<p>Grand Masters B Adhiban and K Sasikiran will spearhead the Indian challenge in the masters category of the 18th Gibraltar International Chess Festival which starts here on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Leading the field are GMs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov from Azerbaijan and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave from France.</p>.<p>Other top players include Hao Wang of China, Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), David Navara from the Czech Republic and GM Liem Le Quang from Vietnam.</p>.<p>A huge Indian contingent, comprising about 40 players, will be taking part in the tournament and the focus will be on gaining ELO rating points.</p>.<p>Among the men, apart from Adhiban and Sasikiran, young guns like D Gukesh, the country's youngest GM R Praggnanandhaa, Raunak Sadhwani, S L Narayanan and several others including Karthikeyan Murali, who finished second in last year's tournament, are in the fray.</p>.<p>Soumya Swaminathan, Padmini Rout, Divya Deshmukh, Nisha Mohota and Rakshitta Ravi will be the ones to watch out for among the Indian women in action.</p>.<p>The women's field is led by Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine, Russian Alexandra Kosteniuk, Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iran), Zhongyi Tan and Lei Tingjie of China.</p>.<p>Adhiban, who had finished 23rd in last year's Masters event in a formidable field, is looking forward to playing in the tournament featuring some of the big names.</p>.<p>He said Mamedyarov and Vachier-Lagrave would be the ones to beat.</p>.<p>The Chennai-based GM said the tournament offers the Indians a big opportunity to improve their ratings and gain norms.</p>.<p>His aim is to better the 2019 performance where he finished with 6.5 points and ended joint 23rd with compatriot Gukesh among others.</p>.<p>"It is here that I reached the 2600 ELO rating points mark. I want to perform well and gain some rating points," he said.</p>.<p>Adhiban said he was keen to start 2020 on a good note and the Gibraltar event provides him with just the right opportunity.</p>.<p>"I want to start the year on a good note. I have always enjoyed playing here and the field is strong and a good performance will help improve my ratings and give me a lot of confidence for the tournaments in future," he added.</p>.<p>The 10-round Masters event concludes on January 31.</p>.<p>The Gibraltar Chess Festival would see over 500 participants more than 50 countries in various categories (Masters, Challengers and Amateurs).</p>
<p>Grand Masters B Adhiban and K Sasikiran will spearhead the Indian challenge in the masters category of the 18th Gibraltar International Chess Festival which starts here on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Leading the field are GMs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov from Azerbaijan and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave from France.</p>.<p>Other top players include Hao Wang of China, Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), David Navara from the Czech Republic and GM Liem Le Quang from Vietnam.</p>.<p>A huge Indian contingent, comprising about 40 players, will be taking part in the tournament and the focus will be on gaining ELO rating points.</p>.<p>Among the men, apart from Adhiban and Sasikiran, young guns like D Gukesh, the country's youngest GM R Praggnanandhaa, Raunak Sadhwani, S L Narayanan and several others including Karthikeyan Murali, who finished second in last year's tournament, are in the fray.</p>.<p>Soumya Swaminathan, Padmini Rout, Divya Deshmukh, Nisha Mohota and Rakshitta Ravi will be the ones to watch out for among the Indian women in action.</p>.<p>The women's field is led by Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine, Russian Alexandra Kosteniuk, Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iran), Zhongyi Tan and Lei Tingjie of China.</p>.<p>Adhiban, who had finished 23rd in last year's Masters event in a formidable field, is looking forward to playing in the tournament featuring some of the big names.</p>.<p>He said Mamedyarov and Vachier-Lagrave would be the ones to beat.</p>.<p>The Chennai-based GM said the tournament offers the Indians a big opportunity to improve their ratings and gain norms.</p>.<p>His aim is to better the 2019 performance where he finished with 6.5 points and ended joint 23rd with compatriot Gukesh among others.</p>.<p>"It is here that I reached the 2600 ELO rating points mark. I want to perform well and gain some rating points," he said.</p>.<p>Adhiban said he was keen to start 2020 on a good note and the Gibraltar event provides him with just the right opportunity.</p>.<p>"I want to start the year on a good note. I have always enjoyed playing here and the field is strong and a good performance will help improve my ratings and give me a lot of confidence for the tournaments in future," he added.</p>.<p>The 10-round Masters event concludes on January 31.</p>.<p>The Gibraltar Chess Festival would see over 500 participants more than 50 countries in various categories (Masters, Challengers and Amateurs).</p>