Since 21 November, the third edition of the President Cup is taking place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. A total of 250 players are participating in two open tournaments, mostly from the host country. The A-Open is for players rated above 2250 Elo and includes several notable international grandmasters.
The tournament is being conducted over 9 rounds using the Swiss system. The time control is 90 minutes for the entire game plus a 30-second increment per move for the entire game. The total prize fund is 75,000 USD.
After six rounds, five players were leading with 5 points each: Sankalp Gupta, Nihal Sarin, Javokhir Sindarov, Saha Neelash and Ortik Nigmatov.
Saha Neelash
Nodirbek Abdusattorov - the top seed in the tournament and the strongest player from Uzbekistan - was leading the chasing pack a half point back.
In the seventh round, Nihal Sarin and Javokhir Sindarov won their games against Sankalp Gupta and Ortik Nigmatov, respectively, thus forming a new leading duo.
Sankalp Gupta
Standings after round 7
| Rk. | Name | Rtg. | Pts. | TB1 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Sindarov, Javokhir | 2682 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | 2676 | 6 | 0 | |
| 3 | IM | Neelash, Saha | 2458 | 5,5 | 0 | |
| 4 | GM | Vokhidov, Shamsiddin | 2681 | 5,5 | 0 | |
| 5 | IM | Nigmatov, Ortik | 2447 | 5 | 0 | |
| 6 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 2777 | 5 | 0 | |
| 7 | GM | Puranik, Abhimanyu | 2652 | 5 | 0 | |
| 8 | GM | Sankalp, Gupta | 2539 | 5 | 0 | |
| 9 | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | 2712 | 5 | 0 | |
| 10 | IM | Xu, Minghui | 2405 | 5 | 0 | |
| 11 | IM | Atabayev, Saparmyrat | 2520 | 5 | 0 | |
| 12 | IM | Saydaliev, Saidakbar | 2473 | 5 | 0 | |
| 13 | GM | Karthikeyan, Murali | 2625 | 4,5 | 0 | |
| 14 | GM | Madaminov, Mukhiddin | 2501 | 4,5 | 0 | |
| 15 | GM | Nikitenko, Mihail | 2490 | 4,5 | 0 | |
| 16 | GM | Yakubboev, Nodirbek | 2668 | 4,5 | 0 | |
| 17 | IM | Mamedov, Edgar | 2448 | 4,5 | 0 | |
| 18 | GM | Pranesh, M | 2580 | 4,5 | 0 | |
| 19 | IM | Pingin, Artem | 2447 | 4,5 | 0 | |
| 20 | GM | Gareyev, Timur | 2552 | 4,5 | 0 |
All available games
