32nd Abu Dhabi Masters Round 1-3: Iniyan Panneerselvam Starts with a Perfect 3/3

by Devansh Singh - 18/08/2026

The 32nd Edition of Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival started on 15th August 2026. The Masters Group is one of the strongest Swiss tournaments in Asia. Grandmaster Daniil Dubov is the top seed of the tournament, and after the completion of 3 rounds, second seed GM Iniyan Panneerselvam is leading with 3/3. IM Goutham Krishna H drew against Daniil Dubov in the 2nd round. So many talented youngsters from India and around the globe are taking part in this fantastic event. Photos: Anmol Bhargav

3 Days of Action

The tournament started on 15th August, and while we are bringing this report to you, the 4th round is already in progress, where GM Iniyan is taking on Ahmadzada Ahmad with white pieces. Check out what happened in the last 3 days.

After drawing against Goutham Krishna in the 2nd round, Duboov won against WGM Anna Shukhman

Check out this game from round 1 of Abu Dhabi Masters 2026. Commentary by IM Sagar Shah.

Iniyan scored 3 consecutive wins, and he is co-leading the tournament

Check out the Round 3 game between Sergey Skolikin and Iniyan

GM Pranav Anand is on 2.5/3

GM Abhijeet Gupta suffered a tough loss against IM Usov Aleksandr E

The recently crowned GM of India, Aswath S, is also on 2.5/3

In Round 2, India's 98th Grandmaster, 18-year-old Aswath S, was up against the World No. 10 Junior Girl - 14-year-old WIM Aamuktha Guntaka! Watch the final half of this very interesting game.

IM Goutham Krishna made 2 strong draws against Daniil Dubov in the 2nd round and David Paravyan in the 3rd round

In Round 3 of the Abu Dhabi Chess Masters 2026, 16-year-old Indian IM Goutham Krishna H was up against experienced GM David Paravyan. Check out this very interesting game in full, and a detailed interview with Goutham after the game!

FM Anirudhha Potawad drew against IM Kushagra Shrivastava

IM Suyog Wagh missed his winning chance in the second game, and the game ended in a draw

Check out the final moments of the exciting game between IM Suyog Wagh and IM Lev Zverev in Round 2

Talented FM Advik Amit Agrawal made a solid draw against GM Makarian Rudik and IM Zverev Lev in consecutive rounds

At the first round of the Abu Dhabi Masters 2026, we have the talented young Indian Advik Agrawal (Elo 2376) taking on the well-known chess content creator Zachary Saine (Elo 2102), also known as the Chess Nerd. Commentary by IM Sagar Shah.

Check out Rounds 1 to 3 Games

Photo Gallery: Here

Video Gallery: Here

In the 2nd round of the Abu Dhabi Chess Festival Masters 2026, 11-year-old FM Aarit Kapil played a great game with the Black pieces to defeat experienced Polish GM Monika Socko. Watch a detailed post-game interview with Aarit!

Round 3 Results

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Rtg	No.
1	24	IM	Sklokin-Bagiyan, Sergey	2466	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Iniyan, Pa	2609	2
2	4	GM	Rakhmanov, Aleksandr	2590	2	½ - ½	2	IM	Jiang, Haochen	2457	27
3	8	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet	2553	2	0 - 1	2	IM	Usov, Aleksandr E.	2457	28
4	10	GM	Ahmadzada, Ahmad	2550	2	1 - 0	2	IM	Mohamed, Anees M	2413	40
5	46	IM	Bukreev, Stanislav	2379	2	½ - ½	2	IM	Aswath, S	2546	11
6	96	WGM	Zhapova, Yana	2220	2	½ - ½	2	IM	Sapenov, Daniyal	2500	17
7	1	GM	Dubov, Daniil	2652	1½	1 - 0	1½	WGM	Shukhman, Anna	2443	34
8	3	GM	Paravyan, David	2597	1½	½ - ½	1½	IM	Goutham, Krishna H	2451	31
9	44	FM	Maslovskiy, Vladimir	2388	1½	0 - 1	1½	GM	Pranav, Anand	2584	5
10	12	GM	Makarian, Rudik	2543	1½	1 - 0	1½	GM	Kandil, Adham	2390	43

Details

Standings after Round 3

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB2	TB3
1	2	GM	Iniyan, Pa	IND	2609	3	4	2
2	10	GM	Ahmadzada, Ahmad	AZE	2550	3	4	2
3	28	IM	Usov, Aleksandr E.	RUS	2457	3	3	2
4	96	WGM	Zhapova, Yana	FID	2220	2,5	4,5	2,5
5	4	GM	Rakhmanov, Aleksandr	FID	2590	2,5	4,5	2,5
6	27	IM	Jiang, Haochen	CHN	2457	2,5	4,5	2,5
7	46	IM	Bukreev, Stanislav	RUS	2379	2,5	4,5	2,5
8	17	IM	Sapenov, Daniyal	KAZ	2500	2,5	4	2,5
9	11	IM	Aswath, S	IND	2546	2,5	3,5	2,5
10	1	GM	Dubov, Daniil	RUS	2652	2,5	3,5	2

Details

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