Can Nihal Sarin win 18th Tashkent Open?

by Shahid Ahmed - 29/03/2025

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.

GM Nihal Sarin has gained sole lead 7.5/9 | Photo: Uzbekistan Chess Federation

Nihal - Jingyao

Position after 43.Na4

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.

IM Sagar Shah analyzes Nihal Sarin's win over Jingyao Tin | Video: ChessBase India

GM Abhimanyu Puranik drew with GM Sanan Sjugirov (HUN) to move to 7/9 | Photo: Uzbekistan Chess Federation

Replay Round 10 live stream | Video: UzChess

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

Details

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

Details

Round 10 pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	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

Details

Links

Uzbekistan Chess Federation

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