KazChess Masters: Murzin leads – two top clashes in Round 8

by ChessBase
11/28/2025 – The KazChess Masters in Almaty is coming to a close. In a strong field, reigning rapid chess world champion Volodar Murzin has the best prospects of winning the tournament: after 7 of 9 rounds, he leads with 5 points. But he faces a difficult remaining schedule. Today, he has Black against a direct rival. | Photo: Murzin at his World Championship triumph in 2024 (Michal Walusza)
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Half a point separates Volodar Murzin, competing under the FIDE flag, from a group of three pursuers in the highly competitive round-robin tournament in Almaty (Kazakhstan). This group includes Kazybek Nogerbek (Uzbekistan), against whom Murzin has already drawn, Maksim Chigaev (Spain), whom Murzin will face in the final round, and his opponent today, Alexey Sarana (Serbia). Another top duel is also on the cards, as Chigaev and Nogerbek will also face each other.

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Video

60m English New ideas in the Najdorf_E

‘New ideas in the Najdorf – a Power Play 18 Update’ aims to complement Daniel King’s popular DVD from last year ‘The Sicilian Najdorf - a repertoire for Black’. Such a dynamic and popular opening as the Najdorf is developing the whole time. On this download, Daniel King updates lines that were included on his DVD but also responds to viewers’ requests, considering lines that he omitted from his original repertoire. The lines examined on this update are: • 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 h3 e5 7 Nde2 • 5….a6 6 Bc4 in combination with the English Attack (Be3, f3 etc) • 5…a6 6 Be3 and the …a5 variation • 5…a6 6 Be2 and 9 Re1 • 5 f3 (instead of 5 Nc3) It isn’t necessary to have seen the original Najdorf DVD to understand the lines examined here – but it would help as they form part of a complete repertoire.