25th Dubai Open R1: Harshavardhan and Mayank stun Jingyao Tin and Abhijeet Gupta

by Shahid Ahmed - 28/05/2025

Top seed, GM Nihal Sarin made a winning start at 25th Dubai Open 2025 Category A (>2300). Nihal defeated one of the latest IMs of India - Akshay Borgaonkar. IM Jubin Jimmy and IM Neelash Saha held second and third seeded - GM Shant Sargsyan (ARM) and GM Aleksandar Indjic (SRB) respectively to a draw each. Neelash probably had some chances in the endgame but it was not easy for a human to convert into a full point. FM Sahib Singh played a solid draw against GM Momchil Petkov (BUL). IM Kushagra Mohan salvaged a draw from a difficult position against GM Shreyas Royal (ENG). Round 2 starts today at 5 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Jubin and Neelash draw against Shant and Indjic

The Silver jubilee edition has a total prize fund of US$ 52000, same as last year. Category A has a total prize fund of $39500. The top three prizes are $12000 + trophy, $8000 and $6000 each.

The top seed of the tournament - GM Nihal Sarin made a winning start against one of the latest IMs of India - Akshay Borgaonkar | Photo: Dubai Chess & Culture Club

GM Shant Sargsyan (ARM) - IM Jubin Jimmy (pictured): 0.5-0.5

Neelash - Indjic

Position after 39...Be6??

Former European Individual champion, GM Aleksandar Indjic (SRB, 2637) blundered 39...Be6?? as it drops the bishop after 40.Nb7+ IM Neelash Saha (2445) spotted it, the game continued 40...Ke8 41.Bxe6 Nxe4 42.Bf5 Nc4 Black has two pawns for the lost bishop. It is not exactly clear how White can win this even though computer says White has a decisive advantage. Since the game was played between humans, it ended in a draw.

IM Neelash Saha has made a great start with a draw against the third seed - GM Aleksandar Indjic (SRB) | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

IM Harshavardhan G B won a hard-fought battle against the Singapore no.1, GM Jingyao Tin | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

IM Mayank Chakraborty scored a big win over GM Abhijeet Gupta | Photo: Himank Ghosh

GM Momchil Petkov (BUL) - FM Sahib Singh (pictured): 0.5-0.5

IM Kushagra Mohan defended a difficult position against GM Shreyas Royal (ENG) to salvage a draw | Photo: IA Vivek Sohani

Round 1 in progress | Photo: Dubai Chess & Culture Club

Replay Round 1 games

Round 1 results in Category A

Bo.	No.		White	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	FED	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	42	FM	Borgaonkar, Akshay	IND	2453	0	0 - 1	0	GM	Nihal, Sarin	IND	2693	1	PGN
2	2	GM	Sargsyan, Shant	ARM	2666	0	½ - ½	0	IM	Jubin, Jimmy	IND	2449	43	PGN
3	44	IM	Neelash, Saha	IND	2445	0	½ - ½	0	GM	Indjic, Aleksandar	SRB	2637	3	PGN
4	4	GM	Muradli, Mahammad	AZE	2603	0	1 - 0	0	IM	Bronstein, Or	ISR	2443	45	PGN
5	46	IM	Harshavardhan, G B	IND	2441	0	1 - 0	0	GM	Tin, Jingyao	SGP	2601	5	PGN
6	6	GM	Narayanan, S L	IND	2598	0	½ - ½	0	IM	Celik, Hasan Huseyin	TUR	2440	47	PGN
7	48		Jiang, Haochen	CHN	2439	0	½ - ½	0	GM	Pichot, Alan	ESP	2587	7	PGN
8	8	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet	IND	2577	0	0 - 1	0	IM	Mayank, Chakraborty	IND	2436	49	PGN
9	50	IM	Stribuk, Artiom	FID	2433	0	0 - 1	0	GM	Iniyan, Pa	IND	2573	9	PGN
10	10	GM	Can, Emre	TUR	2568	0	1 - 0	0	IM	Tsaruk, Maksim	FID	2431	51	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 1

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5	K	rtg+/-
1	1	GM	Nihal, Sarin			IND	2693	1	0,0	0	0	0	1	10	2
2	9	GM	Iniyan, Pa			IND	2573	1	0,0	0	0	0	1	10	3,1
3	25	IM	Aronyak, Ghosh			IND	2514	1	0,0	0	0	0	1	10	3,5
4	29	IM	Muthaiah, Al			IND	2487	1	0,0	0	0	0	1	10	3,7
5	33	GM	Siddharth, Jagadeesh			SGP	2472	1	0,0	0	0	0	1	10	3,7
6	37	IM	Harikrishnan.A.Ra,			IND	2467	1	0,0	0	0	0	1	10	3,1
7	39	IM	Dotzer, Lukas			AUT	2455	1	0,0	0	0	0	1	10	2,9
8	41	IM	Nitish, Belurkar			IND	2454	1	0,0	0	0	0	1	10	2,1
9	49	IM	Mayank, Chakraborty			IND	2436	1	0,0	0	0	0	1	10	6,9
10	71	IM	Liyanage, Ranindu Dilshan			SRI	2387	1	0,0	0	0	0	1	10	6,3

Details

Round 2 pairings

Bo.	No.		White	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	FED	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Nihal, Sarin	IND	2693	1		1	GM	Prraneeth, Vuppala	IND	2474	32
2	29	IM	Muthaiah, Al	IND	2487	1		1	GM	Muradli, Mahammad	AZE	2603	4
3	9	GM	Iniyan, Pa	IND	2573	1		1	IM	Md, Imran	IND	2472	34
4	33	GM	Siddharth, Jagadeesh	SGP	2472	1		1	GM	Can, Emre	TUR	2568	10
5	36	IM	Srihari, L R	IND	2468	1		1	GM	Gorshtein, Ido	ISR	2560	12
6	13	GM	Bharath, Subramaniyam H	IND	2556	1		1	GM	Shyam, Sundar M.	IND	2462	38
7	37	IM	Harikrishnan.A.Ra,	IND	2467	1		1	GM	Grebnev, Aleksey	FID	2556	14
8	39	IM	Dotzer, Lukas	AUT	2455	1		1	GM	Sanal, Vahap	TUR	2555	16
9	40	FM	Panesar, Vedant	IND	2455	1		1	GM	Aditya, Mittal	IND	2547	18
10	41	IM	Nitish, Belurkar	IND	2454	1		1	GM	Kacharava, Nikolozi	GEO	2516	22

Details

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