President Cup: All five games end decisively in first round

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
12/5/2025 – The fourth President Cup opened in Tashkent with a round marked by five decisive results, all in favour of the white pieces. With Uzbekistan's top grandmasters absent, the spotlight fell on emerging local talents and a strong group of international participants. The first day saw a couple of upsets, steady wins by some of the top seeds and a competitive start to the 10-player single round-robin. | Pictured: Shant Sargsyan from Armenia | Photo: Uzbek Chess Federation
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Five out of five for White

The fourth edition of the President Cup began on Thursday in Tashkent, where the Masters section features a 10-player round-robin running from 4 to 12 December.

While Uzbekistan’s leading grandmasters are absent - Nodirbek Abdusattorov is competing and dominating at the London Chess Classic, while Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Yakubboev recently completed strong World Cup campaigns - the national contingent is represented by Shamsiddin Vokhidov, Abdimalik Abdisalimov and Mukhiddin Madaminov, currently ranked fifth to seventh in the country.

They are joined by seven international participants, headed by top seed and defending champion Nihal Sarin, along with Shant Sargsyan and Alexander Grischuk, among others.

All five games in the opening round ended decisively, with each result favouring the player with the white pieces. Two of the winners overturned rating deficits to claim full points. Mukhiddin Madaminov defeated Alexander Grischuk in a topsy-turvy encounter that saw the balance shift more than once before the Uzbek GM prevailed. Bardiya Daneshvar also beat a higher-rated opponent, converting an extra pawn in a rook ending to overcome Yuriy Kuzubov.

The remaining victories were secured by the three top-ranked players with white. Nihal Sarin and Shant Sargsyan began their campaigns with controlled wins, while Shamsiddin Vokhidov outplayed Maxime Lagarde in a French Defence. Their game featured a mix of strategic manoeuvring and precise calculation, eventually allowing Vokhidov to secure the point.

Round 1 results

Alexander Grischuk

Alexander Grischuk started with a loss in Tashkent | Photo: Uzbek Chess Federation

Vokhidov 1-0 Lagarde

Standings after round 1

All games

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Topics: President Cup 2025
Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
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