‘Sharjah Chess Masters’ sees 9 players lead after round 3

First time
This is the first time the championship has seen a player earn this title, after Mamedov achieved the final "norm" following the third round.

Mamedov opened his campaign with a valuable victory in the first round over Ukrainian International Grandmaster Ihor Eduardovych Samunenkov. He drew in the second round against American Samuel Sevyan, and despite losing to Hungarian Adam Kozak, he still secured the title of International Grandmaster.

Tournament lead
The championship lead changed hands after the third round, with nine players competing for the lead with 2.5 points each. They were India's Visakh, Serbia's Aleksandar Indžić, Greece's Nikolas Theodorou, China's Dai Changren, the Netherlands' Anish Giri, Hungary's Adam Kozak, Belarus' Mihail Nikitenko, Uzbekistan's Ortik Nigmatov, and Russia's Ivan Zemlyansky. Twenty-three players were tied with two points each.

Competitions
The first table saw a draw between Indian Visakh and Serbian Alexander. This was repeated at the second table between Chinese Dai Changren and Iranian Parham Maghsoudlou. The first win came at the third table, with Dutchman Gerry winning the round against Indian Pranov Anand. At the fifth table, Salem Abdulrahman, a player for our national team and Sharjah Cultural Chess Club, drew with Chinese player Zhou Jiner. The round featured 20 draws.

A distinguished attendance
The opening ceremony at the first table was attended by Hisham Ali Al Taher, Secretary-General of the Asian Chess Federation; Faisal Khalid Al Nabooda, Director of Marketing and Public Relations at Sharjah Cooperative Society; and Abdullah Murad Al Mazmi, Tournament Director. Najla Al Shamsi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Girls Chess and Culture Club; and Faisal Al Hammadi, Head of the Technical and Referee Committee, inaugurated the third tournament for the 1900–1400 category.