The Sardinia World Chess Festival 2026 is taking an intense turn now. After completion of 4 rounds, no player has a perfect 4/4 points. There are 14 players in a joint lead with 3.5/4 going into the 5th round. The double-round day was tiring as expected, and on the top boards, players agreed to quick draws, but from the 5th round, we are going to witness some amazing and fighting chess here in Sardinia. Top-seeded Ian Nepomniachtchi is still holding his ground and co-leading with 3.5/4. Two Indian players, Abhimanyu Puranik and Leon Luke Mendonca, are also in a joint lead. In the 5th round, the big clash is between the young prodigy Faustino Oro of Argentina and GM Aditya Mittal of India. Round 5 will start at 3:30 PM CET/ 7 PM IST. Photos: FT Niklesh Jain
The 4th round was an evening round, and as players had already fought some tough battles in the morning round, they decided to share the points, resulting in a draw on the top 4 boards. Apart from these 4 boards, we saw decisive results on the next 10 boards. In another important clash between Murali Karthikeyan and Faustino Oro, it was a long battle, but Oro managed to hold it for a draw with black pieces.
Faustino Oro drew against Murali Karthikeyan with black pieces | Photo: FT Niklesh Jain
Abhimanyu Puranik drew against Atilla Kuru | Photo: FT Niklesh Jain
Ian also played a quick draw on the top board against Brandon Jacobson | Photo: FT Niklesh Jain
Harika is currently on 2.5/4 points | Photo: FT Niklesh Jain
Leon Luke Mendonca vs Nikolay Averin (0.5-0.5) | Photo: FT Niklesh Jain
Chessnerd is that you?? | Photo: FT Niklesh Jain
Parham is on 3/4 with 2 draws | Photo: FT Niklesh Jain
Wonderful team of Arbiters | Photo: FT Niklesh Jain
In the 3rd round of the Sardinia World Chess Festival 2026, the top seed Ian Nepomniachtchi was up against Grandmaster Yahli Sokolovsky. Watch this very instructive game in full, along with a detailed interview with Nepo
FM Massimiliano Botta played a great game with the White pieces in Round 1 of the Sardinia World Chess Festival 2026 - he drew against 2710-rated Super GM Parham Maghsoodloo! Watch our detailed post-game interview with Massimiliano.
"If I improve, I will automatically get chances!" Interview with Karthikeyan
An exclusive short interview with Armenian GM Haik
Senior Editor at ChessBase India, covering tournaments, player journeys, game analysis, and in-depth player interviews. A competitive player for over a decade, he is a National Instructor with an Elo rating of 2191.
