GM Murali Karthikeyan
Jobava in Sole Lead, Karthikeyan Murali trails a point behind
The Georgian super grandmaster, Baadur Jobova took the sole lead with the full score at the end of round 5 of the Master’s section of Abu Dhabi Chess Festival in progress here at Hotel Sofitel.

Jobova, who has lost a good number of rating points, started as the 26th seed but his class is evident the way he demolished his opponents. He is followed by Iran’s GM Parham Maghsoodloo on the second place. Tied for third place are ten players including Indian GM Karthikeyan Murali.
Pairings of the next round for IND
| Rd. | Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | ||||
| 6 | 3 | 14 | GM | Karthikeyan Murali | 2612 | 4 | 4 | GM | Volokitin Andrei | 2636 | 7 | |||
| 6 | 8 | 36 | GM | Aryan Chopra | 2553 | 3½ | 3½ | GM | Onischuk Vladimir | 2640 | 6 | |||
| 6 | 11 | 74 | FM | Assaubayeva Bibisara | 2375 | 3½ | 3½ | GM | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | 2607 | 15 | |||
| 6 | 13 | 18 | GM | Antipov Mikhail Al. | 2599 | 3½ | 3½ | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | 2569 | 32 | |||
| 6 | 15 | 78 | FM | Rathanvel V S | 2367 | 3½ | 3½ | GM | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | 2594 | 21 | |||
| 6 | 17 | 24 | GM | Vaibhav Suri | 2591 | 3½ | 3½ | GM | Xu Yi | 2531 | 39 | |||
| 6 | 19 | 57 | IM | Krishna C R G | 2444 | 3 | 3 | GM | Akopian Vladimir | 2650 | 5 | |||
| 6 | 20 | 8 | GM | Ter-Sahakyan Samvel | 2632 | 3 | 3 | IM | Aditya Mittal | 2429 | 61 | |||
| 6 | 21 | 19 | GM | Bai Jinshi | 2599 | 3 | 3 | GM | Laxman R.R. | 2426 | 62 |
The participation of the Indian contingent in this US $ 70,000 prize money tournament is to provide exposure to young Indian talents in strong international events.


Certificate :National Rapid & Blitz Chess Championship 2025-26 in Jharkhand from 11-13 March 2026
FIDE World Cadets Cup – 2026 in Batumi, Georgia from 15th to 28th June, 2026
Live games link for 35th National Under – 17 Open & Girls Chess Championship – 2026
Final Report – Senior National Arbiters’ Seminar and Examination, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh on 14 & 15 March 2026.
Final Report :SNA Seminar and Exam held in Ranchi on 21 & 22 Feb 2026