Carlsen carves out another win to close gap on leaders

World No. 1 Magnus Carlson of Norway on Tuesday beat India’s Aditya S Samant to close gap on the points leaders after round six of the $120,000 Qatar Masters 2023.
Carslen, 32, has raised his tally to 4.5 points at Lusail Sports Arena where Indian GM SL Narayanan is at the top with 5 points following his impressive draw against Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Carlsen is placed 10th on the points table.
After round six, GMs Narayanan, Arjun Erigaisi, Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Yakubboev are in joint lead with 5/6 points. Another eight players are chasing the leading pack with 4.5 points each.
Hikaru Nakamura of the US, ranked third in the world and second in the tournament, on Tuesday battled to a draw against Paravyan David, ranked 23rd in the tournament.
Nakamura had tied in the last round against Uzbekistan’s Sindarov, raising the American player’s score to 4.5 points, occupying fifth place.
Nakamura said on Tuesday: “I think things have not settled yet given the closeness in points among the top 20 players in the standings. As for me, I faced great difficulties during the previous two games and I will try to put in more effort so that I can increase my points tally.”
India’s Erigaisi, ranked sixth in the tournament, beat Rudik Macarian, ranked 37th in the tournament, to raise his score to 5 points to be in third place.
Also on Tuesday, Uzbekistan’s Sindarov defeated India’s Mittal Aditya, ranked 30th in the tournament, raising his score to 5 points.
In other results, Dutchman Anish Giri, ranked seventh in the world and third in the tournament, defeated the Algerian Bilel Bellahcene, ranked 44th in the tournament, raising his score to four points.
In an all-India clash, D Gukesh beat Rameshbabu Vaishali to sit pretty with 4.5 points after six rounds.
UAE’s Salem Abdul Rahman, ranked 14th in the tournament, tied with Gregory Kaidanov of the US. The UAE star has 4 points.
Also on Tuesday there was cheer for home chess fans when Qatar’s Husain Aziz beat India’s Mahendru Jaiveer for his second win of the 10-day tournament.
‘Difficult to predict a winner’
Former world champion Zhu Chen of Qatar, currently the treasurer at FIDE, on Tuesday said it is difficult to predict a winner at the on-going Qatar Masters 2023.
“The fluctuating results witnessed among the top seeds show the difficulty of the competition in Qatar. I think we will only know the winner on the final day,” Zhu Chen said in an interview.
“We are very happy with the strong competition levels in the tournament. FIDE appreciates the organisational brilliance from Qatar Chess Association (QCA). FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich attended the opening competitions and he considers the Qatar Masters one of the strongest open tournaments in the world,” Zhu Chen said.
“Since obtaining the approval of FIDE to host the tournament – which was also organised in 2014 and 2015 – the QCA has clearly sought to make Qatar Masters a top event for players and fans around the world. I believe that it has succeeded so far by providing all possible facilities to the participating delegations,” she said.
“FIDE also acknowledges that by hosting International B Tournament Qatar stands to gain on many fronts. One of the biggest gains is many young Qatar players getting their due international exposure. When you compete against the best or watch them play, young players learn a lot,” she said. “Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura are here. To watch them play or compete against them is a dream come true for many,” the FIDE treasurer said. “There is no easy match in the Qatar Masters and all games have equal chances among the participating players, especially since the tournament is one of the highest-ranked events, which makes the task difficult for all players without any exception. And everyone saw what happened in the previous rounds.”