Erigaisi has lead as Nakamura, five others give chase

Indian GM Arjun Erigaisi on Thursday beat Russia’s David Paravyan to grab the lead at the $120,000 Qatar Masters where former champion Magnus Carlsen posted a win in the eighth round but he is no longer in contention for the title.
Erigaisi has 6.5 points to be placed ahead of India’s SL Narayanan, Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov, USA’s Hikaru Nakamura, India’s Murali Karthikeyan and Uzbek duo Nodirbek Yakubboev and Nodirbek Abdusattorov all sitting with 6 points each.
Nakamura on Thursday beat V Pranav to hold on to the fourth spot in the overall standings ahead of today’s final round at Lusail Sports Arena.
Carlsen, winner in Doha in 2015, on Thursday beat American GM Gregory Kaidanov to finish day eight at 13th spot.
Dutchman Anish Giri, ranked seventh in the world and third in the tournament, drew with India’s Abhimanyu Puranik, ranked 18th in the tournament, to see his chances of winning the title go down as he had to settle at 5.5 points (10th place).
Indian GM Narayanan, ranked 13th in the tournament, drew with compatriot Karthikeyan, raising the former’s score to 6 points and slipping down to second place in the standings. Karthikeyan ranked fifth with the same number of points but is trailing by difference in moves.
Karthikeyan said on Thursday: “I was unlucky in today’s game as I was close to winning, but luck was not on my side in the final stages. I believe that all the players in the top 7 positions still have chances to win the title. I will try to put in more effort so that I can win on the last day.”
There was cheer for Arab players as UAE’s Salem Abdul Rahman, ranked 14th in the tournament, defeated his Azerbaijani counterpart Ahmad Ahmadzada, ranked 55th in the tournament, raising the Emirati’s score to 5 points (12th place). Algeria’s Bilel Bellahcene, ranked 44th in the tournament, drew with Mohamed Fahad (Bangladesh), ranked 101st in the tournament, raising his score to 4 points.
Mohamed al-Mudahka, President of the Qatar Chess Association (QCA), on Thursday said the stage is set for a thrilling final day’s play at Qatar Masters today.
“This tournament has been massively exciting. I am also pleased to see a good number Arab players taking part in the tournament here. Our player Hussein Aziz did well alongside UAE’s Salem Abdel Rahman as did Algeria’s Bilel Bellahcene and Egypt’s Adham Fawzi,” al-Mudakha said on Thursday.
Al-Mudahka thanked the sponsors for their support to chess events over the last decade.
Mohamed Nasser al-Sayed, a member of the Board of Directors of QCA, said he is looking forward to the final day’s proceedings at Lusail Sports Arena.
“I believe that the chances are equal between the top 8 players and anything is possible. I believe that we will witness the crowning of a new champion for this tournament based on the results recorded in the penultimate round,” al-Sayed said.
In The International B Tournament, overnight leader Rustum Tolentino of the Philippines continues to lead the standings at the end of the eighth round with 8 points, followed by India’s Majumder Sharayan (7 points) and Abdul Qadir Sayed (6.5 points).
The ninth and final round begins today at one o’clock in the afternoon.