Tournament Review: Abu Dhabi Masters 2025

I have played Abu Dhabi festival 4 times (2018, 2019, 2023, 2024), and this was my 5th time playing this festival. There are a few reasons why I keep playing Abu Dhabi tournaments. This involves low costs for a very strong tournament, chance to play against great players, and I like this city.
This year, it was not the strongest festival compared to the last editions. In all the last editions, there were a couple of 2700 players and many 2600 players. This time, unfortunately, only two 2600+ players played. Nevertheless, there were around 30 Grandmasters, and almost everyone is a titled chess player.

Organization

As always, the organization of this festival is best in class. The first two rounds of tournaments were at Radisson Blu Corniche, and the next 7 rounds were at St Regis Corniche. Both of the hotels are 5-star properties, and the hall was great. I like St Regis Hall as it was very spacious.
Entry was free for IMs and GMs above 2400. Although I did not get free entry despite having an exact 2400 rating, I paid the entry fee a bit earlier, before getting my IM title on my FIDE Profile. In total, I paid 825 Dirhams, which is $225

Accommodation

Photo taken from Booking.com (Click here to checkout the listing)

Last 2 years, I stayed at the Copthorne Downtown hotel. This time I stayed at Hala Arjaan by Rotana in the Tourist Club area. The hotel room was very spacious and cozy. The lights were perfect, high-speed wi-fi, and it was very big for 2 people. My friend and I stayed from 13th August to 24th August.
For those 11 nights, 12 days, we paid 35650 INR each (71300 INR total). This is around $405 for each. Breakfast or any meal was not included.
For the price we paid, I highly recommend this hotel to everyone.

About Abu Dhabi

This was my fifth visit to Abu Dhabi, having previously played in the event in 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023. I continue to find the city extremely safe, tourist-friendly, and affordable. One thing I've noticed is that the staff here are always well-mannered and well-trained.
Public transportation is not as convenient as in European cities, but taxis are cheap. We typically paid around 20 AED for a 6-7 km ride.
On the first day, i.e., 14th August, we visited Warner Bros studios. It’s one of the biggest theme parks in the world. I liked the overall vibes. I highly recommend buying an express pass, which costs an additional 250 AED ($70). With Express Pass, you save 20-30 minutes on each ride, and you can explore other shops and food zones. It’s a good one-time visit place.

Ratings

1. Organization: 10/10
2. Hotel: 10/10
3. Food: 9.5/10 (I mostly ate Indian and Arabic food)
4. Safety: 10/10

Expenses Breakdown

• Stay at Hala Arjaan by Rotana - 35700 INR/ $410
• Flight from Mumbai to Abu Dhabi - 15500 INR/ $175
• Entry Fee + Visa Fee - 19500 INR/ $225
• Food and Taxi for all days - 10000 INR/ $115
• Taxi Home to Mumbai Airport - 1500 INR/ $20
• Other Expenses - 5000 INR/ $70
  Total Expenses: 87200 INR / $1015

Notes:

• I am playing the Fujairah Masters, which is a connecting event, and that’s why I haven’t included some of my expenses like return flight, etc. You will see all expenses in the next article.
• USD prices are approximate
• I haven’t included Warner Bros ticket price and expenses on that particular day. It was not tournament expenses. We spent around 20000 INR each ($230) on that day, which includes the ticket and the express pass of 16000 INR ($180)

Photos:

You can check out the same article which is originally published on Substack - https://nikhilchess.substack.com/p/tournament-review-abu-dhabi-masters