Can Nihal Sarin win 18th Tashkent Open?
GM Nihal Sarin defeated GM Jingyao Tin (SGP) to gain sole lead 7.5/9 at 18th Tashkent Open, Agzamov Memorial 2025 Open A (≥1800). His coleader GM Abhimanyu Puranik drew with GM Sanan Sjugirov (HUN) to trail by a half point at 7/9 each. IM Saparmyrat Atabayev (TKM) lost his second consecutive game. This time it was against the 44th Olympiad Gold medalist, GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB). Nihal will face Shamsiddin in the final round. A win makes him a clear champion. However, a draw may not be enough to finish first as both Abhimanyu and Sanan have better tie-breaks than him. Round 10 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 3:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Uzbekistan Chess Federation
Abhimanyu Puranik in the fray
GM Abhimanyu Puranik will need to defeat European Individual champion 2024, GM Aleksandar Indjic (SRB) in the final round and hope both Nihal and Sanan's results go in his way to become the winner.
Nihal - Jingyao
In an equal knight endgame, GM Jingyao Tin (SGP, 2597) misplaced his knight 43...Ne5?? 44.Nb2 Nf3 45.Nc4+ Kd7 46.Nxa5 and White went on to win the game. 43...Ke7 is what Black needed to play stay in the game. With this win, GM Nihal Sarin (2687) has gained sole lead 7.5/9, heading into the final round.
A total of 153 players including 20 GMs, 32 IMs and a WIM are taking part from 15 countries across the world in Open A (≥1800). The ten day ten-round Swiss league rating tournament is being organized by Uzbekistan Chess Federation at International Chess Academy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 20th to 29th March. It has a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.
Replay Round 9 games
Round 9 results
| Rd. | Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 1 | 1 | GM | Nihal Sarin | 2687 | 6½ | 1 - 0 | 6½ | GM | Tin Jingyao | 2597 | 9 | ||
| 9 | 2 | 6 | GM | Sjugirov Sanan | 2631 | 6½ | ½ - ½ | 6½ | GM | Puranik Abhimanyu | 2636 | 5 | ||
| 9 | 6 | 34 | IM | Begmuratov Khumoyun | 2430 | 5½ | 1 - 0 | 5½ | GM | Mendonca Leon Luke | 2643 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 7 | 7 | GM | Narayanan S L | 2622 | 5½ | 1 - 0 | 5½ | IM | Neelash Saha | 2460 | 25 | ||
| 9 | 9 | 11 | GM | Adhiban B. | 2554 | 5½ | ½ - ½ | 5½ | FM | Rostovtsev Dmitry | 2292 | 68 | ||
| 9 | 10 | 31 | GM | Prraneeth Vuppala | 2437 | 5½ | ½ - ½ | 5½ | GM | Tiviakov Sergei | 2530 | 15 | ||
| 9 | 11 | 38 | IM | Rakhmatullaev Almas | 2413 | 6 | ½ - ½ | 6 | GM | Aditya Mittal | 2550 | 12 | ||
| 9 | 12 | 13 | GM | Madaminov Mukhiddin | 2550 | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | IM | Vaz Ethan | 2430 | 37 | ||
| 9 | 14 | 45 | IM | Sidhant Mohapatra | 2382 | 5 | 0 - 1 | 5 | GM | Lobanov Sergei | 2508 | 18 | ||
| 9 | 15 | 53 | IM | Khoroshev Nikita | 2358 | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5 | GM | Lalit Babu M R | 2495 | 20 | ||
| 9 | 16 | 21 | IM | Ayush Sharma | 2485 | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5 | IM | Ritviz Parab | 2363 | 50 | ||
| 9 | 20 | 29 | IM | Goutham Krishna H | 2449 | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | FM | Akhilbay Imangali | 2342 | 61 | ||
| 9 | 21 | 30 | IM | Nitish Belurkar | 2441 | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | Nithin Babu | 2242 | 74 | |||
| 9 | 23 | 33 | IM | Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad | 2432 | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | FM | Sharipov Davron | 2246 | 73 | ||
| 9 | 24 | 36 | IM | Soham Kamotra | 2430 | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | WFM | Getman Tatyana | 2156 | 88 |
Standings after Round 9
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | w-we | K | rtg+/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | IND | 2687 | 7,5 | 47,5 | 50,5 | 0 | 6 | 2708 | 0,73 | 10 | 7,3 | ||
| 2 | 6 | GM | Sjugirov, Sanan | HUN | 2631 | 7 | 49 | 53 | 0 | 6 | 2716 | 1,10 | 10 | 11 | ||
| 3 | 5 | GM | Puranik, Abhimanyu | IND | 2636 | 7 | 48,5 | 52,5 | 0 | 5 | 2647 | 0,32 | 10 | 3,2 | ||
| 4 | 2 | GM | Vokhidov, Shamsiddin | UZB | 2670 | 7 | 40,5 | 44,5 | 0 | 5 | 2547 | -0,69 | 10 | -6,9 | ||
| 5 | 10 | GM | Nesterov, Arseniy | FID | 2593 | 6,5 | 48,5 | 52,5 | 0 | 4 | 2555 | -0,37 | 10 | -3,7 | ||
| 6 | 9 | GM | Tin, Jingyao | SGP | 2597 | 6,5 | 47,5 | 52,5 | 0 | 6 | 2614 | 0,49 | 10 | 4,9 | ||
| 7 | 3 | GM | Indjic, Aleksandar | SRB | 2651 | 6,5 | 47 | 51 | 0 | 4 | 2582 | -0,50 | 10 | -5 | ||
| 8 | 12 | GM | Aditya, Mittal | U20 | IND | 2550 | 6,5 | 47 | 49,5 | 0 | 4 | 2575 | 0,44 | 10 | 4,4 | |
| 9 | 34 | IM | Begmuratov, Khumoyun | U16 | UZB | 2430 | 6,5 | 46,5 | 50,5 | 0 | 4 | 2642 | 2,68 | 10 | 26,8 | |
| 10 | 7 | GM | Narayanan, S L | IND | 2622 | 6,5 | 44,5 | 48,5 | 0 | 5 | 2571 | -0,31 | 10 | -3,1 | ||
| 11 | 8 | GM | Daneshvar, Bardiya | U20 | IRI | 2609 | 6,5 | 42 | 46 | 0 | 5 | 2489 | -0,84 | 10 | -8,4 | |
| 12 | 38 | IM | Rakhmatullaev, Almas | U20 | UZB | 2413 | 6,5 | 42 | 45,5 | 0 | 5 | 2441 | 0,79 | 10 | 7,9 | |
| 13 | 26 | IM | Gan-Erdene, Sugar | MGL | 2459 | 6,5 | 41,5 | 45 | 0 | 5 | 2510 | 0,79 | 10 | 7,9 | ||
| 14 | 16 | IM | Atabayev, Saparmyrat | TKM | 2529 | 6 | 47 | 51,5 | 0 | 5 | 2579 | 0,71 | 10 | 7,1 | ||
| 15 | 30 | IM | Nitish, Belurkar | IND | 2441 | 6 | 45 | 49 | 0 | 4 | 2471 | 0,50 | 10 | 5 |
Round 10 pairings
| Rd. | Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 1 | 2 | GM | Vokhidov Shamsiddin | 2670 | 7 | 7½ | GM | Nihal Sarin | 2687 | 1 | |||
| 10 | 2 | 5 | GM | Puranik Abhimanyu | 2636 | 7 | 6½ | GM | Indjic Aleksandar | 2651 | 3 | |||
| 10 | 3 | 7 | GM | Narayanan S L | 2622 | 6½ | 7 | GM | Sjugirov Sanan | 2631 | 6 | |||
| 10 | 5 | 11 | GM | Adhiban B. | 2554 | 6 | 6½ | IM | Begmuratov Khumoyun | 2430 | 34 | |||
| 10 | 6 | 13 | GM | Madaminov Mukhiddin | 2550 | 6 | 6 | IM | Nitish Belurkar | 2441 | 30 | |||
| 10 | 7 | 15 | GM | Tiviakov Sergei | 2530 | 6 | 6 | IM | Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad | 2432 | 33 | |||
| 10 | 8 | 31 | GM | Prraneeth Vuppala | 2437 | 6 | 6 | IM | Atabayev Saparmyrat | 2529 | 16 | |||
| 10 | 9 | 18 | GM | Lobanov Sergei | 2508 | 6 | 6 | IM | Soham Kamotra | 2430 | 36 | |||
| 10 | 11 | 12 | GM | Aditya Mittal | 2550 | 6½ | 6½ | GM | Tin Jingyao | 2597 | 9 | |||
| 10 | 12 | 68 | FM | Rostovtsev Dmitry | 2292 | 6 | 6 | IM | Goutham Krishna H | 2449 | 29 | |||
| 10 | 13 | 4 | GM | Mendonca Leon Luke | 2643 | 5½ | 5½ | IM | Khoroshev Nikita | 2358 | 53 | |||
| 10 | 14 | 40 | IM | Audi Ameya | 2404 | 5½ | 5½ | IM | Makarian Rudik | 2547 | 14 | |||
| 10 | 17 | 20 | GM | Lalit Babu M R | 2495 | 5½ | 5½ | IM | Manish Anto Cristiano F | 2355 | 54 | |||
| 10 | 18 | 56 | IM | Slizhevsky Alexander | 2353 | 5½ | 5½ | IM | Ayush Sharma | 2485 | 21 | |||
| 10 | 21 | 50 | IM | Ritviz Parab | 2363 | 5½ | 5½ | IM | Neelash Saha | 2460 | 25 |
