Doha, October 10 (QNA) - The third edition of the Qatar Masters Open 2023 will begin on Wednesday, at the Lusail Sports Arena, Attracting an elite of the most prominent world champions, the event will start on Wednesday and continue until October 20.

250 male and female players from 42 countries, including 62 senior international grandmasters and representatives of 16 Arab countries, are participating in the tournament, with India having the largest number as 76 male and female players will take part.

Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, world No 1 and a five-time world champion, tops the list of participating stars where he will make his third appearance after having previously participated in the 2014 and 2015 editions.

The rest of the participating grandmasters who have arrived are American Hikaru Nakamura, Dutchman Anish Giri, Indian Dommaraju Gukesh, Kazakh Bibisara Assaubayeva.

The Qatari team includes Fahd Al Mansouri, Mohammed Al Qassabi, Hamad Al Kuwari, Mohammed Al Khayyat, Turki Al Kuwari, Mohammed Al Subaie, Amer Al Hammadi, Tamim Al Ghanim, Hamad Al Fahd, Ahmed Al Khanji, and Ahmed Saif. In the women's category, Kholoud Al Khulaifi, Asma Al Hammadi, Fatima Al Hammadi, Layan and Rawda Al Qassabi will participate.

President of the Qatar Chess Association, Mohamed Al Mudahka confirmed that the organizing committee has completed all arrangements for the launch of the competitions, indicating that the competition hall in the Lusail Sports Arena is now ready to host the third edition of the tournament.

The Qatar Masters Championship is considered to be one of the strongest open tournaments in the world, but it was also classified as the strongest open tournament in the world in the previous editions 2014 - 2015 due to the participation of a selection of the best international adult players who lead the world ranking list, and the tournament has gained a lot of publicity and public attention.

(QNA)