Carlsen, Nakamura, Giri, Gukesh, Arjun, Nihal and co. set to star at Qatar Masters 2023
Shahid Ahmed·3 min read
Almost eight years later, Qatar Masters is back with the third edition. Yangyi Yu won the first one in 2014, followed by Magnus Carlsen beating him in tie-break to clinch the second edition in 2015. The total prize fund being US$ 108250 with the first prize US$ 25000, attracted a lot of top players including the defending champion, Hikaru Nakamura, Anish Giri, D Gukesh and others. Above 2300 rating restriction in the Open A category ensured a strong line-up. Eight players are rated above 2700, 22 are 2600+, first 36 seeds are GMs only, 58 GMs, 58 IMs, six WGMs and two WIMs are taking part in this strongest Open tournament in the world today. Round 1 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Official site
A total of 160 players are slated to take part in the Open A (>2300) from 30 countries across the world. 124 of them are GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs only. The biggest contingent is India as 75 players are taking part. The only other country which has a participation in double digits is Uzbekistan - 14, followed by USA - 9.
Eight players are rated above 2700 | Photo: Official site
The World no.1 and FIDE World Cup 2023 winner - Magnus Carlsen won the last edition in 2015 | Photo: Official site
Magnus Carlsen, Gukesh, Anish Giri, Hikaru Nakamura headline the Qatar Masters Open 2023 + Giveaway | Video: ChessBase India
Schedule
There are one round every day from 11th to 20th October 2023 starting from 3 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Monday 16th October 2023 is a rest day.
Tournament schedule | Source: Tournament Circular
Time control
Time control for each tournament game is 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 1.
Prize and Tie-break details
The total prize fund of the tournament is US$ 108250. The top three prizes are $25000, $15000 and $10000 each. For more details about prizes, check out the image below:
Prize details
| Source: Tournament Circular
Tie-break details
| Source: Tournament Circular
Photo Gallery
Lusail Sports Arena is the venue of the tournament | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy
Tournament hall
| Photo: Aditya Sur Roy
Playing arena
| Photo: Aditya Sur Roy
Top boards
| Photo: Aditya Sur Roy
Magnus Carlsen returns to Qatar Masters after nearly eight years | Video: ChessBase India
