Two strong categories
The inaugural edition of the Fujairah Global Chess Championship is taking place in the United Arab Emirates from 24 August to 1 September 2025. Organised by the Fujairah Chess & Culture Club, the event has drawn over 530 players from around the world, competing in three categories: the Superstars Tournament (2600+ FIDE rating), the Masters (2200–2599) and the Youth Open (under 2200).
The total prize fund is $125,000, distributed as $80,000 for the Superstars, $30,000 for the Masters, and $15,000 for the Youth Open. The nine-round Swiss tournament uses a classical time control of 90 minutes for the whole game plus 30 seconds increment per move. Importantly, the Superstars event is part of the FIDE Circuit, offering qualification points towards the 2026 Candidates Tournament.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Invisible moves
The Superstars field includes a mix of experienced grandmasters and rising stars. Among them are Nihal Sarin, Raunak Sadhwani, Amin Tabatabaei, Sam Shankland, Lu Shanglei, Nikolas Theodorou, Saleh Salem, Jose Martinez Alcantara, Sanan Sjugirov and Abhimanyu Puranik. The overall field features 44 players in the Superstars, 239 in the Masters and about 250 in the Youth Open, with participants from more than 70 countries.
The first round in progress | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy
The Fujairah Chess and Culture Club | Photo: Vivek Sohani
Six players with 2½ out of 3
The opening day produced several surprises in the Superstars section. The headline result came when Indian grandmaster Pranav Venkatesh defeated the top seed Nihal Sarin with the black pieces. In a Sicilian battle, Nihal saw his bishop trapped on move 29.
Nihal eventually succumbed after 71 moves.
The upset was notable not only because of the rating difference but also because Pranav had lost to Nihal only a week earlier at the Chennai Grandmasters.
Video produced by ChessBase India
Other unexpected results followed: the second seed Raunak Sadhwani was held to a draw by Aleksey Grebnev, while Amin Tabatabaei was defeated by experienced grandmaster Alexander Motylev (European champion in 2014). Out of the top 18 seeded players, only 3 managed to win their opening games, underlining the depth of the field.
A number of leading contenders also sought to stabilise their campaigns after the first day’s setbacks, though the early results have already demonstrated how competitive and balanced the Superstars category is likely to be.
The only double-round day of the event was scheduled for today, with the third round played in the morning and the fourth round set to start at 18.30 local time.
Round three saw the clash of co-leaders between Aydin Suleymanli and Pranav Venkatesh ending in a draw. On board two, meanwhile, Eduardo Martinez got the better of Alexander Motylev, the remaining player who had started with 2 out of 2. Besides Martinez, three other players entered the round with 1½ points and scored a full point, joining the leading group with 2½/3 points: Sanan Sjugirov, Andrew Hong and Brandon Jacobson.
Zhu Jiner is the only female participant in the Superstars category | Video: ChessBase India
Standings after round 3
| 1 | GM | SULEYMANLI, Aydin | 2609 | 2,5 | 5,5 | |
| 2 | GM | JACOBSON, Brandon | 2594 | 2,5 | 5,5 | |
| 3 | GM | MARTINEZ ALCANTARA, Jose Eduardo | 2636 | 2,5 | 5 | |
| 4 | GM | PRANAV, V | 2597 | 2,5 | 5 | |
| 5 | GM | SJUGIROV, Sanan | 2636 | 2,5 | 4,5 | |
| 6 | GM | HONG, Andrew | 2580 | 2,5 | 4,5 | |
| 7 | GM | MOTYLEV, Alexander | 2595 | 2 | 6 | |
| 8 | GM | MISHRA, Abhimanyu | 2610 | 2 | 5 | |
| 9 | GM | PRANESH, M | 2589 | 2 | 5 | |
| 10 | GM | TABATABAEI, M. Amin | 2673 | 2 | 4 | |
| 11 | GM | SALEM, A.R. Saleh | 2640 | 2 | 4 | |
| 12 | GM | DUDIN, Gleb | 2583 | 2 | 3,5 | |
| 13 | GM | ADITYA, Mittal | 2560 | 2 | 3,5 | |
| 14 | GM | ZHU, Jiner | 2536 | 2 | 3,5 | |
| 15 | GM | CHEPARINOV, Ivan | 2625 | 1,5 | 6 | |
| 16 | GM | PRANAV, Anand | 2590 | 1,5 | 6 | |
| 17 | GM | MENDONCA, Leon Luke | 2606 | 1,5 | 5,5 | |
| 18 | GM | ZEMLYANSKII, Ivan | 2586 | 1,5 | 5,5 | |
| 19 | GM | PICHOT, Alan | 2581 | 1,5 | 5 | |
| 20 | GM | NIHAL, Sarin | 2692 | 1,5 | 4,5 | |
| 21 | GM | DONCHENKO, Alexander | 2616 | 1,5 | 4,5 | |
| 22 | GM | NARAYANAN, S L | 2595 | 1,5 | 4,5 | |
| 23 | GM | MURADLI, Mahammad | 2586 | 1,5 | 4,5 | |
| 24 | GM | SADHWANI, Raunak | 2676 | 1,5 | 4 | |
| 25 | GM | SHANKLAND, Sam | 2670 | 1,5 | 4 |
