Qatar Chess Masters/ Carlsen Regains Winning, First Victory for Qatari Husain Aziz

Doha, October 13 (QNA) - The third edition of the Qatar Masters Championship continued today at the Lusail Sports Arena, featuring a lineup of some of the world's top chess champions. The competition will run until Oct. 20. The tournament follows a Swiss system format with 9 rounds, with each player having 90 minutes for the game plus 30 seconds per move. It has attracted 250 players from 45 countries, including 62 Grandmasters representing 16 Arab countries. India boasts the highest number of participants with 76 players and female players. The total prize fund for the Qatar Masters International Open Chess Championship is $120,000. Qatar's International Master Husain Aziz, ranked 141st in the tournament, achieved his first victory by defeating the Indian player Aayush Bhattacherjee, ranked 77th in the tournament. Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, the world's top-ranked player regained the winning tone by defeating Indian Muthaiah AL, ranked 66th in the tournament, overcoming his loss in the last round to his Kazakh opponent, Alisher Suleymenov, ranked 47th. Coach of the Qatari national team Russian Alexey Kuzmin, affirmed that the Qatar Chess Masters is one of the strongest open championship at the global level, given the volume of participation and the presence of the top seeds and world champions. Kuzmin said in statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) that without a doubt, participating in the international championship is an important opportunity for male and female players because it provides a good contact experience and strong levels with emerging players. Meanwhile, the International B tournament competitions which are held in parallel with the Qatar Masters Championship, continued, witnessing the attendance of 94 male and female players who are ranked under 2,300 points. (QNA)