)
* Norway Chess (since 2013)
* Prague Chess Festival (since 2019)
* Shamkir Chess (since 2014)
* Shenzhen Masters (since 2017)
* Sinquefield Cup (since 2013)
* Tata Steel Chess Tournament (since 1938)
* UzChess Cup (since 2024)
* Tata Steel India (since 2018)

Other present
(Swiss system generally)|

* Aeroflot Open (since 2002)
* Australasian Masters (since 1987)
* Biel Chess Festival (since 1968)
* Canadian Open (since 1956)
* Capablanca Memorial (since 1962)
* Cappelle-la-Grande Open (since 1985)
* Carlos Torre Repetto Memorial (since 1987)
* Chigorin Memorial (since 1909)
* Doeberl Cup (since 1963)
* Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting (since 1973)
* Dubai Open (since 1999)
* Hastings International Chess Congress (since 1920)
* Hogeschool Zeeland Tournament (since 1995)
* London Chess Classic (since 2009)
* Lublin Grandmaster Tournament (since 2009)
* Paul Keres Memorials (Tallinn, since 1969) (Vancouver, since 1975)
* Qatar Masters Open (2014–2015, since 2023)
* Reykjavik Open (since 1964)
* Riga Technical University Open (since 2011)
* Rilton Cup (since 1971)
* Rubinstein Memorial (since 1963)
* South African Open (since 1962)
* U.S. Open (since 1900)
* TePe Sigeman & Co chess tournament (since 1993)
* Vidmar Memorial (since 1969)
* World Open (since 1973)
* Xtracon Chess Open (since 1979)
* Zurich Christmas Open (since 1977)

Recently cancelled
(after 2000)|

* Alekhine Memorial (1956–2013, irregular)
* Acropolis (1968–2009)
* Aerosvit (2006–2008)
* Amber (1992–2011)
* Bilbao Chess Masters Final (2008–2016)
* Gibraltar Chess Festival (2003–2020)
* Howard Staunton Memorial (2003–2009)
* Linares (1978–2010)
* Mar del Plata (1928–2001)
* Millionaire Chess (2014–2016)
* M-Tel Masters (2005–2009)
* North Sea Cup (1976–2008)
* Pearl Spring (2008–2010)
* Reggio Emilia (1947–2012)
* Tal Memorial (2006–2018)
* Zurich Chess Challenge (2012–2017)

Major past
(19th–20th century)|

* American Chess Congress (1857–1923)
* Carl Schlechter Memorial (1923–1996)
* DSB Congress (1879–1932)
* General Government (1940–1944)
* IBM international (1961–1981)
* Konex (1977–1994)
* Leopold Trebitsch Memorial (1907–1938)
* Lone Pine International (1971–1981)
* Max Euwe Memorial (1987–1996)
* Monte Carlo (1901–1904; 1967–1969)
* Netanya (1961–1983)
* Palma de Mallorca (1965–1972)
* Phillips & Drew Kings (1980–1986)
* Piatigorsky Cup (1963–1966)
* San Sebastián (1911–1912)
* Silesian Chess Congress (1922–1939)
* Tilburg (1977–1998)
* Triberg (1914–1917)

* Chess competitions
* National championships
* Supranational championships

This chess tournament-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

This article related to sport in Qatar is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[China]: China
*[Norway]: Norway
*[Uzbekistan]: Uzbekistan
*[FIDE]: FIDE
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template