Nihal Sarin (8/10) triumphs at Agzamov Memorial, Tashkent
Top seed Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin emerged a clear winner with 8.0 points from 10 rounds at the 18th Tashkent Open, Agzamov Memorial “A” tournament at Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The tournament is held in memory of Late Georgy Agzamov, who became the first Grandmaster from Uzbekistan in 1984.
Sharing the second spot with 7.5 points were GMs Sjugirov, Sanan (Hungary), Puranik, Abhimanyu (India), Daneshvar, Bardiya (Iran) and Vokhidov, Shamsiddin (Uzbekistan). The ten round Swiss tournament ran from 20th to 29th March, 2025 attracting 158 entries from 16 countries including 20 Grandmasters and 35 International Masters.
20-year-old Sarin came up with an ELO 2699 performance, coming from six wins and four draws. The talented lad from the south Indian city of Trichur, known for his prowess in speed chess, gains 7 ELO rating points and will take home the winner’s cheque of USD 20000. Remaining undefeated, Sarin overcame GM Sjugirov, Sanan (Hungary) and Tin, Jingyao (Singapore) in the 7th and 9th rounds which paved way for his title walk.
Final Placings: 1. Nihal, Sarin (Ind) 8.0, 2-5 Sjugirov, Sanan (Hun), Puranik, Abhimanyu (Ind), Daneshvar, Bardiya (Iri), Vokhidov, Shamsiddin (Uzb) 7.5, 6-10 Tin, Jingyao (Sgp), Indjic, Aleksandar (Srb), Nesterov, Arseniy (Fid), Begmuratov, Khumoyun (Uzb), Aditya, Mittal (Ind) 7.0 pts
Nihal Sarin (2687) – Sjugirov Sanan (2631) 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5+ Bd7 5.Qe2 e6 6.Bxd7+ Nbxd7 7.d3 Be7 8.a4 Rc8 9.O-O O-O 10.Ne1 Ne5 11.f4 Nc6 12.g4 Nd7 13.Kh1 a6 14.Qg2 Kh8 15.Rf3 c4 16.Rh3 cxd3 17.Nxd3 Kg8 18.Be3 Bf6 19.Rf1 Bxc3 20.bxc3 Re8 21.g5 Qa5 22.f5 exf5 23.exf5 Qxa4 24.Rf4 Qa1+ 25.Bg1 Nce5 26.Rfh4 Nf8 27.g6 fxg6 28.Nxe5 Rxe5 29.fxg6 Rc7 30.gxh7+ Kh8 31.Rf3 Ne6 32.Rf1 Qxc3 33.Bd4 Qc4 34.Qf3 Rc8 35.c3 a5 36.h3 a4 37.Qf2 Qd5+ 38.Kh2 a3 39.c4 Qa5 40.c5 Qd8 41.Bxe5 dxe5 42.Ra4 Qd3 43.Qf5 Qb3 44.Rh4 a2 45.Qxe5 Ra8 46.Rg4 Qc2+ 47.Rg2 Qxc5 48.Qxc5 Nxc5 49.Ra1 Kxh7 50.Raxa2 Rxa2 51.Rxa2 g5 1-0
Nihal Sarin (2687) – Tin Jingyao (2597) 1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.b3 Bf5 4.Be2 h6 5.Ba3 Nbd7 6.c4 e6 7.Bxf8 Nxf8 8.Nc3 N8d7 9.cxd5 exd5 10.b4 c6 11.O-O O-O 12.Qb3 Bg4 13.Nd4 Bxe2 14.Ncxe2 Ne4 15.Qc2 Rc8 16.d3 Nd6 17.Rfc1 Re8 18.Qd2 Nf8 19.Rc2 Ne6 20.Rac1 Nxd4 21.Nxd4 Qf6 22.b5 cxb5 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Rxc8+ Nxc8 25.Qc1 Ne7 26.Nxb5 Qa6 27.Qb1 Qb6 28.Qb3 a6 29.Nd4 Qxb3 30.Nxb3 b6 31.Nd4 Kf8 32.g4 Ke8 33.h4 g6 34.Kg2 Kd7 35.h5 gxh5 36.gxh5 b5 37.Kg3 b4 38.Kf4 a5 39.Nb3 Nc6 40.Nc5+ Ke7 41.Kf5 d4 42.e4 Kd6 43.Na4
43…Ne5? (Position appears even & Black can hope for a draw with precise play starting with 43… Ke7 f3 44 Na7 etc., But with the text move 43 …Ne5 Jingyao throws away the draw, as Nihal’s patience to grind gave him rich dividends) 44.Nb2 Nf3 45.Nc4+ Kd7 46.Nxa5 Ne1 47.Nb3 Nxd3 48.f4 Kd6 1-0
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Picture Courtesy: GM Nihal Sarin Facebook page
