4th President Cup Masters 2025 R5: Nihal Sarin beats Shant Sargsyan to emerge sole leader
Nihal Sarin defeated Shant Sargsyan (ARM) to gain sole lead 4/5 at 4th International President Cup 2025 Masters. Nihal played the queen, rook and bishop endgame masterfully to score the win. Frederik Svane (GER) and Maxime Lagarde (FRA) are the other two victors of the round. They won against Alexander Grischuk and Yuriy Kuzubov (UKR) respectively. Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB) drew against Mukhiddin Madaminov (UZB). They both are trailing Nihal by a half point at 3.5/5 each. Bardiya Daneshvar (IRI) shared the point with Abdisalimov Abdimalik (UZB) to move to 3/5. Round 6 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 3:30 p.m. IST. Photo: UzChess
Frederik Svane and Maxime Lagarde also score a win each
The ten-player nine-round, Round-Robin Super tournament will take place from 4th to 12th December 2025 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Nihal - Shant: 1-0
GM Nihal Sarin (2701) faced GM Shant Sargsyan (ARM, 2665) only once earlier in a Classical rated game. It had ended in a draw. However, in this game, it was clear that Nihal was playing with only result in mind. In the queen, rook and bishop endgame, Nihal made a nice necessary breakthrough.
29...gxf4 30.exf4 exf4 31.Qh1 Qe2 32.Qh4 Qe3+ 33.Kb2 Ke7 34.Rd1 and White went on to win the game.
Replay Round 5 games
Round 5 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 2600 | GM | Daneshvar, Bardiya | ½ - ½ | GM | Abdisalimov, Abdimalik | 2561 | 10 | PGN | ||
| 2 | 4 | 2641 | GM | Vokhidov, Shamsiddin | ½ - ½ | GM | Madaminov, Mukhiddin | 2552 | 2 | PGN | ||
| 3 | 5 | 2701 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | 1 - 0 | GM | Sargsyan, Shant | 2665 | 1 | PGN | ||
| 4 | 6 | 2653 | GM | Svane, Frederik | 1 - 0 | GM | Grischuk, Alexander | 2654 | 9 | PGN | ||
| 5 | 7 | 2608 | GM | Lagarde, Maxime | 1 - 0 | GM | Kuzubov, Yuriy | 2610 | 8 | PGN |
Standings after Round 5
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | w-we | K | rtg+/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | IND | 2701 | 4 | 0 | 7,75 | 3 | 0 | 1,5 | 1,06 | 10 | 10,6 | |
| 2 | 4 | GM | Vokhidov, Shamsiddin | UZB | 2641 | 3,5 | 0 | 7,25 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0,84 | 10 | 8,4 | |
| 3 | 2 | GM | Madaminov, Mukhiddin | UZB | 2552 | 3,5 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1,5 | 1,49 | 10 | 14,9 | |
| 4 | 3 | GM | Daneshvar, Bardiya | IRI | 2600 | 3 | 0 | 5,75 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0,56 | 10 | 5,6 | |
| 5 | 1 | GM | Sargsyan, Shant | ARM | 2665 | 2,5 | 0 | 6,5 | 1 | 0 | 1,5 | -0,36 | 10 | -3,6 | |
| 6 | 7 | GM | Lagarde, Maxime | FRA | 2608 | 2,5 | 0 | 5,25 | 1 | 0 | 0,5 | 0,17 | 10 | 1,7 | |
| 7 | 6 | GM | Svane, Frederik | GER | 2653 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0,5 | -0,68 | 10 | -6,8 | |
| 8 | 8 | GM | Kuzubov, Yuriy | UKR | 2610 | 1,5 | 0 | 3,75 | 1 | 0 | 0,5 | -0,79 | 10 | -7,9 | |
| 9 | 10 | GM | Abdisalimov, Abdimalik | UZB | 2561 | 1,5 | 0 | 3,75 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -0,62 | 10 | -6,2 | |
| 10 | 9 | GM | Grischuk, Alexander | FID | 2654 | 1 | 0 | 3,5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1,67 | 10 | -16,7 |
Round 6 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 2561 | GM | Abdisalimov, Abdimalik | GM | Kuzubov, Yuriy | 2610 | 8 | ||||
| 2 | 9 | 2654 | GM | Grischuk, Alexander | GM | Lagarde, Maxime | 2608 | 7 | ||||
| 3 | 1 | 2665 | GM | Sargsyan, Shant | GM | Svane, Frederik | 2653 | 6 | ||||
| 4 | 2 | 2552 | GM | Madaminov, Mukhiddin | GM | Nihal, Sarin | 2701 | 5 | ||||
| 5 | 3 | 2600 | GM | Daneshvar, Bardiya | GM | Vokhidov, Shamsiddin | 2641 | 4 |
Links
Uzbekistan Chess Federation : Official site, Telegram and fb page
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