Erigaisi, Parham, Abdusattorov, Sindarov win @ 2nd Uzchess Cup
“Classical chess is alive & kicking” can be pronounced firmly today as four of the five games produced results in the fifth round of the 2nd Uzchess Cup at Tashkent. Former World Rapid Champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov defeated GM Aravindh Chithambaram moving into sole lead with 4.0 points. Close behind at 3.5 points were GMs Erigaisi Arjun and Parham Maghsoodloo who both scored over GMs Vokhidov Shamsiddin and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu respectively. GM Javokhir Sindarov gladdened the hearts of his countrymen giving Uzbekistan it’s second victory defeating GM Richard Rapport. The only draw for the day saw GMs Nepomniachtchi and Yakubboev signing peace in 39 moves.
A determined Abdusattorov overcame Aravindh in an English opening game, moving into sole lead. An early passed pawn for white on the queen-side proved to be thorn the in the flesh for the Indian, who could never retrieve the position. Giving up a center pawn worsened the situation for black. Further trade-offs increased white’s advantage as queen and knight cornered the white king for good. A powerful display by the Uzbek No. 1 which spells his burning desire to win the tournament at home.
A hard fought draw, thanks to many hours of toil, was on the cards, when at that very moment it slipped out of the hands of Pragg. The Indian Grandmaster suffered a painful blow at the fifth hour in the hands of Parham Maghsoodloo, when a possible draw turned into a defeat. The Nimzo-Indian game saw Parham playing steady and Pragg pushing hard for the initiative. Pragg’s pawn run on the king-side followed by the exchange of dark squared bishop kept the position tentative. At the last move of the first time control black stumbled with 40…Qd6 giving bright chances for Parham. After several slips in establishing the winning advantage, Parham snatched the full point when Pragg missed a draw through 63…Bf1! going for 63…Kh5??. The resultant position saw white pawns running on either side with Pragg’s bishop unable to stop the pawn promotion. The win took Parham into joint second position and also brought him back to ELO 2700+ club in LIVE chess ratings.
The sixth round starts at 3 PM local time 3:30 PM IST on Tuesday 24th June, 2025.
(Round 5 Results): Maghsoodloo Parham (3.5) beat Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (3.0), Nepomniachtchi Ian (2.0) drew with Yakubboev Nodirbek (1.5), Abdusattorov Nodirbek (4.0) beat Aravindh Chithambaram V R (1.5), Vokhidov Shamsiddin (1.0) lost to Erigaisi Arjun (3.5), Sindarov Javokhir (3.0) beat Rapport Richard (1.5)
Abdusattorov Nodirbek (2767) – Aravindh Chithambaram V R (2749) 1. c4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. e4 d6 4. Ne2 e5 5. Nbc3 Nc6 6. Be3 Nh6 7. d5 Ne7 8. h3 f5 9. g3 O-O 10. Qd2 Nf7 11. O-O-O c5 12. dxc6 bxc6 13. c5 d5 14. exd5 cxd5 15. Nxd5 Be6 16. Nec3 Nxd5 17. Nxd5 e4 18. Qc2 Rb8 19. b3 Qa5 20. Bc4 Rfe8? (20…Ne5 keeps it even)
21. Kb1 Ne5 22. Bd4 Kf7 23. Bxe5 Bxe5 24. Nf4 Bxc4 25. Qxc4+ Kg7 26. Rd7+ Kh6 27. Rhd1 Red8 28. c6 Qa3 29. R1d2 Rxd7 30. cxd7 e3 31. fxe3 Qa5 32. Ne6 Bf6 33. Qf4+ 1-0
Vokhidov Shamsiddin (2644) – Erigaisi Arjun (2782) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O d6 6. c3 Bd7 7. d4 g6 8. Re1 Bg7 9. h3 O-O 10. Nbd2 exd4 11. cxd4 Nb4 12. Bxd7 Qxd7 13. Nf1 c5 14. a3 Nc6 15. d5 Na5 16. Bd2 Nc4 17. Bc3 b5 18. b3 Nb6 19. Qd2 a5 20. Ng3 a4 21. b4 Nc4 22. Qd3 Rfe8 23. Nd2 Ne5 24. Bxe5 c4 25. Qc2 Rxe5 26. Rad1 Rae8 27. Re2 R5e7 28. Rde1 Qb7 29. Nf3 Nd7 30. Re3 Qb6 31. R3e2 h5 32. Nf1 Rc8 33. Ne3 Ne5 34. Nxe5 Bxe5 35. Nf1 c3 36. Ne3 Bg7 37. Qd3 h4 38. Kf1 Qb7 39. Rc1 Qd7 40. Rce1 Kf8 41. Rc1 Kg8 42. Rce1 Kh8 43. Rc1 Rc7 44. Rce1 Kh7 45. Rc1 Kg8 46. Rce1 Kh8 47. Rc1 Rc8 48. Rce1 Qe8 49. f3 Kg8 50. Rc1 Rec7 51. Rcc2 Kh8 52. Ke1 Qe5 53. Kd1 Re7 54. Ng4 Qf4 55. Qxb5 f5 56. Nf2 Qh2 57. Nd3 fxe4 58. Rxe4? (58. fxe4 was required here)
58…Rxe4 59. fxe4 Qg1+ 60. Ne1 Be5 61. Re2 Bg3 62. Kc2 Bxe1 63. Qd7 Rg8 64. Qxd6 Qf1 65. Qe5+ Kh7 66. Kd3 c2 67. Qc7+ Rg7 68. Qxc2 Bg3 69. Kd4 0-1
Maghsoodloo Parham (2691) – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2767) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Bd3 cxd4 6. exd4 d5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Ne2 O-O 9. O-O Re8 10. Re1 Nc6 11. a3 Bf8 12. Nxd5 exd5 13. Be3 g6 14. Nf4 Bg7 15. Bb5 Qd6 16. Bxc6 bxc6 17. Nd3 Bf5 18. Nc5 h6 19. Qf3 a5 20. Bf4 Qd8 21. Rxe8+ Qxe8 22. Qd1 Qd8 23. Qd2 g5 24. Bg3 h5 25. h3 h4 26. Be5 Bxe5 27. dxe5 Qe7 28. Qd4 Re8 29. Re1 f6 30. e6 Kg7 31. Re3 Kg6 32. b4 axb4 33. axb4 Qd6 34. Nd7 Qe7 35. f4 Be4 36. fxg5 Qxe6 37. Nxf6 Qe5 38. Qa7 Qxg5 39. Ng4 Qe7 40. Qb6 Qd6 41. Qd4 Qe7 42. Rc3 Rc8 43. Ra3 Qg7 44. Qf2 Kh5 45. Ra7 Rc7 46. Rxc7 Qxc7 47. Qf6 Bg6 48. Ne5 Be4 49. Kh2 Qb8 50. g4+ hxg3+ 51. Kxg3 Qg8+ 52. Kf4 Bh7 53. Qe7 Bb1 54. Nxc6 Qg2 55. Qe8+ Kh6 56. Qh8+ Bh7 57. Qf6+ Kh5 58. Qe5+ Kh6 59. Qe6+ Bg6 60. Ke5 Qe4+ 61. Kd6 Qxe6+ 62. Kxe6 Bd3 63. Kxd5 Kh5?? (63…Bf1 64. Ne5 Bxh3 65. b5 Bf1 66. b6 Bg2+ 67 Kd6 Ba8 leads to a draw. Black loses a hard fought game at the brink.)
64. Ne5 Ba6 65. Ng4 Kh4 66. Nf2 Kg3 67. Kc5 Kxf2 68. h4 1-0
Picture Courtesy : Tata Steel Chess 2025
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