Nihal Sarin clinches 4th President Cup Masters 2025 with a round to spare
Nihal Sarin defeated Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB) to win 4th International President Cup 2025 Masters with a round to spare. Vokhidov misplaced his queen in the middlegame. It created an opportunity for Nihal use tactics to gain a crucial pawn. That helped him to win the game. It also played a role in Nihal reclaiming his sole lead. The only other pursuer, Mukhiddin Madaminov (UZB) went down against Maxime Lagarde (FRA). Lagarde's win ensured that none of Nihal's pursuers can mathematically catch him in the final round. Thus, Nihal became the champion of this event for the second consecutive year. Only this time it is the Masters section and one round left to go. Round 9 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 3:30 p.m. IST. Photo: UzChess
Lagarde beats Madaminov
The ten-player nine-round, Round-Robin Super tournament will take place from 4th to 12th December 2025 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Vokhidov - Nihal: 0-1
GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB, 2641) and GM Nihal Sarin (2701) played four Classical rated games against each other. They traded a win each and the remaining two ended in draws. Their fifth battle went in favor of Nihal.
White made the mistake of playing 16.Qb5? Rc5 17.Bxf6 Qxf6 18.Qa6 Bf3! a neat trick 19.gxf3 exf3 20.Ne4 Qg6+ 21.Ng3 fxe2 22.Qxe2 h5 23.b4 Rd5 24.Qe4 Qxe4 25.Nxe4 Rd4 26.Nc5 Rg4+ 27.Kh1 Rxb4 and Black went on to use his extra pawn advantage to win the game.
Replay Round 8 games
Round 8 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 2561 | GM | Abdisalimov, Abdimalik | ½ - ½ | GM | Grischuk, Alexander | 2654 | 9 | PGN | ||
| 2 | 1 | 2665 | GM | Sargsyan, Shant | ½ - ½ | GM | Kuzubov, Yuriy | 2610 | 8 | PGN | ||
| 3 | 2 | 2552 | GM | Madaminov, Mukhiddin | 0 - 1 | GM | Lagarde, Maxime | 2608 | 7 | PGN | ||
| 4 | 3 | 2600 | GM | Daneshvar, Bardiya | ½ - ½ | GM | Svane, Frederik | 2653 | 6 | PGN | ||
| 5 | 4 | 2641 | GM | Vokhidov, Shamsiddin | 0 - 1 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | 2701 | 5 | PGN |
Standings after Round 8
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | w-we | K | rtg+/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | IND | 2701 | 6 | 0 | 22,25 | 5 | 1 | 3,5 | 1,14 | 10 | 11,4 | |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Madaminov, Mukhiddin | UZB | 2552 | 4,5 | 0 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1,41 | 10 | 14,1 | |
| 3 | 4 | GM | Vokhidov, Shamsiddin | UZB | 2641 | 4,5 | 0 | 16,5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0,25 | 10 | 2,5 | |
| 4 | 7 | GM | Lagarde, Maxime | FRA | 2608 | 4 | 0 | 15,75 | 2 | 1 | 2,5 | 0,23 | 10 | 2,3 | |
| 5 | 6 | GM | Svane, Frederik | GER | 2653 | 4 | 0 | 15,5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -0,37 | 10 | -3,7 | |
| 6 | 1 | GM | Sargsyan, Shant | ARM | 2665 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -0,54 | 10 | -5,4 | |
| 7 | 10 | GM | Abdisalimov, Abdimalik | UZB | 2561 | 3,5 | 0 | 13,25 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0,19 | 10 | 1,9 | |
| 8 | 9 | GM | Grischuk, Alexander | FID | 2654 | 3,5 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 1,5 | -0,92 | 10 | -9,2 | |
| 9 | 3 | GM | Daneshvar, Bardiya | IRI | 2600 | 3,5 | 0 | 12,25 | 1 | 0 | 1,5 | -0,17 | 10 | -1,7 | |
| 10 | 8 | GM | Kuzubov, Yuriy | UKR | 2610 | 2,5 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -1,22 | 10 | -12,2 |
Round 9 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 2701 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | GM | Abdisalimov, Abdimalik | 2561 | 10 | ||||
| 2 | 6 | 2653 | GM | Svane, Frederik | GM | Vokhidov, Shamsiddin | 2641 | 4 | ||||
| 3 | 7 | 2608 | GM | Lagarde, Maxime | GM | Daneshvar, Bardiya | 2600 | 3 | ||||
| 4 | 8 | 2610 | GM | Kuzubov, Yuriy | GM | Madaminov, Mukhiddin | 2552 | 2 | ||||
| 5 | 9 | 2654 | GM | Grischuk, Alexander | GM | Sargsyan, Shant | 2665 | 1 |
Links
Uzbekistan Chess Federation : Official site, Telegram and fb page
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