Russian Grandmaster Vladislav Artemiev emerged as the Katara International Chess Tournament 2021 champion late on Wednesday defeating American GM Andrew Tang in a gripping final.
Artemiev won 7.5-6.5 via a thrilling ‘Online Bullet’ tie-breaker while playing from their respective countries and watched live by over 4,000 spectators.
The former young prodigies played a total of 11 Bullet games in total with both winning five games each and scoring two draws each to be locked at 6.5-6.5 forcing the tie-break.
The 23-yr-old Artemiev has been one of the best young chess players, ranked fourth in the world for all players aged 25. A chess prodigy much like his final opponent the 21-year-old Tang, Artemiev broke into the upper echelon of elite chess in 2019 becoming one of the top-10 chess players in the world.
Artemiev received USD 4,000 in top prize while Tang fetched USD 2,000.
Defending champion and 7-time world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway was beaten by Tang in the semis (7-4) while Artemiev beat compatriot Alexander Grischuk (7-1).
The $12,800 event had a total of 15 qualifiers, including wildcard entrant Grischuk making the Knockout Finals of the tournament which began on June 20.
Applauding the success, HE Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti, General Manager of the Cultural Village Foundation — Katara, said: “We are delighted with the exciting finish and the worldwide participation of top-ranked players in the Katara International Chess Tournament 2021. Katara as a cultural institution has always been to support and which also reflect the State of Qatar’s interest in sport.
“The organization of this tournament online emerged following the state’s precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) and the 2nd edition of the tournament has shown its popularity and stature as a world-event once again,” he added.
Mohamed al-Mudahka, President of Qatar Chess Federation, who interacted with all the participants before the final during the live broadcast, said, “The huge response from world players and the excitement during their participation and interactive response of the chess community from across the globe has underlined the stature of this tournament. The smooth conduct of the event highlights the great cooperation between QCF and Katara Cultural Village Foundation.
“We are thankful to Katara for their gracious support in contributing to the spread of sport and the culture of chess in particular in Qatar.”
Hussain Aziz, the Tournament Director, said the participation, dynamic play and involvement of chess lovers was electrifying. “The finals lasted over four and a half hours. The time-control format contests were thrilling to watch. There was a lot of interaction between the chess community and the expert commentators as they discussed moves and details,” he said.
A total of 5,143 entries including the world’s top FIDE-rated players were received with the four-day tournament attracting a worldwide audience live on YouTube and other social media channels.
FINAL STANDINGS:
Finalists: GM Vladislav Artemiev, RUS (winner $4,000), GM Andrew Tang, USA (runner-up $2,000); Semi-finalists: GM Magnus Carlsen, NOR ($1000), GM Alexander Grischuk, RUS ($1,000); Quarter-finalists ($600 each): GM Olexandr Bortnyk, (UKR), IM Yoseph Taher (INA), GM Ray Robson (USA), GM Sergei Zhigalko (BLR); Round of 16 ($300 each): FM Jose Cardoso (COL), GM SL Narayanan (IND), Artyom Zubritskiy (RUS), Thomas Beerdsen (NED), GM Vugar Rasulov (AZE), GM Rasmus Svane (GER), GM Gyula Pap (HUN), GM Dmitry Andreikin (RUS).
