Fujairah Global R5: Pranav Venkatesh too sharp for Jose Eduardo Martinez

by Shahid Ahmed - 29/08/2025

GM Pranav Venkatesh defeated GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara (MEX) in the fifth round of Fujairah Global 2025 Superstars. Pranav played a sharp game against the Mexico no.1 to maintain his lead. GM Sanan Sjugirov (HUN) defeated GM Gleb Dudin (HUN) to also remain at the top with Pranav at 4/5 each. GM Raunak Sadhwani and GM Aditya Mittal got great winning chances against GM Andrew Hong (USA) and GM Nikolas Theodorou (GRE) respectively. GM Pranesh M held GM Nihal Sarin to a draw where the top seed managed to avert a disaster. Round 6 starts today at 5 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Superstars: Pranav V and Sanan share the lead

In the Masters section, IM Sambit Panda's great unbeaten run came to an end against IM Nico Chasin (USA). GM Karthik Venkataraman and IM Mohamed Anees M won against IM Atilla Kuru (TUR) and GM Yahli Sokolovsky (ISR) respectively to move to 4/5, a full point behind the sole leader, GM Vitaly Sivuk (SWE). IM Jubin Jimmy, IM Aswath S and GM Prraneeth Vuppala are also at 4/5 each.

Pranav - Jose Martinez

Position after 22...Rxc4??

GM Jose Martinez Eduardo Alcantara (MEX, 2636) blundered 22...Rxc4?? GM Pranav Venkatesh (2597) played 23.Nd2 and eventually went on to win a sharp battle. Find out a better and exciting continuation which probably could have earned the point earlier for White.

GM Pranav Venkatesh played a sharp game to beat GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara (MEX)

GM Jiner Zhu (CHN) missed great winning chances against GM Aydin Suleymanli (AZE)

Raunak - Hong

Position after 42...Rf6

The above rook and pawn is winning for White. What is the correct plan? GM Raunak Sadhwani (2676) opted for 43.b7? and the game veered into a draw. Bringing the king towards the passed b-pawn is what White needed to do to win the game. GM Andrew Hong (USA, 2580) escaped with a draw 43...Rb6. Black blundered after a few moves, however, White missed another opportunity to win the game.

GM Raunak Sadhwani missed a couple of good opportunities in the endgame against GM Andrew Hong (USA)

GM Aditya Mittal had good chances in the rook and knight endgame against GM Nikolas Theodorou (GRE) before the game ended in a 104-move long marathon draw

The top seed GM Nihal Sarin salvaged a draw from a difficult position against GM Pranesh M

GM Alexander Motylev (ROU) - GM Bharath Subramaniyam H: 0.5-0.5

Masters: Karthik and Anees join Jubin and Prraneeth in the chase

Kuru - Karthik

Position after 41...h4

GM Karthik Venkataraman (2556) made a nice break 41...h4. It tempted his opponent, IM Atilla Kuru (TUR, 2435) captured the pawn 42.gxh4?? Bd6+ 43.Kh1 Rc1+ 44.Ng1 Nf4 45.Re3 Rd1 46.Ba7 Be7 47.Bb8 Bxh4 48.Bxf4 Bxf2 49.Rg3 Bxg3 50.Bxg3 Rd2 and Black went on to win the game.

GM Karthik Venkataraman scored a fine victory to move to 4/5 | Photo: Federatia Romana de Sah

Anees - Yahli

Position after 15...Nxe4!?

GM Yahli Sokolovsky (ISR, 2539) made an interesting knight sacrifice for two pawns and initiative 15...Nxe4!? 16.Bxe4 Bxh3 17.Bg2 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 Qd7 after a few moves Black got an opportunity to get the sacrificed knight back and equalize. He decided against it and IM Mohamed Anees M (2428) went on to win the game.

IM Mohamed Anees M won against GM Yahli Sokolovsky (ISR) whose knight sacrifice did not yield a desired outcome | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Arbiters' team | Photo: IA Vivek Sohani

Round 5 in progress

For more Round 5 photos, please click here.

Replay live stream

Replay Round 5 live commentary by Angelika Valkova (UKR) and GM Viorel Iordachescu (MDA) | Video: Fujairah Chess & Culture Club

Replay Round 5 Superstars games

Replay Round 5 Masters games

Round 5 Superstars results

Bo.	No.		White	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	FED	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	27	GM	JACOBSON, Brandon	USA	2594	3	½ - ½	3	GM	TABATABAEI, M. Amin	IRI	2673	3	PGN
2	23	GM	PRANAV, V	IND	2597	3	1 - 0	3	GM	MARTINEZ ALCANTARA, Jose Eduardo	MEX	2636	8	PGN
3	9	GM	SJUGIROV, Sanan	HUN	2636	3	1 - 0	3	GM	DUDIN, Gleb	HUN	2583	33	PGN
4	19	GM	SULEYMANLI, Aydin	AZE	2609	3	½ - ½	3	GM	ZHU, Jiner	CHN	2536	44	PGN
5	2	GM	SADHWANI, Raunak	IND	2676	2½	½ - ½	3	GM	HONG, Andrew	USA	2580	35	PGN
6	4	GM	SHANKLAND, Sam	USA	2670	2½	½ - ½	2½	GM	CHEPARINOV, Ivan	BUL	2625	12	PGN
7	42	GM	ADITYA, Mittal	IND	2560	2½	½ - ½	2½	GM	THEODOROU, Nikolas	GRE	2646	6	PGN
8	7	GM	SALEM, A.R. Saleh	UAE	2640	2	½ - ½	2½	GM	MISHRA, Abhimanyu	USA	2610	18	PGN
9	29	GM	PRANESH, M	IND	2589	2	½ - ½	2	GM	NIHAL, Sarin	IND	2692	1	PGN
10	11	GM	VOLOKITIN, Andrei	UKR	2628	2	½ - ½	2	GM	PICHOT, Alan	ESP	2581	34	PGN
11	13	GM	DANESHVAR, Bardiya	IRI	2625	2	1 - 0	2	GM	NARAYANAN, S L	IND	2595	26	PGN
12	17	GM	DONCHENKO, Alexander	GER	2616	2	½ - ½	2	GM	ZEMLYANSKII, Ivan	FID	2586	32	PGN
13	31	GM	MURADLI, Mahammad	AZE	2586	2	½ - ½	2	GM	GREBNEV, Aleksey	FID	2595	24	PGN
14	25	GM	MOTYLEV, Alexander	ROU	2595	2	½ - ½	2	GM	BHARATH, Subramaniyam H	IND	2562	41	PGN
15	5	GM	LU, Shanglei	CHN	2647	1½	½ - ½	1½	GM	MENDONCA, Leon Luke	IND	2606	20	PGN
16	10	GM	PURANIK, Abhimanyu	IND	2635	1½	½ - ½	1½	GM	PRANAV, Anand	IND	2590	28	PGN
17	30	GM	KOZAK, Adam	HUN	2586	1½	½ - ½	1½	GM	HAKOBYAN, Aram	ARM	2625	14	PGN
18	15	GM	IVANCHUK, Vasyl	UKR	2623	1½	1 - 0	1½	GM	MOVAHED, Sina	IRI	2558	43	PGN
19	36	GM	ITURRIZAGA BONELLI, Eduardo	ESP	2576	1½	0 - 1	1½	GM	DARDHA, Daniel	BEL	2616	16	PGN
20	39	GM	KANTOR, Gergely	HUN	2569	1½	0 - 1	1	GM	KUZUBOV, Yuriy	UKR	2600	22	PGN
21	37	GM	SOCKO, Bartosz	POL	2574	1	½ - ½	1	GM	PIORUN, Kacper	POL	2568	40	PGN
22	38	GM	GORSHTEIN, Ido	ISR	2571	½	1			bye

Details

Standings after Round 5

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	K	rtg+/-
1	9	GM	SJUGIROV, Sanan		HUN	2636	4	0	10	7,4
2	23	GM	PRANAV, V		IND	2597	4	0	10	17,2
3	19	GM	SULEYMANLI, Aydin		AZE	2609	3,5	0	10	8,2
4	27	GM	JACOBSON, Brandon		USA	2594	3,5	0	10	13,3
5	35	GM	HONG, Andrew		USA	2580	3,5	0	10	12,7
6	44	GM	ZHU, Jiner	w	CHN	2536	3,5	0	10	15,8
7	3	GM	TABATABAEI, M. Amin		IRI	2673	3,5	0	10	8,9
8	8	GM	MARTINEZ ALCANTARA, Jose Eduardo		MEX	2636	3	0	10	6
9	18	GM	MISHRA, Abhimanyu		USA	2610	3	0	10	8,6
10	33	GM	DUDIN, Gleb		HUN	2583	3	0	10	4
11	12	GM	CHEPARINOV, Ivan		BUL	2625	3	0	10	2,1
12	42	GM	ADITYA, Mittal		IND	2560	3	0	10	9,7
13	2	GM	SADHWANI, Raunak		IND	2676	3	0	10	-6,6
14	4	GM	SHANKLAND, Sam		USA	2670	3	0	10	-0,7
15	6	GM	THEODOROU, Nikolas		GRE	2646	3	0	10	0

Details

Round 6 pairings

Bo.	No.		White	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	FED	Rtg	No.
1	3	GM	TABATABAEI, M. Amin	IRI	2673	3½		4	GM	SJUGIROV, Sanan	HUN	2636	9
2	27	GM	JACOBSON, Brandon	USA	2594	3½		4	GM	PRANAV, V	IND	2597	23
3	44	GM	ZHU, Jiner	CHN	2536	3½		3½	GM	HONG, Andrew	USA	2580	35
4	4	GM	SHANKLAND, Sam	USA	2670	3		3½	GM	SULEYMANLI, Aydin	AZE	2609	19
5	18	GM	MISHRA, Abhimanyu	USA	2610	3		3	GM	SADHWANI, Raunak	IND	2676	2
6	6	GM	THEODOROU, Nikolas	GRE	2646	3		3	GM	DANESHVAR, Bardiya	IRI	2625	13
7	8	GM	MARTINEZ ALCANTARA, Jose Eduardo	MEX	2636	3		3	GM	DUDIN, Gleb	HUN	2583	33
8	12	GM	CHEPARINOV, Ivan	BUL	2625	3		3	GM	ADITYA, Mittal	IND	2560	42
9	1	GM	NIHAL, Sarin	IND	2692	2½		2½	GM	MOTYLEV, Alexander	ROU	2595	25
10	32	GM	ZEMLYANSKII, Ivan	FID	2586	2½		2½	GM	SALEM, A.R. Saleh	UAE	2640	7
11	24	GM	GREBNEV, Aleksey	FID	2595	2½		2½	GM	VOLOKITIN, Andrei	UKR	2628	11
12	34	GM	PICHOT, Alan	ESP	2581	2½		2½	GM	IVANCHUK, Vasyl	UKR	2623	15
13	16	GM	DARDHA, Daniel	BEL	2616	2½		2½	GM	PRANESH, M	IND	2589	29
14	41	GM	BHARATH, Subramaniyam H	IND	2562	2½		2½	GM	DONCHENKO, Alexander	GER	2616	17
15	14	GM	HAKOBYAN, Aram	ARM	2625	2		2½	GM	MURADLI, Mahammad	AZE	2586	31
16	22	GM	KUZUBOV, Yuriy	UKR	2600	2		2	GM	LU, Shanglei	CHN	2647	5
17	26	GM	NARAYANAN, S L	IND	2595	2		2	GM	PURANIK, Abhimanyu	IND	2635	10
18	20	GM	MENDONCA, Leon Luke	IND	2606	2		2	GM	KOZAK, Adam	HUN	2586	30
19	28	GM	PRANAV, Anand	IND	2590	2		1½	GM	SOCKO, Bartosz	POL	2574	37
20	36	GM	ITURRIZAGA BONELLI, Eduardo	ESP	2576	1½		1½	GM	KANTOR, Gergely	HUN	2569	39
21	40	GM	PIORUN, Kacper	POL	2568	1½		1½	GM	GORSHTEIN, Ido	ISR	2571	38
22	43	GM	MOVAHED, Sina	IRI	2558	1½				bye

Details

Masters Round 5 results

5	2	41	IM	ANUJ Shrivatri	IND	2452	3½	0 - 1	3½	GM	HARDAWAY Brewington	USA	2499	14
5	4	63	IM	PILIPOSYAN Robert	ARM	2415	3½	½ - ½	3½	IM	JUBIN Jimmy	IND	2464	34
5	5	36	GM	PRRANEETH Vuppala	IND	2458	3½	½ - ½	3½	IM	SONG Yuxin	CHN	2414	65
5	6	37	IM	CHASIN Nico	USA	2458	3½	1 - 0	3½	IM	PANDA Sambit	IND	2379	94
5	9	49	IM	KURU Atilla	TUR	2435	3	0 - 1	3	GM	KARTHIK Venkataraman	IND	2556	2
5	11	51	IM	MOHAMED Anees M	IND	2428	3	1 - 0	3	GM	SOKOLOVSKY Yahli	ISR	2539	5
5	13	9	IM	ILAMPARTHI A R	IND	2515	3	½ - ½	3	FM	ASHRAF Artin	IRI	2428	52
5	15	13	IM	ASWATH S	IND	2500	3	1 - 0	3	IM	DAVTYAN Arsen	ARM	2421	57
5	19	24	IM	TAHBAZ Arash	IRI	2477	3	½ - ½	3	IM	SAHIB Singh	IND	2416	62
5	25	105	FM	XIE Felix	NZL	2364	2½	0 - 1	2½	GM	CHANDA Sandipan	IND	2482	20

Details

Standings after Round 5

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	K	rtg+/-
1	16	GM	SIVUK, Vitaly		SWE	2495	5	17	10	15,9
2	14	GM	HARDAWAY, Brewington		USA	2499	4,5	17,5	10	9,8
3	32	IM	ORO, Faustino		ARG	2465	4,5	15	10	14,3
4	37	IM	CHASIN, Nico		USA	2458	4,5	14,5	10	11,1
5	27	IM	ZVEREV, Lev		FID	2471	4	19,5	10	7,2
6	65	IM	SONG, Yuxin	w	CHN	2414	4	18,5	10	10,4
7	39	IM	MAHDAVI, Reza		IRI	2454	4	17,5	10	3,1
8	34	IM	JUBIN, Jimmy		IND	2464	4	15,5	10	7,2
9	63	IM	PILIPOSYAN, Robert		ARM	2415	4	15,5	10	14,1
10	13	IM	ASWATH, S		IND	2500	4	15	10	7,3

Details

Round 6 pairings

6	3	2	GM	KARTHIK Venkataraman	IND	2556	4	4	GM	PRRANEETH Vuppala	IND	2458	36
6	5	51	IM	MOHAMED Anees M	IND	2428	4	4	IM	ASWATH S	IND	2500	13
6	10	34	IM	JUBIN Jimmy	IND	2464	4	4	IM	LAOHAWIRAPAP Prin	THA	2410	66
6	12	62	IM	SAHIB Singh	IND	2416	3½	3½	IM	SAMADOV Read	AZE	2522	8
6	13	74	IM	SOHAM Kamotra	IND	2407	3½	3½	IM	ILAMPARTHI A R	IND	2515	9
6	14	19	IM	RACZEK Krzysztof	POL	2487	3½	3½	IM	JAIN Kashish Manoj	IND	2408	71
6	15	20	GM	CHANDA Sandipan	IND	2482	3½	3½	IM	AADITYA Dhingra	IND	2394	85
6	16	80	IM	SHAHIL Dey	IND	2401	3½	3½	IM	TAHBAZ Arash	IRI	2477	24
6	17	82	FM	WAGH Suyog	IND	2400	3½	3½	IM	TSARUK Maksim	FID	2470	29
6	18	94	IM	PANDA Sambit	IND	2379	3½	3½	GM	GOKERKAN Cem Kaan	TUR	2464	33

Details

Links

Tournament Regulations

Fujairah Chess & Culture Club: Official site, fb page, instagram and youtube

Related news:

	Fujairah Global R7: Pranav Venkatesh outwits Tabatabaei, emerges sole leader @ 31/08/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Fujairah Global R6: Tabatabaei becomes the new coleader of Pranav Venkatesh @ 30/08/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Fujairah Global R3-4: Pranav Venkatesh and Jiner Zhu in the leaders' pack @ 28/08/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Fujairah Global R2: Pranav Venkatesh wins two in-a-row @ 27/08/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Fujairah Global R1: Pranav Venkatesh checkmates Nihal Sarin @ 26/08/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)