Giri and Abdusattorov to face off on Friday

After six rounds of play at the Sharjah Masters, second seed Anish Giri and eighth seed Aleksandar Indjic continue to share the lead with 5 points out of 6 each. Both players have registered four wins and two draws so far, remaining unbeaten in the nine-round open event. Giri, a long-standing member of the elite circuit, is edging closer to a return to the world's top 10 in the live rating list. Indjic, meanwhile, is enjoying a resurgence in form at the age of 29. Following his recent victory at the Baku Open, the Serbian grandmaster has now reached a career-high live rating of 2660.

Standing half a point behind the co-leaders is top seed Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who occupies sole third place on 4½ points. Abdusattorov's performance in Sharjah is all the more notable considering his concurrent participation in the Chess.com Classic online tournament - he played in that event from Tuesday to Thursday. The Uzbek GM had a slow start in Sharjah, drawing his first two games against players rated in the 2500s. However, he regained momentum with three wins in the next four rounds.

A Supergrandmaster's Guide to Openings Vol.1 & 2

This video course includes GM Anish Giri's deep insights and IM Sagar Shah's pertinent questions to the super GM. In Vol.1 all the openings after 1.e4 are covered.

Round seven will see a key pairing on the top board, as Giri and Abdusattorov face each other in a matchup that may prove decisive for the final standings. Giri will have the white pieces.

A large group of fourteen players stand half a point behind Abdusattorov on 4/6. Among them are pre-tournament favourites and a number of lower-rated players. Notably, both Dai Changren (2531) from China and Visakh N R (2507) from India have shown that their early successes - starting with two wins apiece - were no accident.

One of the standout stories of the tournament remains that of 11-year-old Faustino Oro. The Argentine prodigy, seeded 81^st out of 82 participants, has impressively remained undefeated, with one win and five draws to his name. In round seven, Oro is set for another tough challenge as he plays Black against ninth seed Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, a seasoned grandmaster from Vietnam.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov

In Thursday's sixth round, Giri obtained a key victory with the black pieces, as he defeated the ever-dangerous Parham Maghsoodloo. The Dutch grandmaster showed strong preparation to equalise out of a Semi-Slav - and got the upper hand once Maghsoodloo tried an exchange sacrifice which turned out to be mistaken.

White here went for 23.Rxc5 bxc5, intending to get winning chances with his passed pawn on the a-file. However, Giri showcased great tactical awareness to keep his opponent's threats at bay. A better alternative in the above diagram is 23.Qc2 bxa5 24.a4, with equality.

The battle on the queenside saw Maghsoodloo erring with 31.Nd6 later on, and after 31...Be5 32.Nc4, Giri managed to get rid of the more advanced pawn on the a-file (White's main trump in the position) with the good-looking 32...Qxa6

With the bishop under attack on e5, Giri's capture takes advantage of a few tactical features of the position: White's back rank weakness (combined with the dark-squared bishop's excellent placement) and the fact that in case of 33.Nxe5 he would capture White's light-squared bishop with 33...Qxb5.

The game continued with 33.Nb6 Qa7 34.Bd3 Bc7 35.Nc4 Bd4 and Maghsoodloo resigned.

The Classical Sicilian - A Timeless Counterattacking Weapon

The course is designed to provide a deep yet practical repertoire for Black, balancing solid foundations with aggressive counterplay.
The Classical Sicilian has stood the test of time as one of the most principled and fighting defences against 1.e4. With its rich history spanning world championship matches and modern elite tournaments, this opening remains a favourite among players who seek a dynamic, counterattacking approach without venturing into extreme theoretical battles like the Najdorf or Sveshnikov.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 6.h3

White will lose material in all lines. A remarkable showing of tactical accuracy by Giri.

The top boards during round six

Standings after round 6

...82 players

All available games

Links

• Official site
• Full technical information on Chess-Results
• Daneshvar wins Sharjah Masters, Divya clinches Challengers (2024)
• Arjun Erigaisi wins Sharjah Masters (2023)
• Nodirbek Abdusattorov wins Sharjah Masters (2022)
• M. Amin Tabatabaei wins Sharjah Masters (2021)