Qatar Masters: Narayanan beats Gukesh to grab the lead (2024)

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10/15/2023 – The first sole leader of the Qatar Masters emerged after round 5, as Narayanan S.L., the thirteenth seed in Doha, obtained an upset win over Gukesh D. to become the only participant with 4½ points. Going into the one rest day of the event, twelve players stand a half point behind the leader, including Hikaru Nakamura, Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Arjun Erigaisi. Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri stand on 3½/5 scores — the latter lost to 19-year-old IM Rudik Makarian in round 5. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Qatar Masters: Narayanan beats Gukesh to grab the lead (9)

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Upsets on boards 3 and 6

For the first time in this edition of the Qatar Masters, a player has taken the sole lead at the top of the standings. Narayanan S.L., a 25-year-old Indian grandmaster from Kerala, defeated his compatriot Gukesh D. to go into the one rest day of the competition as the only player with a 4½/5 score.

Narayanan did not shy away from pushing his kingside pawns once Gukesh decided to exchange his light-squared bishop for a knight — i.e. doing what the position called for despite queens being still on the board.

While trying to untangle his position, Gukesh gave up a pawn in a messy middlegame. Giving up his remaining bishop was a mistake by the prodigious 17-year-old.

Gukesh used 3 out of the 4 remaining minutes he had on the clock before playing 36...Bf4, as he rejected the correct 36...Qg4, creating threats that would have led to a dynamic balance.

All minor pieces left the board before the time control, as White kept his extra pawn in the ensuing queen endgame.

Given the complicated nature of queen endgames, both players made inaccuracies in the final stage of the game (according to the engines), but it was Gukesh who made the last mistake with 52...Qh4+. A few moves later, Narayanan found the subtle king move that secured him the full point.

55.Kh3 prevents Black from giving more checks, and allows White to reply to play 56.Qe8 on the next move, winning. A third queen soon appeared on the board.

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Gukesh continued fighting until move 58, but to no avail — Narayanan’s king was ready to escape the checks and get protection by the powerful pair of queens.

Qatar Masters: Narayanan beats Gukesh to grab the lead (14)

Gukesh is likely to recover lost ground in the last four rounds of the very demandingopen tournament |Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Meanwhile, on board 6, Anish Giri erred decisively on move 34 while facing 19-year-old Rudik Makarian. A Georgian-born Russian player, Makarian is playing under the FIDE flag in Qatar.

Although White is the one calling the shots in this position, Giri would have kept the balance with natural moves like 34...Qe6 or 34...Rge8 here. His 34...Qa7, on the other hand, allowed White to get a clear advantage with 35.d5 — grabbing the pawn fails to Rc1-c7, while 35...c5, the best move in the position, gives up a pawn.

Makarian’s handling of his advantage was exemplary, as he got to play another good-looking (and winning) pawn push later on.

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In this Videocourse we deal with different aspects of the middlegame which are important to study and improve your general understanding of chess structures.

After 42.d6, Black cannot capture the bishop on f5 due to 43.Qxf5, and saving the black knight would lead to a quick mate.

Giri went for 42...Qa8, and saw his young opponent continuing to find precise manoeuvres until forcing Black’s resignation on move 50.

As pointed out in the post below, another youngster who is having a great run in Qatar is Vaishali Rameshbabu (Pragg’s sister), who beatShamsiddin Vokhidov and has 4/5 points!

IM Vaishali Rameshbabu continues her fantastic form at the Qatar Masters 2023. In the 5th round, Vaishali scored her 2nd win against a Grandmaster here - she took down strong Uzbek GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov!

Vaishali has a live rating of 2469.6 right now. She is 1 GM Norm and the… pic.twitter.com/mdbyxpDys5

— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) October 15, 2023

Carlsen’s study-like escape from round 4

Sharing second place a half point behind Narayanan are twelve players, including elite grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura, Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Arjun Erigaisi. Magnus Carlsen, who was defeated by Alisher Suleymenov in round 2, does not belong to this group.

After the upset loss that prompted the organizers to put forth more security measures, Carlsen defeated Al Muthaiah and Bharath Subramaniyam in rounds 3 and 5, and was held to a draw by 17-year-old Pranesh M. in Saturday’s fourth round.

Moreover, only a study-like escape allowed Carlsen to save a half point against Pranesh — as demonstrated by our in-house expert, GM Karsten Müller, below!

Interview with Magnus Carlsen after round 5 (by ChessBase India)

Middlegame Secrets Vol.1 + Vol.2

Let us learn together how to find the best spot for the queen in the early middlegame, how to navigate this piece around the board, how to time the queen attack, how to decide whether to exchange it or not, and much more!

Standings after round 5

Rk.SNoNameTypsexFEDRtgIPts.TB1TB2
113GMNarayanan.S.L,IND26514,5132939
22GMNakamura, HikaruUSA2780422780
35GMAbdusattorov, NodirbekU20UZB2716452712
46GMErigaisi, ArjunU20IND2712462782
57GMMaghsoodloo, ParhamIRI2707472736
612GMSindarov, JavokhirU18UZB26584122800
719GMYakubboev, NodirbekUZB26164192726
820GMKarthikeyan, MuraliIND26114202693
923GMParavyan, DavidFID25994232705
1025GMJumabayev, RinatKAZ25854252772
1130GMAditya, MittalU18IND25724302747
1237IMMakarian, RudikU20FID25484372686
1375IMVaishali, RameshbabuwIND24484752773
141GMCarlsen, MagnusNOR28393,512636
154GMGukesh, DU18IND27583,542629
168GMVan Foreest, JordenNED27073,582625
1715GMAryan, ChopraIND26343,5152607
1816GMSalem, A.R. SalehUAE26323,5162669
1918GMPuranik, AbhimanyuIND26183,5182569
2022GMVakhidov, JakhongirUZB26073,5222624

...158 players

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Qatar Masters: Narayanan beats Gukesh to grab the lead (2024)

FAQs

Who defeated the world's number one chess player Magnus Carlsen at the Qatar Masters? ›

Karthikeyan Murali: 24-year-old Indian chess grandmaster Karthikeyan Murali has achieved a significant feat by defeating world top-ranked player Magnus Carlsen (Norway) in the Qatar Masters.

Who won the Qatar Masters in chess? ›

Yakubboev Wins Qatar Masters After Heartbreaking Blunder By Arjun. 19th-seed GM Nodirbek Yakubboev is the shock winner of the Qatar Masters 2023 after the 21-year-old defeated his Uzbekistani namesake GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov 2-0 in a blitz playoff.

Who has beaten Magnus Carlsen the most? ›

Anand and Aronian have won the most games against Magnus Carlsen, the world's best chess player .

Who is the world no. 1 chess player? ›

GM Magnus Carlsen

Who did Magnus Carlsen lose against? ›

5-time world champion Magnus Carlsen on Thursday said that he lost in the Qatar Masters chess event because his opponent, 23-year-old Kazakh GM Alisher Suleymenov, 'was wearing a watch in the game' which made him lose concentration.

Who defeated Carlsen recently? ›

Praggnanandhaa first defeated Carlsen in 2016, when he was 10 years old. Then, in 2018, he defeated Carlsen again in a rapid chess tournament. And now, in 2022, Praggnanandhaa has defeated Carlsen for the third time. This is an incredible accomplishment for such a young player.

Who defeated Magnus Carlsen twice? ›

GM Alireza Firouzja is the second player to defeat GM Magnus Carlsen two times in a Grand Final of the Champions Chess Tour, a feat that only GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave achieved previously.

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