The third edition of the Qatar Masters will begin on Wednesday at Lusail Multipurpose Hall. The hugely popular chess tournament will be headlined by Magnus Carlsen of Norway and a string of world champions and Grandmasters from around the world. The ten-day championship will see 250 players, both male and female, representing 42 countries, including 62 Grandmasters.
Players from 16 Arab countries are also taking part at the 10-day event while India will have the largest pool of entries with 76 male and female players.
A prize fund of $108,250 will be provided by the Organising Committee, with $25,000 reserved for the winner, $15,000 for second place and $10,000 for third place. Special prizes for women, juniors and Arabic players will also be provided.
Carlsen, ranked first in the world and a five-time world champion, tops the list of participating stars, making his third appearance after having previously participated in the 2014 and 2015 editions.
American Hikaru Nakamura, ranked third in the world, and Dutchman Anish Giri, ranked seventh, will also be seen in action.
The Indian trio of Gukesh D, Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin, in addition to Uzbek star Nodirbek Abdusattorov, will be representing the under-20s among the favourites. Jorden van Forrest also from Dutch and Iranian Parham Maghsoodloo are other star names.
The competitions will also witness the participation of the world champion in blitz chess, the Kazakh international Grandmaster Bibisara Assaubayeva (2021 and 2022) in the women’s competition, which includes 16 players, alongside Indian Grandmaster Ramesh Vaishali, and her compatriot Vantika Agrawal.
Among the most prominent Arab players, Qatar will be represented by Hussein Aziz, ranked 141st in the tournament.
The first edition of the tournament took place in 2014, when Yu Yangyi outscored rating favourites Anish Giri and Vladimir Kramnik to take home the title. The next year, it was Magnus Carlsen who won the event — Carlsen tied for first with Yu and then beat him in a blitz playoff, while Kramnik had the best tiebreak score among the players finishing a half point behind the leading duo.
This year’s edition is a 9-round Swiss open, with a time control of 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.
Rounds will be played daily from Wednesday until October 20. The players will get a rest day after round 5, on Monday, October 16.
The technical meeting will be held on Wednesday morning before the competitions open with the first move at 3pm in the presence of Mohamed al-Mudahka, President of the Qatar Chess Association (QCA), a number of FIDE officials and members of the Arab Chess Federation along with a number of dignitaries will also be present at the tournament venue on Wednesday.
Al-Mudahka, President of QCA, confirmed that the organising committee has completed all arrangements for the start of the competitions, noting that the competition hall at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall is now ready to host the third edition of the tournament.
The QCA chief said hosting the tournament at Lusail Multipurpose Hall represents an important addition because the venue possesses all the elements for the success of the tournament. He continued: “We welcome all participating delegations, including coaches, administrators, and players, and we hope that the current the third edition will be a huge success.”
Al-Mudahka pointed out that entry will be free for fans, and some accompanying events will be held on the sidelines of the tournament. “After the tournament was held in 2014 and 2015, we look forward to maintaining the reputation of the tournament that it gained in the previous two editions. We hope that our efforts will culminate in presenting a distinguished edition and witnessing wonderful levels from all participants.”
Meanwhile, the Qatari national team has completed its preparations to participate in the International B Championship, which begins in parallel with the Qatar Masters. The Qatari team includes players Mohamed Firdaus, ranked 43rd in the tournament, Fahd al-Mansouri, Mohamed al-Qasabi, Hamad al-Kuwari, Mohamed al-Khayyat, Turki al-Kuwari, Mohamed al-Subaie, Amer al-Hammadi, Tamim al-Ghanem, Hamad al-Fahad, Ahmed al-Khanji, and Ahmed Saif.
In the women’s category, Kholoud al-Khulaifi, ranked 56th in the tournament, and Asma al-Hammadi, will participate along with Fatima al-Hammadi, Layan and Rawda al-Qasabi.

Top 20 seeds
1. Magnus Carlsen (NOR)
2. Hikaru Nakamura (USA)
3. Anish Giri (NED)
4. D Gukesh (IND)
5. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB)
6. Arjun Erigaisi (IND)
7. Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI)
8. Jorden Van Foreest (NED)
9. Sarin Nihal (IND)
10. Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO)
11. Grigoriy Oparin (USA)
12. Javokhir Sindarov (UZB)
13. S L Narayanan(IND)
14. Chithambaram Aravindh (IND)
15. Chopra Aryan (IND)
16. A R Saleh Salem (UAE)
17. Leon Luke Mendonca (IND)
18. Abhimanyu Puranik (IND)
19. Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB)
20. Murali Karthikeyan (IND)