Fahad frustrates another Super Grandmaster in Dubai

Bangladesh’s International Master Mohammad Fahad Rahman pulled off another surprising result in the ongoing Dubai Police Global Chess Challenge – MASTERS in Dubai on Sunday night, holding GM Hans Moke Niemann of the USA for a draw after having inflicted the same result on another Super Grandmaster, Yangyi Yu of China, in the first round on Friday.  

Against Niemann, who had defeated reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen in 2022, Fahad started with the black pieces and was on the back foot in the middle of the game but the 20-year-old forced the American super GM, boasting 2688 rating points to Fahad’s 2431, to draw the second-round match after 56 moves.

Fahad, who was set to face Kazakhstan’s WIM Alua Nurman in Monday’s third-round match, is currently tied in third place with 39 other players who have only one point, while 11 players lead the table with two points.

A total of 40 players share second place with 1.5 points. The event had 135 participants, including 47 GMs, two WGMs, 48 IMs, and two WIMs from 28 countries.

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