The race for the Abu Dhabi Masters title has tightened, with four players sharing the lead after four rounds and top seed Daniil Dubov sitting just half a point behind.
India’s Grandmaster Pa Iniyan, Azerbaijan’s Grandmaster Ahmad Ahmadzada, International Master Aleksandr Usov and Grandmaster Edgar Mamedov all entered the fifth round on 3.5 points from four games.
Dubov, the tournament’s highest-rated player at 2652, is among a large chasing group on three points.
Iniyan, Ahmadzada and Usov had entered Round 4 as the tournament’s three perfect scorers, each having won their opening three games.
That changed when Iniyan and Ahmadzada met on the top board. Their encounter ended in a draw, keeping both unbeaten and moving them to 3.5 points.
Usov also saw his perfect run come to an end against the tournament favourite, holding Dubov to a draw to move to 3.5 points. The Russian grandmaster moved to three points after having earlier dropped half a point against Indian International Master Goutham Krishna.
Mamedov then joined the leading group by defeating Indian Grandmaster Pranav Anand in Round 4, moving from 2.5 to 3.5 points and creating a four-way tie at the top.
The fifth round will immediately put the leaders against each other.
Mamedov will have White against Iniyan on the first board, while Ahmadzada faces Usov on Board Two. Dubov, meanwhile, will play Kazakhstan’s Grandmaster Aldiyar Ansat, with both players entering the round on three points.
The pairings guarantee that the four-way tie at the top will come under pressure as the tournament reaches its halfway stage, while giving Dubov and the rest of the chasing pack an opportunity to close the gap.
With five rounds still to play, little separates the leading group in a Masters field featuring more than 100 players and a strong contingent of grandmasters and international masters.
The Masters is played over nine rounds under the Swiss system, with players receiving 90 minutes for their games and a 30-second increment from the first move.
The tournament carries a prize fund of $55,500, with final prizes determined using the event’s tie-break system rather than being shared between players finishing on equal scores.
Emirati star Roudha Al Serkal, the first woman grandmaster of the UAE and the Gulf region, is also participating at the event.
Source: Khaleej Times