8/23/2025 – The Abu Dhabi Masters, the main event of the 31st Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival, is currently under way in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Bringing together a strong international field, the nine-round Swiss event is played at classical time control with a prize fund of 55,000 USD. With two rounds remaining, China's Zeng Chongsheng leads the standings, pursued closely by a group featuring a few higher-seeded contenders. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy
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A sole leader with two rounds to go
The 31st Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival is taking place in Abu Dhabi from 15 to 24 August 2025, held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Nahyan bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Among the festival’s various events, the Masters Tournament is the flagship competition, attracting strong international participation.
The Masters Tournament is open to all FIDE-rated players with a published standard rating of 2300 ELO and above as of 1 August 2025, with the exception of members of the Abu Dhabi Chess Club. The event follows a 9-round Swiss system, played at a classical time control of 90 minutes per player plus a 30-second increment from move one, with a 15-minute tolerance for late arrivals.
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The total prize fund for the Masters stands at 55,000 USD. The first prize is to be awarded outright, while prizes from second to fifteenth place will be distributed according to the Hort System. Tiebreaks will be resolved in the following order:
Direct Encounter
Buchholz (Cut 1)
Buchholz (Cut 2)
Sonneborn-Berger
ARCO (Cut 1)
Tournament progress
After seven rounds, GM Zeng Chongsheng (China, age 32) leads the standings as the sole leader with 6 points. Entering the competition as the 15th seed, Zeng made an excellent start with five consecutive wins, all against lower-rated opponents. He then drew against his compatriot Xue Haowen and against Arkadij Naiditsch, maintaining both his undefeated record and his position at the top.
Close behind Zeng is a group of eight players on 5½ points, including three members of the original top-ten seeds:
Arkadij Naiditsch (2nd seed, now representing Bulgaria)
The Alapin Variation (1.e4 c5 2.c3) offers a simple yet highly effective solution to all major Sicilian lines, by sidestepping them with 2.c3. Facing the Sicilian doesn’t have to be complicated. The Alapin Variation (1.e4 c5 2.c3) offers a simple yet highly effective solution to all major Sicilian lines, by sidestepping them with 2.c3. Whether your opponent plays the Najdorf, Taimanov, or Dragon, the Alapin lets you take control of the game as early as move two.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 2...g6
In the eighth round, Zeng will face Lazavik with the black pieces in what promises to be a critical encounter for the final standings. The last two rounds are scheduled for Saturday 23 August and Sunday 24 August.
The playing hall during round seven | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
6/6/2025 – The 13th edition of the Norway Chess super-tournament is taking place from 26 May to 6 June in Stavanger. An open event and a women's event are being played concurrently with an identical number of players, the same format and an equivalent prize fund. Both world champions — Ju Wenjun and Gukesh Dommaraju — are participating, besides world number one Magnus Carlsen. | Follow the games live starting at 17.00 CEST (11.00 ET, 20.30 IST)
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Biel Chess Festival 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Navara, Wojtaszek et al. Opening videos by Blohberger, Engel and Sokolov. Training columns ‘The fortress’, ‘Opening traps , ‘Fundamental Endgame Knowledge’ and much more
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