Nihal Sarin wins President Cup with sensational 2809 TPR

by Shahid Ahmed
12/2/2024 – Nihal Sarin drew with elite GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the final round to claim outright victory at the third edition of the President Cup in Uzbekistan. Nihal had a sensational run in Tashkent, ending the event with a 7½/9 score and a 2809 performance (TPR). Javokhir Sindarov, Parham Maghsoodloo and Shamsiddin Vokhidov scored 7/9 points each. They secured second, third and fourth places respectively according to tiebreaks. | Photos: Uzbekistan Chess Federation
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Nihal draws Abdusattorov, claims outright victory

The third edition of the President Cup took place on 21-28 November in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. A total of 250 players participated in two open tournaments, mostly from the host country. The A-Open was reserved for players rated above 2250 Elo and included several notable international grandmasters.

The tournament was conducted over 9 rounds using the Swiss system. The time control was 90 minutes for the entire game plus a 30-second increment per move for the entire game. The total prize fund amounted to 75,000 USD.

Going into the final round, 20-year-old GM Nihal Sarin had a full-point lead over a 7-player chasing pack. In his final game of the tournament, he was paired up against top seed Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Nihal has a good score against Abdusattorov in classical rated games (3-2 in the Indian's favour). Recently they played two rapid games at the Tata Steel India Tournament, and both ended in draws, while Nihal won the one blitz rated game that ended decisively at the same event. So Nihal was certainly confident about his chances to win the tournament. He played solid chess, drew the game and became the champion.

All games by Nihal Sarin - President Cup

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1.d4 11 Nf6 3:27 2.Nf3 10 e6 5 3.Bg5 45 d5 53 4.e3 8 Be7 1:09 5.c4 27 dxc4 2:00 6.Bxc4 16 c5 7 7.0-0 50 cxd4 52 8.Nxd4 59 0-0 45 9.Nc3 1:06 Bd7 2:33 10.Qe2 23:15 Nc6 52       11.Rfd1 13 Ne5 33:45 The position is equal. 12.Bb3 5:03 Qa5 3:14 13.Ne4 3:36 Neg4 6:26 14.Bc2 7:56 Hoping for h3. h6 8:38 15.Bh4 11:18 And now h3 would win. Rfe8 10:06 16.Nc3 45 Rad8 4:22 17.Bg3 2:22 Nb3 would now be deadly. Ne5 4:12 18.Nb3 22 Qc7 1 19.Rd4 2:09 White is more active. Bc6 1:51 20.Rad1 37 Nd5 13 21.Qh5 2:58       White has strong initiative. f5 4:11
This move loses the game for Black. 21...Nxc3± 22.bxc3 22.Qxe5? is the wrong capture. Qxe5 23.Bxe5 Nxd1-+ 22.Bxe5 Ne2+ 23.Qxe2 Qxe5 22...f6 22.Bxf5!+- 2:46       exf5 3:56 23.Nxd5 18 Bxd5 5 24.Rxd5 7 Bf6 8 25.Qxf5 2:35 Rxd5 2 26.Rxd5 11 Qc4? 1 26...Qf7 27.Rd2 27.Rxe5 Bxe5 28.Qc2 Bf6 27...b6 28.Bxe5 Bxe5 29.Qxf7+ Kxf7 27.Rxe5 6:06 Bxe5 1:14 28.Bxe5 7 Qe2 27
29.h4 3:53 Rf8 1 30.Qe6+ 7 Kh7 4 31.Bg3 4 Qxb2 4 32.Nd4 27 Rf6 13 33.Qe4+ 24 Kh8 9 34.Qd5 26 Ra6 1:45 35.Be5 1:43 Strongly threatening Ne6. Qb1+ 1:27 36.Kh2 12 Threatens to win with Ne6. Rg6 2:51 37.Ne6 4:31 Rg4 1:47 38.Qd8+ 25 Kh7 1 39.h5 7 Weighted Error Value: White=0.02 (flawless) /Black=0.45. Mistake: --- Black=2 Inaccurate: White=1 Black=2 OK: White=14 Black=10 Best: White=3 Black=1 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nihal Sarin2676Bakhrillaev,B23691–020243rd President Cup-A 20241.6
Rakhmatullaev,A2410Nihal Sarin26760–120243rd President Cup-A 20242.4
Nihal Sarin2676Neelash Saha2458½–½20243rd President Cup-A 20243.3
Nihal Sarin2676Sankalp Gupta25391–020243rd President Cup-A 20244.3
Karthikeyan,M2625Nihal Sarin2676½–½20243rd President Cup-A 20245.3
Atabayev,S2520Nihal Sarin26760–120243rd President Cup-A 20246.2
Nihal Sarin2676Nigmatov,O24471–020243rd President Cup-A 20247.3
Nihal Sarin2676Sindarov,J26821–020243rd President Cup-A 20248.2
Abdusattorov,N2777Nihal Sarin2676½–½20243rd President Cup-A 20249.1

Nihal's splendid performance received high praise from the only two-time World Cup winner in history, GM Levon Aronian, who shared on X:

Nihalevski is clearly underrated, and belongs to the great generation of Indian talents. Everybody has their own pace.

The Indian rising star ended the event with 7½ points and a sensational 2809 TPR. Javokhir Sindarov, Parham Maghsoodloo and Shamsiddin Vokhidov scored 7/9 points each. They secured second, third and fourth places respectively, according to tiebreaks.

Nihal Sarin

Nihal Sarin

Shamsiddin Vokhidov

Shamsiddin Vokhidov

Nodirbek Abdusattorov

Nodirbek Abdusattorov

President Cup, chess

From left to right: Mihail Nikitenko, Karthikeyan Murali, Neelash Saha and Ortik Nigmatov

Final standings

Rk. Name Pts. TB1
1 Nihal, Sarin 7,5 0
2 Sindarov, Javokhir 7 0
3 Maghsoodloo, Parham 7 0
4 Vokhidov, Shamsiddin 7 0
5 Abdusattorov, Nodirbek 6,5 0
6 Yakubboev, Nodirbek 6,5 0
7 Nigmatov, Ortik 6 0
8 Neelash, Saha 6 0
9 Karthikeyan, Murali 6 0
10 Nikitenko, Mihail 6 0
11 Saydaliev, Saidakbar 6 0
12 Gareyev, Timur 6 0
13 Pranesh, M 6 0
14 Nitish, Belurkar 6 0
15 Suyarov, Mukhammadzokhid 6 0

...120 players

All available games

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Shahid Ahmed is the senior coordinator and editor of ChessBase India. He enjoys covering chess tournaments and also likes to play in chess events from time to time.
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