Anish Giri convincingly clinches 8th Sharjah Masters

by Shahid Ahmed - 26/05/2025

GM Anish Giri (NED) defeated GM Aditya Mittal to win 8th Sharjah Masters 2025 convincingly. In a relatively balanced rook endgame, Anish pushed for a win as he had an extra passed pawn. It turned out in his favor as his opponent eventually faltered. GM Aleksandar Indjic (SRB) defeated the newly crowned Asian Individual 2025 champion, GM Bardiya Daneshvar (IRI) to secure second place. GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) drew with GM M Amin Tabatabaei (IRI) to finish third. The total prize fund of the tournament is more than $73000, Masters A had $58600. The top three prizes were $15000, $10000 and $7000 each. Aditya is the sole Indian to make a top ten finish. He scored 5.5/9 to finish tenth. Photo: Sharjah Chess Club

Edgar Mamedov and Bibisara Assaubayeva become Grandmasters

IM Mayank Chakraborty and Shubham Shukla won Category B and C respectively. It will be mentioned in detail in a separate report. Kazakhstan got two new Grandmasters in this tournament in the form of IM Edgar Mamedov and IM Bibisara Assaubayeva.

Champion - GM Anish Giri (NED) 7/9 | Photo: Sharjah Chess Club

Runner-up - GM Aleksandar Indjic (SRB) 6.5/9 | Photo: Sharjah Chess Club

Anish - Aditya: 1-0

GM Anish Giri (NED, 2738) played only one Classical rated game against GM Aditya Mittal (2547) in Qatar Masters 2023. It ended in a draw. This time also, the game was heading towards a draw. However, Anish wanted to become a clear champion, so he grinded a rook endgame with an extra pawn as he was the only one who had a practical chance.

Position after 63.Ra6+

Black needed to play 63...Kd5 to ensure the game ends in a draw. 64.Rf6 Rxd4+ 65.Kg3 Ra4 66.Rxf7 Ra6 and Black would have been fine. 63...Ke7?? allowed the white king to gain an entry 64.Ke5 Re1+ 65.Kd5 and White went on to win the game using the correct technique.

Anish Giri - Aditya Mittal, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

Anish Giri grinded a win in the final round to become a clear champion | Photo: Himank Ghosh

Anish Giri topped all the stats as Game Theory expert Dr. Mehmet Ismail shared his data analysis.

Anish Giri's 2834 performance earned him 10.3 Elo rating points and moved him up to World no.12 in the live ratings | Source: 2700chess.com

His esports team, Team Secret congratulated him.

Top boards | Photo: Himank Ghosh

10th GM Aditya Mittal 5.5/9 | Photo: Sharjah Chess Club

Various prize winners | Photo: Sharjah Chess Club

For more Round 9 photos, please click here.

Replay the Live stream

Replay Sharjah Masters Round 9 live commentary by GM Toms Kantans (LAT) and WIM Raluca Sgircea (ROU) | Video: Lichess

Replay Round 9 Masters A games

Round 9 Masters A results

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Rtg	No.
1	5	GM	Tabatabaei, M. Amin	2670	5½	½ - ½	6	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2771	1
2	6	GM	Sargsyan, Shant	2666	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Ivic, Velimir	2630	13
3	16	GM	Daneshvar, Bardiya	2621	5½	0 - 1	5½	GM	Indjic, Aleksandar	2637	8
4	4	GM	Sevian, Samuel	2694	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Gavrilescu, David	2554	41
5	11	GM	Salem, A.R. Saleh *)	2631	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Woodward, Andy	2547	45
6	34	GM	Zemlyanskii, Ivan	2563	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Theodorou, Nikolas	2611	17
7	18	GM	Muradli, Mahammad	2603	5	1 - 0	5	GM	Kozak, Adam	2578	24
8	36	GM	Vetokhin, Savva	2558	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Paravyan, David	2596	21
9	29	GM	Amar, Elham	2569	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Mamedov, Edgar	2492	69
10	76	GM	Siddharth, Jagadeesh	2472	5	0 - 1	4½	GM	Pichot, Alan	2587	22
11	28	GM	Samunenkov, Ihor	2572	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Pranav, Anand	2555	39
12	2	GM	Giri, Anish	2738	6	1 - 0	5½	GM	Aditya, Mittal *)	2547	44
13	63	GM	Visakh, N R	2507	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Karthik, Venkataraman	2565	31
14	66	IM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	2494	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Jumabayev, Rinat	2551	43
15	52	GM	Dai, Changren	2531	4½	1 - 0	4½	IM	Ilamparthi, A R	2469	79

Details

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB2	TB3
1	2	GM	Giri, Anish	NED	2738	7	44,5	40
2	8	GM	Indjic, Aleksandar	SRB	2637	6,5	43,5	40
3	1	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	UZB	2771	6,5	42	38
4	13	GM	Ivic, Velimir	SRB	2630	6	43,5	39
5	6	GM	Sargsyan, Shant	ARM	2666	6	43	39
6	5	GM	Tabatabaei, M. Amin	IRI	2670	6	41,5	37,5
7	17	GM	Theodorou, Nikolas	GRE	2611	6	41	37,5
8	29	GM	Amar, Elham	NOR	2569	6	41	37
9	18	GM	Muradli, Mahammad	AZE	2603	6	36	32
10	44	GM	Aditya, Mittal	IND	2547	5,5	46	41,5
11	52	GM	Dai, Changren	CHN	2531	5,5	45	40,5
12	63	GM	Visakh, N R	IND	2507	5,5	44,5	40
13	36	GM	Vetokhin, Savva	FID	2558	5,5	43,5	39,5
14	45	GM	Woodward, Andy	USA	2547	5,5	43,5	38,5
15	16	GM	Daneshvar, Bardiya	IRI	2621	5,5	42	38

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations

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