31st Abu Dhabi Masters R4: Aditya Mittal's amazing knight sac

by Shahid Ahmed - 19/08/2025

IM Artiom Stribuk and GM Chongsheng Zeng (CHN) are the only two players with four points each at 31st Abu Dhabi Chess Festival 2025 Masters. Seven players are trailing them by a half point at 3.5/5 each. GM Aditya Mittal is the sole Indian among them. He scored a fantastic victory against IM Shiroghlan Talibov (AZE) by sacrificing his knight after thwarting an onslaught by his opponent. Untitled Mandar Pradip Lad played a 124-move marathon draw against GM Yunguo Wan (CHN). Among the latest IMs of India - Vignesh Advaith Vemula, Daaevik Wadhawan and Suyog Wagh held GM Jingyao Tin (SGP), GM Denis Makhnev (KAZ) and GM Karthik Venkataraman to a draw each respectively. Round 5 starts today at 5 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy

Mandar defends a 124-move long marathon draw against a GM

Jubin - Chongsheng

Position after 39...Qh4

IM Jubin Jimmy (2464) needed to get his king out of the pin 40.Kf1. Instead, he blundered 40.Bf2? GM Chongsheng Zeng (CHN, 2553) found the correct tactic Rxg2+ 41.Kxg2 Qg5+ and now Black is winning.

IM Jubin Jimmy suffered a tough loss against GM Chongsheng Zeng (CHN)

IM Vignesh Advaith Vemula played a solid draw against GM Jingyao Tin (SGP)

Anuj - Bartosz

Position after 49...Ra4+

Where should White move the king? IM Anuj Shrivatri (2452) made an incorrect decision to advance his king to e5. Retreating it back to e3 or f3 would have been safer and keep draw chances. 50.Ke5?? Re4+ 51.Kd5 gxh5 and GM Bartosz Socko (POL, 2574) went on to win the game.

IM Anuj Shrivatri played well against GM Bartosz Socko (POL), only an inaccuracy in the endgame cost him dearly

Aditya Mittal - Shiroghlan

Position after 22.hxg6!

GM Aditya Mittal (2560) launched a nice counter-attack of his own after thwarting his opponent, IM Shiroghlan Talibov's (AZE, 2420) onslaught. 22.hxg6! is a nice knight sacrifice fxg3 23.Qxb7 Nb6 24.Rxh7 Qxb7 25.Rxh8+ Kd7 26.Rh7+ pushing the king away from the passed g-pawn Kc8 27.g7 and White won.

GM Aditya Mittal scored a fantastic win over IM Shiroghlan Talibov (AZE)

GM Denis Makhnev (KAZ) - IM Suyog Wagh: 0.5-0.5

GM Yunguo Wan (CHN) and Mandar Pradip Lad played a 124-move long marathon draw

IM Kushagra Mohan had a well contested draw against GM Brewington Hardaway (USA)

IM Daaevik Wadhawan held the reigning National Champion, GM Karthik Venkataraman to a draw

IM Mohamed Anees M - FM Anirudhha Potawad: 0.5-0.5

FM Garv Gaur got himself a great opportunity after his opponent, IM Pham Tran Gia Phuc (VIE) blundered but he could not capitalize on it and drew the game via perpetual check

FM Aansh Nandan Nerurkar (pictured) - IM Ameya Audi: 0.5-0.5

For more Round 4 photos, please click here.

Replay Round 4 games

Round 4 results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
4	3	41	IM	Jubin Jimmy	2464	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Zeng Chongsheng	2553	15
4	5	38	IM	Md Imran	2478	2½	0 - 1	2½	GM	Sjugirov Sanan	2636	1
4	7	8	GM	Tin Jingyao	2579	2½	½ - ½	2½		Vignesh Advaith Vemula	2441	55
4	8	50	IM	Anuj Shrivatri	2452	2½	0 - 1	2½	GM	Socko Bartosz	2574	9
4	9	53	IM	Aizenberg Benny	2450	2½	½ - ½	2½	GM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	2562	11
4	10	12	GM	Aditya Mittal	2560	2½	1 - 0	2½	IM	Talibov Shiroghlan	2420	63
4	11	16	GM	Stremavicius Titas	2549	2½	1 - 0	2½	IM	Sahib Singh	2416	67
4	12	17	GM	Makhnev Denis	2540	2½	½ - ½	2½	FM	Wagh Suyog	2400	87
4	13	21	GM	Wan Yunguo	2501	2½	½ - ½	2½		Lad Mandar Pradip	2390	95
4	14	78	IM	Kushagra Mohan	2408	2½	½ - ½	2½	GM	Hardaway Brewington	2499	26
4	15	70	IM	Goutham Krishna H	2414	2½	½ - ½	2½	IM	Bazakutsa Svyatoslav	2481	36
4	17	66	IM	Ravi Teja S.	2417	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Iniyan Pa	2586	5
4	19	14	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2556	2	½ - ½	2	FM	Daaevik Wadhawan	2419	65
4	22	25	IM	Rohith Krishna S	2500	2	1 - 0	2	IM	Song Yuxin	2414	71
4	25	98	IM	Aradhya Garg	2386	2	½ - ½	2	IM	Raczek Krzysztof	2487	30
4	26	31	IM	Nitish Belurkar	2486	2	0 - 1	2	IM	Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi	2396	89
4	27	102	IM	Panda Sambit	2379	2	½ - ½	2	IM	Rathanvel V S	2486	32
4	28	33	IM	Agmanov Zhandos	2485	2	1 - 0	2	FM	Aditya Vikram Paul	2394	93
4	29	35	GM	Srihari L R	2482	2	1 - 0	2	IM	Raahul V S	2378	104
4	31	43	GM	Prraneeth Vuppala	2458	2	1 - 0	2	FM	Novozhilov Semen	2358	122
4	33	51	IM	Borgaonkar Akshay	2452	2	1 - 0	2	FM	Karimov Alisher	2312	160
4	34	158	FM	Putrenko Kirill	2314	2	0 - 1	2	IM	Mayank Chakraborty	2452	52
4	35	58	IM	Mohamed Anees M	2428	2	½ - ½	2	FM	Potawad Anirudhha	2301	175
4	38	19	GM	Fawzy Adham	2502	1½	1 - 0	1½	FM	John Veny Akkarakaran	2351	128
4	39	29	IM	Khubukshanov Erdem	2489	1½	1 - 0	1½	FM	Jinan Jomon	2347	132

Details

Standings after Round 4

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	K	rtg+/-
1	39	IM	Stribuk, Artiom	FID	2474	4	0	8,5	6	10	17,3
2	15	GM	Zeng, Chongsheng	CHN	2553	4	0	7,5	5,5	10	12,7
3	4	GM	Jacobson, Brandon	USA	2594	3,5	0	9	6	10	5,3
4	6	GM	Lazavik, Denis	BLR	2584	3,5	0	8,5	6,5	10	7,7
5	18	GM	Xue, Haowen	CHN	2535	3,5	0	7,5	5,5	10	10
6	16	GM	Stremavicius, Titas	LTU	2549	3,5	0	7,5	5,5	10	6,9
7	12	GM	Aditya, Mittal	IND	2560	3,5	0	7	5	10	6,7
8	9	GM	Socko, Bartosz	POL	2574	3,5	0	7	5	10	6,3
9	1	GM	Sjugirov, Sanan	HUN	2636	3,5	0	6,5	4,5	10	3,1
10	41	IM	Jubin, Jimmy	IND	2464	3	0	9,5	7	10	3,7
11	87	FM	Wagh, Suyog	IND	2400	3	0	9,5	6,5	10	13,4
12	97	FM	Yadegar, Radin	IRI	2388	3	0	8,5	6,5	10	12,2
13	53	IM	Aizenberg, Benny	ISR	2450	3	0	8,5	6,5	10	9,9
14	89	IM	Aakash Sharadchandra, Dalvi	IND	2396	3	0	8,5	6,5	20	23,2
15	26	GM	Hardaway, Brewington	USA	2499	3	0	8,5	6	10	4,3
16	36	IM	Bazakutsa, Svyatoslav	UKR	2481	3	0	8,5	6	10	5
17	10	GM	Gorshtein, Ido	ISR	2571	3	0	8	7	10	-1
18	78	IM	Kushagra, Mohan	IND	2408	3	0	8	6	10	13
19	70	IM	Goutham, Krishna H	IND	2414	3	0	8	6	10	7,7
20	44	GM	Siddharth, Jagadeesh	SGP	2458	3	0	8	6	10	7,5
21	8	GM	Tin, Jingyao	SGP	2579	3	0	8	5,5	10	1,6
22	11	GM	Bharath, Subramaniyam H	IND	2562	3	0	8	5,5	10	1,8
23	76	IM	Agasarov, Benik	ARM	2408	3	0	7,5	5,5	10	10,1
24	48	IM	Pingin, Artem	RUS	2456	3	0	7	5,5	10	7,4
25	72	IM	Amilal, Munkhdalai	MGL	2410	3	0	7	5,5	10	12

Details

Round 5 pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
5	2	1	GM	Sjugirov Sanan	2636	3½	3½	GM	Aditya Mittal	2560	12
5	5	5	GM	Iniyan Pa	2586	3	3½	GM	Stremavicius Titas	2549	16
5	8	51	IM	Borgaonkar Akshay	2452	3	3	GM	Tin Jingyao	2579	8
5	10	11	GM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	2562	3	3	IM	Goutham Krishna H	2414	70
5	11	52	IM	Mayank Chakraborty	2452	3	3	GM	Makhnev Denis	2540	17
5	12	55		Vignesh Advaith Vemula	2441	3	3	GM	Wan Yunguo	2501	21
5	13	59	FM	Ashraf Artin	2428	3	3	IM	Rohith Krishna S	2500	25
5	16	87	FM	Wagh Suyog	2400	3	3	IM	Agmanov Zhandos	2485	33
5	17	89	IM	Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi	2396	3	3	GM	Srihari L R	2482	35
5	19	97	FM	Yadegar Radin	2388	3	3	IM	Jubin Jimmy	2464	41
5	20	95		Lad Mandar Pradip	2390	3	3	GM	Prraneeth Vuppala	2458	43
5	21	14	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2556	2½	3	IM	Kushagra Mohan	2408	78
5	22	65	FM	Daaevik Wadhawan	2419	2½	2½	GM	Fawzy Adham	2502	19
5	24	28	IM	Urazayev Arystanbek	2490	2½	2½	IM	Aaditya Dhingra	2394	92
5	25	67	IM	Sahib Singh	2416	2½	2½	IM	Khubukshanov Erdem	2489	29
5	27	32	IM	Rathanvel V S	2486	2½	2½	IM	Budhidharma Nayaka	2389	96
5	28	34	GM	Chanda Sandipan	2482	2½	2½	IM	Aradhya Garg	2386	98
5	30	85	IM	Shahil Dey	2401	2½	2½	IM	Md Imran	2478	38
5	31	40	IM	Tsaruk Maksim	2470	2½	2½	IM	Panda Sambit	2379	102
5	33	119	FM	Xie Felix	2364	2½	2½	IM	Anuj Shrivatri	2452	50
5	34	154	FM	Suleymanli Suleyman	2316	2½	2½	IM	Mohamed Anees M	2428	58
5	35	175	FM	Potawad Anirudhha	2301	2½	2½	IM	Chinguun Sumiya	2427	60
5	37	7	GM	Hong Andrew	2580	2	2½	FM	Rosh Jain	2372	113
5	40	22	GM	Suleymenov Alisher	2500	2	2	IM	Ritviz Parab	2356	125
5	41	133	FM	George Samir David	2345	2	2	IM	Aswath S	2500	23

Details

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