
Qatar Masters: Giri, Kramnik, Mamedyarov Top Seeds
Today the Qatar Masters open takes off in Doha, Qatar.
The top seeds are the Dutch #1 Anish Giri, the 14th world champion Vladimir Kramnik and the Tal Memorial blitz winner Shakhriyar Mamedyarov!
The tournament is one of the strongest, if not the strongest open of the year, with 154 participants all rated above 2200 and no less than 14 GMs rated 2700 or higher.
You can follow live commentary from Doha at Chess.com/TV every day, from 3 pm local time (4 am Los Angeles, 7 am New York, 12 pm London, 1 pm Amsterdam and 5:30 pm Mumbai).
So who's playing? Here's the impressive top 50 (find the full list here):
Qatar Masters Open 2014 | Top 50
No. | Title | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | Title | Name | FED | Rtg | |
1 | GM | Giri | NED | 2776 | 26 | GM | Akopian | ARM | 2657 | |
2 | GM | Kramnik | RUS | 2760 | 27 | GM | Mamedov | AZE | 2652 | |
3 | GM | Mamedyarov | AZE | 2757 | 28 | GM | Efimenko | UKR | 2644 | |
4 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave | FRA | 2751 | 29 | GM | Bologan | MDA | 2643 | |
5 | GM | Ding Liren | CHN | 2730 | 30 | GM | Ivanisevic | SRB | 2643 | |
6 | GM | Harikrishna | IND | 2725 | 31 | GM | Shankland | USA | 2642 | |
7 | GM | Jobava | GEO | 2722 | 32 | GM | A.Vovk | UKR | 2640 | |
8 | GM | Eljanov | UKR | 2719 | 33 | GM | Rakhmanov | RUS | 2636 | |
9 | GM | Naiditsch | GER | 2719 | 34 | GM | Romanov | RUS | 2636 | |
10 | GM | Tomashevsky | RUS | 2714 | 35 | GM | Gupta | IND | 2632 | |
11 | GM | Bu Xiangzhi | CHN | 2707 | 36 | GM | Adhiban | IND | 2630 | |
12 | GM | Kryvoruchko | UKR | 2706 | 37 | GM | Dubov | RUS | 2629 | |
13 | GM | Yu Yangyi | CHN | 2705 | 38 | GM | Safarli | AZE | 2628 | |
14 | GM | Moiseenko | UKR | 2701 | 39 | GM | Volokitin | UKR | 2627 | |
15 | GM | Sargissian | ARM | 2687 | 40 | GM | Mchedlishvili | GEO | 2622 | |
16 | GM | Cheparinov | BUL | 2684 | 41 | GM | Salgado | ESP | 2622 | |
17 | GM | Saric | CRO | 2680 | 42 | GM | Durarbayli | AZE | 2621 | |
18 | GM | Melkumyan | ARM | 2678 | 43 | GM | Naroditsky | USA | 2620 | |
19 | GM | Sjugirov | RUS | 2673 | 44 | GM | Oleksienko | UKR | 2620 | |
20 | GM | Berkes | HUN | 2669 | 45 | GM | Perunovic | SRB | 2619 | |
21 | GM | Fedorchuk | UKR | 2664 | 46 | GM | E.L'Ami | NED | 2618 | |
22 | GM | Bartel | POL | 2662 | 47 | GM | Hamdouchi | FRA | 2616 | |
23 | GM | Kuzubov | UKR | 2661 | 48 | GM | Mista | POL | 2616 | |
24 | GM | Edouard | FRA | 2659 | 49 | GM | Swiercz | POL | 2616 | |
25 | GM | Movsesian | ARM | 2659 | 50 | GM | Ganguly | IND | 2615 |
The Qatar Masters Open 2014, a 9-round Swiss, is played November 26-December 4 at the business center of the Crowne Plaza in Doha. The total prize fund is $110,000, with a $25,000 first prize.
The time control 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 the move 1.
The players are not allowed to offer or to agree for a draw before 30 moves have been completed by both players.
Follow the action at Chess.com/TV!