Abdusattorov back in sole lead @ 2nd Uzchess Cup
“Champions are made of sterner stuff” will suit perfectly to Uzbek star Nodirbek Abdusattorov (5.0) who put behind his marathon defeat yesterday, scoring over GM Maghsoodloo in the 7th round of the Uzchess Cup at Tashkent. The win takes Abdusattorov on top of the table with 5.0 points followed by GMs Erigaisi Arjun and Javokhir Sindarov at 4.5 points. With two rounds to go, the race for the top, along with FIDE Circuit points is truly on and will be intense.
A fine attacking win over GM Parham Maghsoodloo saw leader Abdusattorov putting behind a shattering loss in the earlier round to fellow Uzbek Yakubboev. The Sicilian Defense Taimanov Variation game took off with aggression from both sides. White castled long pressing for attack on the centre and flank. Maghsoodloo for his part came out with a hard push on the queen-side going for white king. Abdusattorov went for the time tested knight sacrifice with 18. Nd5 when black king moved away from attack and pin with 18…Kf7 getting temporary relief. Parham missed his chance to equalize with a pawn capture in the center through 23…fxe5 and a costly lapse with 27…d6?? few moves later did the rest. Abdusattorov quickly spotted a checkmate when Parham further slipped with 38…Rc2??, forcing black’s resignation a move later.
Rising Uzbek star Sindarov Javokhir beat GM Aravindh Chithambaram for the other win of the day, while the rest of the games ended in draws. A minus three score along with a loss of 20 precious ELOs would warrant GM Aravindh Chithambaram to go in for urgent remedial measures in the final two rounds.
Crucial penultimate round pairings are: Pragg – Erigaisi, Aravindh – Rapport, Yakubboev – Sindarov, Maghsoodloo – Vokhidov, Nepo – Abdusattorov. The 8th round starts at 3 PM local time 3:30 PM IST on Thursday 26th June, 2025.
(Round 7 Results): Nepomniachtchi Ian (3.0) drew with Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (3.5), Abdusattorov Nodirbek (5.0) beat Maghsoodloo Parham (4.0), Vokhidov Shamsiddin (2.0) drew with Yakubboev Nodirbek (3.0), Sindarov Javokhir (4.5) beat Aravindh Chithambaram V R (2.0), Rapport Richard (3.0) drew with Erigaisi Arjun (4.5)
Abdusattorov Nodirbek (2767) – Maghsoodloo Parham (2691) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Qd3 a6 7. Nxc6 Qxc6 8. Bf4 Ne7 9. O-O-O b5 10. h4 Bb7 11. h5 Rd8 12. Qd4 f6 13. Bd6 Nc8 14. Bxf8 Rxf8 15. Rh3 Qb6 16. Qd2 Bc6 17. Re1 Qc5 18. Nd5 Kf7 19. Nb4 Bb7 20. h6 g6 21. e5 Kg8 22. Nd3 Qd4 23. g3 Nb6 24. Rh4 Qd5 25. b3 Rc8 26. exf6 Rxf6 27. c3 d6?? (more stable would be 27…Rff8)
28. Bh3 g5 29. Rh5 Kh8 30. Rxg5 Rxc3+ 31. Kb2 Qxd3 32. Qxc3 Qxc3+ 33. Kxc3 Nd5+ 34. Kd2 e5 35. Rg7 Bc6 36. Rc1 Nb4 37. a3 Rxf2+ 38. Ke3 Rc2?? 39. Be6 1-0
Sindarov (2710) – Aravindh Chithambaram (2749) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Nf3 e5 7. d5 a5 8. Bg5 h6 9. Be3 Na6 10. Nd2 c6 11. g4 Nd7 12. h4 Ndc5 13. h5 Bd7 14. Nb3 cxd5 15. Nxc5 Nxc5 16. cxd5 Rc8 17. Qd2 b5 18. f3 b4 19. Nb5 Qb6 20. a4 bxa3 21. bxa3 f5 22. gxf5 gxf5 23. Rb1 fxe4 24. Nc3 Qd8 25. Nxe4 Nxe4 26. fxe4 Kh7 27. Rb7 Rf7 28. Qb2 Bf6 29. Rg1 Bg5 30. Bxg5 hxg5 31. Kd2 Kh6 32. Qb6 Qxb6? (better is 32…Qe7)
33. Rxb6 Rf6 34. Rf1 Rcf8 35. Rxd6 Rxd6 36. Rxf8 g4 37. Rd8 Kxh5 38. Bb5 g3 39. Bxd7 g2 40. Be8+ Rg6 41. Bxg6+ Kh6 42. Bf7 1-0
Picture Courtesy: Official Telegram page
Complete Results
Official Telegram page
