Pranav Venkatesh on the verge of winning Fujairah Global Superstars

by Shahid Ahmed - 01/09/2025

GM Pranav Venkatesh heads into the final round of Fujairah Global 2025 Superstars with a half point lead. He drew his penultimate round game against GM Abhimanyu Mishra (USA). Pranav has been dominant throughout the event. His final round opponent will be GM Alan Pichot (ESP). The top seed of the event, GM Nihal Sarin ended GM Jiner Zhu's (CHN) unbeaten run with a fantastic display of positional chess. GM S L Narayanan won a 114-move long grueling marathon ending with a bishop and knight checkmate against the UAE no.1, GM Salem Saleh. In the Masters, IM Jubin Jimmy lost an equal rook and knight endgame against GM Brewington Hardaway (USA) who regained his sole lead 7/8. Round 9 starts today at 10 a.m. local time, 11:30 a.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy

Superstars: Nihal Sarin ends Jiner Zhu's unbeaten run

GM Karthik Venkataraman and IM Aaditya Dhingra drew against IM Nico Chasin (USA) and IM Faustino Oro (ARG) respectively. All of them moved to 6/8 each. IM Kushagra Mohan persevered a tough middlegame and seized his opportunity when his opponent misplayed in the queen and knight endgame, later blundered a mate in two. Kushagra is also at 6/8.

Superstars: GM Pranav Venkatesh goes into the final round with a half point lead 6/8

GM Abhimanyu Mishra had a well contested draw against GM Pranav Venkatesh

Nihal - Jiner

Position after 14...b5?

GM Jiner Zhu (CHN, 2536) made the first mistake 14...b5? 15.Ra2 Rfe8?? was the next mistake. Her opponent GM Nihal Sarin (2692) did not let go of his chance 16.Rfa1 Bd6 17.Bxf6 gxf6 18.Ng4 Kg7 19.e4! White must hurry its attack f5 20.e5 Be7 21.Nf6! a nice pawn sacrifice to increase the vulnerability of the king Bxf6 22.exf6+ Kxf6 23.Nf3 Kg7 24.Ne5 f6 25.Nd3 rerouting the knight Re7 26.Qh5 Kh7 27.Nf4 Rg7 28.Re1 Qg8 29.g3 Rg5 30.Qf3 Nc7 31.Rxa8 Qxa8 32.h4 Rg6 33.Nxe6! White did not take the exchange as taking the e6-pawn accentuates White's advantage Nxe6 34.Rxe6 Qa1+ 35.Kg2 Qb1 36.Rxc6 and White won.

The top seed, GM Nihal showed a glimpse of how he plays on his good day to end the unbeaten streak of GM Jiner Zhu (CHN)

GM Alan Pichot - GM Pranesh M | Video: ChessBase India

GM Abhimanyu Puranik (2635) had a hard-fought draw against GM Aditya Mittal (2560).

GM S L Narayanan checkmated GM Salem Saleh (UAE) with a bishop and knight after a 114-move long grueling marathon battle

Masters: Brewington regains his sole lead

IM Jubin Jimmy misplayed in an equal rook and knight endgame against GM Brewington Hardaway (USA)

GM Karthik Venkataraman - IM Nico Chasin (USA): 0.5-0.5

IM Kushagra Mohan made a big turnaround against GM Mamikon Gharibyan (ARM) as the latter blundered mate in two after having a commanding position in the middlegame

Ceremonial first move of Round 8

For more Round 8 Superstars and Masters hotos, please click at the respective links.

Replay live stream

Replay Round 8 live commentary by Angelika Valkova (UKR) and GM Viorel Iordachescu (MDA) | Video: Fujairah Chess & Culture Club

Replay Round 8 Superstars games

Replay Round 8 Masters games

Round 8 Superstars results

Bo.	No.		White	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	FED	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	18	GM	MISHRA, Abhimanyu	USA	2610	4½	½ - ½	5½	GM	PRANAV, V	IND	2597	23	PGN
2	3	GM	TABATABAEI, M. Amin	IRI	2673	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	HONG, Andrew	USA	2580	35	PGN
3	8	GM	MARTINEZ ALCANTARA, Jose Eduardo	MEX	2636	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	SJUGIROV, Sanan	HUN	2636	9	PGN
4	27	GM	JACOBSON, Brandon	USA	2594	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	SULEYMANLI, Aydin	AZE	2609	19	PGN
5	1	GM	NIHAL, Sarin	IND	2692	4	1 - 0	4½	GM	ZHU, Jiner	CHN	2536	44	PGN
6	32	GM	ZEMLYANSKII, Ivan	FID	2586	4	½ - ½	4	GM	SHANKLAND, Sam	USA	2670	4	PGN
7	6	GM	THEODOROU, Nikolas	GRE	2646	4	0 - 1	4	GM	DONCHENKO, Alexander	GER	2616	17	PGN
8	12	GM	CHEPARINOV, Ivan	BUL	2625	4	½ - ½	4	GM	DANESHVAR, Bardiya	IRI	2625	13	PGN
9	34	GM	PICHOT, Alan	ESP	2581	4	1 - 0	4	GM	PRANESH, M	IND	2589	29	PGN
10	10	GM	PURANIK, Abhimanyu	IND	2635	3½	½ - ½	4	GM	ADITYA, Mittal	IND	2560	42	PGN
11	5	GM	LU, Shanglei	CHN	2647	3½	1 - 0	3½	GM	VOLOKITIN, Andrei	UKR	2628	11	PGN
12	26	GM	NARAYANAN, S L	IND	2595	3½	1 - 0	3½	GM	SALEM, A.R. Saleh	UAE	2640	7	PGN
13	24	GM	GREBNEV, Aleksey	FID	2595	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	DUDIN, Gleb	HUN	2583	33	PGN
14	31	GM	MURADLI, Mahammad	AZE	2586	3½	1 - 0	3½	GM	MOTYLEV, Alexander	ROU	2595	25	PGN
15	14	GM	HAKOBYAN, Aram	ARM	2625	3	0 - 1	3	GM	IVANCHUK, Vasyl	UKR	2623	15	PGN
16	16	GM	DARDHA, Daniel	BEL	2616	3	0 - 1	3	GM	MOVAHED, Sina	IRI	2558	43	PGN
17	41	GM	BHARATH, Subramaniyam H	IND	2562	3	1 - 0	3	GM	KOZAK, Adam	HUN	2586	30	PGN
18	20	GM	MENDONCA, Leon Luke	IND	2606	3	½ - ½	2½	GM	SOCKO, Bartosz	POL	2574	37	PGN
19	22	GM	KUZUBOV, Yuriy	UKR	2600	2½	1 - 0	2½	GM	PRANAV, Anand	IND	2590	28	PGN
20	39	GM	KANTOR, Gergely	HUN	2569	2½	½ - ½	2	GM	GORSHTEIN, Ido	ISR	2571	38	PGN
21	40	GM	PIORUN, Kacper	POL	2568	2½	1			bye

Details

Standings after Round 8

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	K	rtg+/-
1	23	GM	PRANAV, V		IND	2597	6	2636	0	30	4	10	23,4
2	27	GM	JACOBSON, Brandon		USA	2594	5,5	2634	0	29,5	3	10	18,9
3	3	GM	TABATABAEI, M. Amin		IRI	2673	5,5	2600	0	27	4	10	6,6
4	34	GM	PICHOT, Alan		ESP	2581	5	2640	0	24	4	10	15,8
5	9	GM	SJUGIROV, Sanan		HUN	2636	5	2608	0	27,5	4	10	6
6	17	GM	DONCHENKO, Alexander		GER	2616	5	2606	0	25,5	4	10	8,1
7	18	GM	MISHRA, Abhimanyu		USA	2610	5	2604	0	25	4	10	8,4
8	8	GM	MARTINEZ ALCANTARA, Jose Eduardo		MEX	2636	5	2596	0	26,5	4	10	5,2
9	1	GM	NIHAL, Sarin		IND	2692	5	2593	0	26	4	10	-1,4
10	26	GM	NARAYANAN, S L		IND	2595	4,5	2652	0	23,5	4	10	10,2
11	32	GM	ZEMLYANSKII, Ivan		FID	2586	4,5	2640	0	24,5	4	10	10,5
12	31	GM	MURADLI, Mahammad		AZE	2586	4,5	2639	0	24,5	4	10	10,1
13	35	GM	HONG, Andrew		USA	2580	4,5	2636	0	27	4	10	9,8
14	42	GM	ADITYA, Mittal		IND	2560	4,5	2630	0	24,5	4	10	12,2
15	44	GM	ZHU, Jiner	w	CHN	2536	4,5	2627	0	27	4	10	14,3

Details

Round 9 pairings

Bo.	No.		White	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	FED	Rtg	No.
1	23	GM	PRANAV, V	IND	2597	6		5	GM	PICHOT, Alan	ESP	2581	34
2	17	GM	DONCHENKO, Alexander	GER	2616	5		5½	GM	TABATABAEI, M. Amin	IRI	2673	3
3	1	GM	NIHAL, Sarin	IND	2692	5		5½	GM	JACOBSON, Brandon	USA	2594	27
4	9	GM	SJUGIROV, Sanan	HUN	2636	5		5	GM	MISHRA, Abhimanyu	USA	2610	18
5	4	GM	SHANKLAND, Sam	USA	2670	4½		5	GM	MARTINEZ ALCANTARA, Jose Eduardo	MEX	2636	8
6	35	GM	HONG, Andrew	USA	2580	4½		4½	GM	LU, Shanglei	CHN	2647	5
7	44	GM	ZHU, Jiner	CHN	2536	4½		4½	GM	CHEPARINOV, Ivan	BUL	2625	12
8	13	GM	DANESHVAR, Bardiya	IRI	2625	4½		4½	GM	MURADLI, Mahammad	AZE	2586	31
9	19	GM	SULEYMANLI, Aydin	AZE	2609	4½		4½	GM	NARAYANAN, S L	IND	2595	26
10	42	GM	ADITYA, Mittal	IND	2560	4½		4½	GM	ZEMLYANSKII, Ivan	FID	2586	32
11	33	GM	DUDIN, Gleb	HUN	2583	4		4	GM	THEODOROU, Nikolas	GRE	2646	6
12	15	GM	IVANCHUK, Vasyl	UKR	2623	4		4	GM	GREBNEV, Aleksey	FID	2595	24
13	29	GM	PRANESH, M	IND	2589	4		4	GM	BHARATH, Subramaniyam H	IND	2562	41
14	43	GM	MOVAHED, Sina	IRI	2558	4		3½	GM	VOLOKITIN, Andrei	UKR	2628	11
15	40	GM	PIORUN, Kacper	POL	2568	3½		3½	GM	MENDONCA, Leon Luke	IND	2606	20
16	25	GM	MOTYLEV, Alexander	ROU	2595	3½		3½	GM	KUZUBOV, Yuriy	UKR	2600	22
17	37	GM	SOCKO, Bartosz	POL	2574	3		3	GM	KANTOR, Gergely	HUN	2569	39
18	38	GM	GORSHTEIN, Ido	ISR	2571	2½		3	GM	DARDHA, Daniel	BEL	2616	16

Details

Masters Round 8 results

8	1	34	IM	JUBIN Jimmy	IND	2464	6	0 - 1	6	GM	HARDAWAY Brewington	USA	2499	14
8	2	2	GM	KARTHIK Venkataraman	IND	2556	5½	½ - ½	5½	IM	CHASIN Nico	USA	2458	37
8	6	32	IM	ORO Faustino	ARG	2465	5½	½ - ½	5½	IM	AADITYA Dhingra	IND	2394	85
8	8	5	GM	SOKOLOVSKY Yahli	ISR	2539	5	1 - 0	5	IM	JAIN Kashish Manoj	IND	2408	71
8	9	15	GM	GHARIBYAN Mamikon	ARM	2495	5	0 - 1	5	IM	KUSHAGRA Mohan	IND	2408	72
8	11	94	IM	PANDA Sambit	IND	2379	5	0 - 1	5	IM	SAPENOV Daniyal	KAZ	2429	50
8	15	101	IM	GASPARYAN Erik R.	ARM	2372	4½	1 - 0	4½	IM	ILAMPARTHI A R	IND	2515	9
8	16	104	IM	VIANI Antonio Dcunha	IND	2364	4½	1 - 0	4½	IM	ASWATH S	IND	2500	13
8	18	119	IM	MOKSH Amit Doshi	IND	2344	4½	0 - 1	4½	IM	STRIBUK Artiom	FID	2474	25
8	21	123	FM	HAKOBYAN Eduard	USA	2339	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	PRRANEETH Vuppala	IND	2458	36

Details

Standings after Round 8

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	K	rtg+/-
1	14	GM	HARDAWAY, Brewington		USA	2499	7	2458	0	33,5	4	10	20
2	52	FM	ASHRAF, Artin		IRI	2428	6,5	2429	0	25,5	4	10	23,2
3	85	IM	AADITYA, Dhingra		IND	2394	6	2449	0	30,5	4	10	22,9
4	16	GM	SIVUK, Vitaly		SWE	2495	6	2448	0	33	3	10	9,5
5	55	IM	AKBAS, Umut Ata		TUR	2425	6	2447	0	26,5	4	10	20,4
6	65	IM	SONG, Yuxin	w	CHN	2414	6	2440	0	31	3	10	14,9
7	2	GM	KARTHIK, Venkataraman		IND	2556	6	2433	0	30,5	4	10	5,8
8	222	FM	ZHAUYNBAY, Aldiyar		KAZ	2214	6	2432	0	24	3	20	76,4
9	37	IM	CHASIN, Nico		USA	2458	6	2417	0	30	4	10	13
10	34	IM	JUBIN, Jimmy		IND	2464	6	2414	0	30	4	10	13,1

Details

Round 9 pairings

9	2	50	IM	SAPENOV Daniyal	KAZ	2429	6	6	GM	KARTHIK Venkataraman	IND	2556	2
9	4	72	IM	KUSHAGRA Mohan	IND	2408	6	6	GM	SIVUK Vitaly	SWE	2495	16
9	7	55	IM	AKBAS Umut Ata	TUR	2425	6	6	IM	JUBIN Jimmy	IND	2464	34
9	9	85	IM	AADITYA Dhingra	IND	2394	6	6	IM	MAHDAVI Reza	IRI	2454	39
9	10	80	IM	SHAHIL Dey	IND	2401	5½	5½	GM	SANAL Vahap	TUR	2550	3
9	13	25	IM	STRIBUK Artiom	FID	2474	5½	5½	IM	SOHAM Kamotra	IND	2407	74
9	15	36	GM	PRRANEETH Vuppala	IND	2458	5½	5½	IM	GASPARYAN Erik R.	ARM	2372	101
9	16	49	IM	KURU Atilla	TUR	2435	5½	5½	IM	VIANI Antonio Dcunha	IND	2364	104
9	17	51	IM	MOHAMED Anees M	IND	2428	5½	5½	FM	NOVOZHILOV Semen	RUS	2358	109
9	18	71	IM	JAIN Kashish Manoj	IND	2408	5	5	GM	GHARIBYAN Mamikon	ARM	2495	15

Details

Links

Tournament Regulations

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

Related news:

	Pranav Venkatesh convincingly clinches Fujairah Global Superstars with a 2843 performance @ 02/09/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	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 R5: Pranav Venkatesh too sharp for Jose Eduardo Martinez @ 29/08/2025 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)