Nihal Sarin subdues Javokhir Sindarov, on the verge of winning 3rd President Cup 2024

by Shahid Ahmed - 29/11/2024

GM Nihal Sarin continues his stellar form at 3rd President Cup 2024. He played a fantastic game to beat GM Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) to emerge sole leader 7/8. He is now a full ahead of seven players who are at 6/8 each including the top seed, Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB). Nihal just needs a draw against Abdusattorov in the final round to become a clear champion. IM Neelash Saha also continues his great momentum. He drew with GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB) in a hard fought battle to take his score 6/8. His final round opponent will be Sindarov. IM Nitish Belurkar scored a fine victory as he outplayed GM Mukhiddin Madaminov (UZB). Round 9 starts today at 10 a.m. local time, 10:30 a.m. IST. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Neelash draws with Shamsiddin, Nitish outplays Mukhiddin

GM Nihal Sarin is just a draw away from winning 3rd President Cup | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Nihal - Sindarov: 1-0

This was the first time GM Nihal Sarin (2676) faced GM Javokhir Sindarov (UZB, 2682) in a Classical rated game after both of them turned adults. Their previous two Classical encounters were at World Under-10 and Under-12 championships in 2014 and 2016. Both of them were won by Nihal. This time the result was also the same. Nihal got himself a commanding position out of the opening.

Position after 30.d6

29...Qe7?? fell things apart in a hurry for Black 30.d6 Qe6 31.e5! Nc6 32.exf6 Qxf6 33.Be5 Qxe5 34.Rxf8+ Rxf8 35.Rxe5 Nxe5 36.Bxg6 Ng4 37.Bxh5 Rf2 38.Qd5 Bc4 39.d7 a nice finish. Nihal needs a draw in the last round against Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) to become a clear champion.

Neelash - Shamsiddin

Position after 40...Ke7

41.Qxf5 Nxf5 42.Re4+ Kf6 43.axb4 would have been a safer choice for IM Neelash Saha (2458). Instead, he decided against trading the queen 41.Qe3+? Ne6 42.axb4 a4? Black needed to play 42...Bd4 43.Qe2 Qd5+ 44.Kh2 axb4 to maintain his decisive advantage. White seized his opportunity to get back in the game 43.Rc5 Rd5 44.Rc7+ Kf8 45.Ra7 Rd3 46.Ra8+ Ke7 47.Rxh5 Qg6 48.Ra7+ Kf8 49.Ra8+ Ke7 and the game ended in a draw via perpetual check after a few more checks.

IM Neelash Saha is currently at third place with score 6/8 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Nitish - Mukhiddin

Position after 17...Qa1??

In a long theoretical line arising out of Sicilian Moscow variation, 16...Nc5 was the first new move. 17.b4 Qa1?? 18.bxc5+- Qxc1+ 19.Bf1 despite White being a full rook down, it is Black who is losing, thanks to White's passed pawn at c6. White won the game in another 13 moves.

IM Nitish Belurkar made a great comeback after starting his event with a loss

Replay Round 8 live commentary | Video: UzChess

Replay Round 8 games

Round 8 results

Bo.	No.		White	Typ	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Typ	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek *)		2777	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Xu, Minghui		2405	50
2	6	GM	Nihal, Sarin		2676	6	1 - 0	6	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir		2682	4
3	27	IM	Neelash, Saha		2458	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Vokhidov, Shamsiddin		2681	5
4	17	IM	Atabayev, Saparmyrat		2520	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham		2712	2
5	21	IM	Saydaliev, Saidakbar		2473	5	1 - 0	5	GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu		2652	8
6	31	IM	Nigmatov, Ortik		2447	5	1 - 0	5	GM	Sankalp, Gupta		2539	14
7	7	GM	Yakubboev, Nodirbek		2668	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Prraneeth, Vuppala		2459	26
8	9	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali		2625	4½	½ - ½	4½	IM	Pingin, Artem		2447	32
9	39	IM	Daghli, Arash		2435	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Pranesh, M		2580	10
10	11	GM	Gareyev, Timur		2552	4½	½ - ½	4½	IM	Jubin, Jimmy		2453	28

Details

Standings after Round 8

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	6	GM	Nihal, Sarin	IND	2676	7	2842	6	2	41,5
2	31	IM	Nigmatov, Ortik	UZB	2447	6	2814	5	3	42
3	27	IM	Neelash, Saha	IND	2458	6	2749	4	2	39,5
4	4	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	UZB	2682	6	2727	5	1	42,5
5	1	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	UZB	2777	6	2709	4	2	39
6	2	GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham	IRI	2712	6	2642	5	2	39
7	5	GM	Vokhidov, Shamsiddin	UZB	2681	6	2635	4	1	35
8	21	IM	Saydaliev, Saidakbar	UZB	2473	6	2600	4	1	33
9	7	GM	Yakubboev, Nodirbek	UZB	2668	5,5	2609	4	1	35
10	24	IM	Ayush, Sharma	IND	2464	5,5	2512	5	2	31
11	40	IM	Nitish, Belurkar	IND	2434	5,5	2476	4	2	34
12	9	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali	IND	2625	5	2609	3	1	41,5
13	64	IM	Vaz, Ethan	IND	2370	5	2606	3	1	36,5
14	8	GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu	IND	2652	5	2575	3	1	38,5
15	19	GM	Nikitenko, Mihail	FID	2490	5	2571	4	1	35,5
16	50	IM	Xu, Minghui	CHN	2405	5	2568	4	1	38,5
17	14	GM	Sankalp, Gupta	IND	2539	5	2566	5	1	38,5
18	30	IM	Mamedov, Edgar	KAZ	2448	5	2556	3	0	37,5
19	17	IM	Atabayev, Saparmyrat	TKM	2520	5	2551	4	3	36,5
20	32	IM	Pingin, Artem	FID	2447	5	2536	3	1	33,5

Details

Round 9 pairings

Bo.	No.		White	Typ	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Typ	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek *)		2777	6		7	GM	Nihal, Sarin		2676	6
2	2	GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham		2712	6		6	IM	Saydaliev, Saidakbar		2473	21
3	4	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir		2682	6		6	IM	Neelash, Saha		2458	27
4	5	GM	Vokhidov, Shamsiddin		2681	6		6	IM	Nigmatov, Ortik		2447	31
5	24	IM	Ayush, Sharma		2464	5½		5½	GM	Yakubboev, Nodirbek		2668	7
6	8	GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu		2652	5		5½	IM	Nitish, Belurkar		2434	40
7	28	IM	Jubin, Jimmy		2453	5		5	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali		2625	9
8	10	GM	Pranesh, M		2580	5		5	WGM	Rakshitta, Ravi		2295	108
9	50	IM	Xu, Minghui		2405	5		5	GM	Gareyev, Timur		2552	11
10	12	GM	Bernadskiy, Vitaliy		2543	5		5	IM	Khubukshanov, Erdem		2443	35

Details

Links

Uzbekistan Chess Federation : Official site and fb page

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