4th President Cup Masters 2025 R4: Nihal Sarin plays quick draw against Alexander Grischuk
Nihal Sarin made quick draw in the fourth round of 4th International President Cup 2025 Masters. The game lasted less than an hour against the former three-time World Blitz champion, Alexander Grischuk. It was a theoretical draw arising out of Ruy Lopez Berlin Defence. Yuriy Kuzubov (UKR) scored the sole victory of the round against Frederik Svane (GER). The previous round leaders - Mukhiddin Madaminov (UZB), Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB) and Nihal are still at the top of the standings with a score of 3/4 each. They are closely followed by Shant Sargsyan (ARM) and Bardiya Daneshvar (IRI) at 2.5/4 each. Round 5 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 3:30 p.m. IST. Photo: UzChess
Kuzubov scores the sole win
The ten-player nine-round, Round-Robin Super tournament will take place from 4th to 12th December 2025 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Grischuk - Nihal: 0.5-0.5
Former three-time World Blitz champion, GM Alexander Grischuk (2654) and GM Nihal Sarin (2701) have played a lot of games online. However, this was the first time they faced each other in a Classical rating tournament. The game was a quiet theoretical draw arising out of Ruy Lopez Berlin Defence.

Replay Round 4 games
Round 4 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 2561 | GM | Abdisalimov, Abdimalik | ½ - ½ | GM | Lagarde, Maxime | 2608 | 7 | PGN | ||
| 2 | 8 | 2610 | GM | Kuzubov, Yuriy | 1 - 0 | GM | Svane, Frederik | 2653 | 6 | PGN | ||
| 3 | 9 | 2654 | GM | Grischuk, Alexander | ½ - ½ | GM | Nihal, Sarin | 2701 | 5 | PGN | ||
| 4 | 1 | 2665 | GM | Sargsyan, Shant | ½ - ½ | GM | Vokhidov, Shamsiddin | 2641 | 4 | PGN | ||
| 5 | 2 | 2552 | GM | Madaminov, Mukhiddin | ½ - ½ | GM | Daneshvar, Bardiya | 2600 | 3 | PGN |
Standings after Round 4
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | w-we | K | rtg+/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | GM | Madaminov, Mukhiddin | UZB | 2552 | 3 | 0 | 4,5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1,37 | 10 | 13,7 | |
| 2 | 4 | GM | Vokhidov, Shamsiddin | UZB | 2641 | 3 | 0 | 4,5 | 2 | 0 | 0,5 | 0,96 | 10 | 9,6 | |
| 3 | 5 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | IND | 2701 | 3 | 0 | 3,75 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0,61 | 10 | 6,1 | |
| 4 | 1 | GM | Sargsyan, Shant | ARM | 2665 | 2,5 | 0 | 5,25 | 1 | 0 | 1,5 | 0,09 | 10 | 0,9 | |
| 5 | 3 | GM | Daneshvar, Bardiya | IRI | 2600 | 2,5 | 0 | 4,75 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0,61 | 10 | 6,1 | |
| 6 | 8 | GM | Kuzubov, Yuriy | UKR | 2610 | 1,5 | 0 | 2,5 | 1 | 0 | 0,5 | -0,29 | 10 | -2,9 | |
| 7 | 7 | GM | Lagarde, Maxime | FRA | 2608 | 1,5 | 0 | 2,5 | 0 | 0 | 0,5 | -0,33 | 10 | -3,3 | |
| 8 | 6 | GM | Svane, Frederik | GER | 2653 | 1 | 1 | 1,25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1,18 | 10 | -11,8 | |
| 10 | GM | Abdisalimov, Abdimalik | UZB | 2561 | 1 | 1 | 1,25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0,67 | 10 | -6,7 | ||
| 10 | 9 | GM | Grischuk, Alexander | FID | 2654 | 1 | 3 | 2,75 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1,17 | 10 | -11,7 |
Round 5 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 2600 | GM | Daneshvar, Bardiya | GM | Abdisalimov, Abdimalik | 2561 | 10 | ||||
| 2 | 4 | 2641 | GM | Vokhidov, Shamsiddin | GM | Madaminov, Mukhiddin | 2552 | 2 | ||||
| 3 | 5 | 2701 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | GM | Sargsyan, Shant | 2665 | 1 | ||||
| 4 | 6 | 2653 | GM | Svane, Frederik | GM | Grischuk, Alexander | 2654 | 9 | ||||
| 5 | 7 | 2608 | GM | Lagarde, Maxime | GM | Kuzubov, Yuriy | 2610 | 8 |
Links
Uzbekistan Chess Federation : Official site, Telegram and fb page
Related News
Nihal Sarin dominates 4th President Cup Masters 2025 with a 2836 performance
Nihal Sarin clinches 4th President Cup Masters 2025 with a round to spare
4th President Cup Masters 2025 R7: Nihal showcases his tactical and technical prowess to regain his sole lead
4th President Cup Masters 2025 R6: Nihal overpushes against Madaminov, pays a heavy price
4th President Cup Masters 2025 R5: Nihal Sarin beats Shant Sargsyan to emerge sole leader
4th President Cup Masters 2025 R3: Nihal Sarin beats Yuriy Kuzubov
4th President Cup Masters 2025 R2: Five draws
4th President Cup Masters 2025 R1: Nihal Sarin makes a winning start
Phenomenal Praggnanandhaa clinches 2nd UzChess Cup Masters in thrilling Playoffs, now World #4 and India #1
2nd UzChess Cup R8: Can Praggnanandhaa stop Abdusattorov?
2nd UzChess Cup R7: Abdusattorov bounces back, Arjun and Sindarov in the fray
2nd UzChess Cup R6: Battle of the Nodirbeks last over six hours where Yakubboev prevails, Arjun joins the lead
2nd UzChess Cup R5: Abdusattorov regains sole lead, Parham and Arjun in pursuit
2nd UzChess Cup R4: Praggnanandhaa beats Sindarov to join the lead with Abdusattorov
2nd UzChess Cup R3: Abdusattorov outwits Rapport, emerges early sole leader
2nd UzChess Cup R2: Praggnanandhaa pummels Vokhidov, now World no.5
2nd UzChess Cup R1: Sindarov stuns Nepomniachtchi
Arjun, Praggnanandhaa and Aravindh set to face World's best at 2nd UzChess Cup Masters
Nihal Sarin prevails at 18th Tashkent Open, Abhimanyu Puranik third
Can Nihal Sarin win 18th Tashkent Open?
18th Tashkent Open R8: Abhimanyu Puranik and Nihal Sarin stay in the lead
18th Tashkent Open R1-7: Nihal, Abhimanyu and Saparmyrat in a three-way lead
Saparmyrat Atabayev wins 2nd Al-Beruniy International Chess Tournament Futures 2025, Iniyan second
Adhiban convincingly clinches Tashkent International Chess Festival 2024 Masters
Nihal Sarin sensational at 3rd International President Cup 2024 with a 2809 performance
Nihal Sarin subdues Javokhir Sindarov, on the verge of winning 3rd President Cup 2024
3rd President Cup R7: Nihal and Sindarov emerge coleaders, Abhimanyu forces draw against Abdusattorov
3rd President Cup R1-6: Neelash beats Bernadskiy, joins the five-way lead with Nihal and Sankalp
Anastasia Bodnaruk wins 2nd International Women's Championship 2024, Soumya Swaminathan second