Can Murali Karthikeyan win the Sardinia World Chess Festival 2026?

by Devansh Singh - 10/05/2026

GM Murali Karthikeyan won his 8th round against Ilia Smirin to get into the joint lead with Frederik Svane. In the last round, Karthikeyan will face Svane with black pieces; currently, both players are on 6.5/8 points. 8 players are trailing with 6/8 points. The most important clash of this event will be on board 2 between Ian Nepomniachtchi and the Argentinian Faustino Oro. Faustino already secured a GM norm in 8 rounds and became the second youngest grandmaster in the history of chess after Abhimanyu Mishra. Read what happened in the penultimate round. Round 9 will start at 9:30 PM CET/1 PM IST. Photos: FT Niklesh Jain

The Final Round!

The final round of the Sardinia World Chess Festival is going to bring some exciting results and break some records. Faustino Oro achieved his final GM Norm after winning the 8th round against Niedbala Bartlomiej. Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov from Uzbekistan will also become a GM after the 9th round. Many more players will achieve norms. And the race for the championship title is still open.

Haik M Martirosyan vs Ian Nepomniachtchi (0.5-0.5)

Abhimanyu Puranik vs Parham Maghsoodloo (0.5-0.5)

Murali Karthikeyan won his penultimate round against Smirin Ilia

Frederik Svane defeated Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov with black pieces

World's second youngest grandmaster (right): Faustino Oro (ARG)

Check out Interviews: Here

Photo Gallery: Here

Replay Available Games of Round 8

Playing Schedule

Prize Fund

Activities

Details

Round 8 Results

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	6	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.	2636	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2729	1	PGN
2	9	GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu	2607	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham	2710	2	PGN
3	17	GM	Smirin, Ilia	2562	5½	0 - 1	5½	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali	2648	4	PGN
4	21	IM	Suyarov, Mukhammadzokhid	2534	5½	0 - 1	5½	GM	Svane, Frederik	2645	5	PGN
5	7	GM	Aditya, Mittal	2619	5	½ - ½	5½	GM	Prraneeth, Vuppala	2515	24	PGN
6	8	GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	2613	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Gharibyan, Mamikon	2477	29	PGN
7	28	IM	Ilinca, Felix-Antonio	2486	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Idani, Pouya	2594	11	PGN
8	12	GM	Jacobson, Brandon	2594	5	½ - ½	5	IM	Atanasov, Anthony	2470	31	PGN
9	30	GM	Dronavalli, Harika	2470	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Sonis, Francesco	2556	19	PGN
10	35	IM	Sai, Krishna G V	2443	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Yilmaz, Mustafa	2549	20	PGN

Details

Standings after 8 Rounds

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5	Rp	K	rtg+/-
1	4	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali		IND	2648	6,5	8	41,5	38	32,75	2469	2720	10	7,8
2	5	GM	Svane, Frederik		GER	2645	6,5	8	39	35,5	31,25	2453	2704	10	6,9
3	9	GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu		IND	2607	6	8	42,5	39	31,25	2481	2674	10	8
4	6	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.		ARM	2636	6	8	42	38,5	30,25	2521	2714	10	9,4
5	2	GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham		IRI	2710	6	8	41,5	37,5	30,5	2463	2656	10	-0,6
6	1	GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian		FID	2729	6	8	41	38,5	29,5	2527	2720	10	1,5
7	24	GM	Prraneeth, Vuppala		IND	2515	6	8	39	35	28	2441	2634	10	13,4
8	23	IM	Oro, Faustino		ARG	2528	6	8	38,5	35,5	27,75	2436	2629	10	11,4
9	29	GM	Gharibyan, Mamikon		ARM	2477	6	8	35	32	26	2281	2474	10	1,1
10	27	GM	Velten, Paul		FRA	2487	6	8	34	31,5	25,25	2310	2503	10	3

Details

Round 9 Pairings

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Rtg	No.
1	5	GM	Svane, Frederik	2645	6½		6½	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali	2648	4
2	1	GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2729	6		6	IM	Oro, Faustino	2528	23
3	2	GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham	2710	6		6	GM	Prraneeth, Vuppala	2515	24
4	27	GM	Velten, Paul	2487	6		6	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.	2636	6
5	29	GM	Gharibyan, Mamikon	2477	6		6	GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu	2607	9
6	25	GM	Hardaway, Brewington	2510	5½		5½	GM	Aditya, Mittal	2619	7
7	11	GM	Idani, Pouya	2594	5½		5½	IM	Suyarov, Mukhammadzokhid	2534	21
8	26	GM	Ohanyan, Emin	2508	5½		5½	GM	Jacobson, Brandon	2594	12
9	13	GM	Lodici, Lorenzo	2590	5½		5½	IM	Ilinca, Felix-Antonio	2486	28
10	30	GM	Dronavalli, Harika	2470	5½		5½	GM	Sokolovsky, Yahli	2564	16