Six players including Pranav Anand at 6/8
Praggnanandhaa - Gavrilescu: 1-0
The first-ever Classical rated game between GM R Praggnanandhaa (2768) and GM David Gavrilescu (ROU, 2542) went in favor of Praggnanandhaa.
Position after 23...Ra7
23...Bd7 24.Rf1 Qe7 25.Bxc4 dxc4 would have been fine for Black. Instead, 23...Ra7 24.Rf1 Rf7 25.Rxf7 Qxf7 26.Qh4 g6 27.Bxc4 dxc4 28.Qd8+ Kg7 29.Kb2 and White went on to convert his advantage to win the game. Thus, Praggnanandhaa emerged sole leader.
GM Pranav Anand (2581) drew against the newly crowned Commonwealth Open 2025 Gold medalist, GM Daniel Howard Fernandez (ENG, 2501).
GM Iniyan Pa (2601) bounced back with a victory over IM Marcus R Harvey (ENG, 2438).
Replay all Round 8 Open games
Round 8 results
| Bo. | White | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Black | Rtg | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 2768 | 5½ | 1 - 0 | 5½ | GM | Gavrilescu, David | 2542 | PGN | ||
| 2 | GM | Ghasi, Ameet K | 2500 | 5½ | ½ - ½ | 5½ | GM | Ivic, Velimir | 2618 | PGN | ||
| 3 | GM | Pranav, Anand | 2581 | 5½ | ½ - ½ | 5½ | GM | Fernandez, Daniel H | 2501 | PGN | ||
| 4 | GM | Cornette, Matthieu | 2517 | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | GM | Kraemer, Martin | 2571 | PGN | ||
| 5 | GM | Smirin, Ilya | 2554 | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | IM | Rozen, Eytan | 2515 | PGN | ||
| 6 | GM | Maze, Sebastien | 2534 | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5 | GM | Fodor, Tamas Jr | 2508 | PGN | ||
| 7 | FM | Willems, Niels | 2368 | 4 | 0 - 1 | 4 | FM | Kazarian, Anna-Maja *) | 2224 | PGN | ||
| 8 | GM | Yuffa, Daniil | 2618 | 4½ | 1 - 0 | 4½ | IM | Roberson, Peter T | 2447 | PGN | ||
| 9 | IM | Harvey, Marcus R | 2438 | 4½ | 0 - 1 | 4½ | GM | Iniyan, P | 2601 | PGN | ||
| 10 | GM | Jumabayev, Rinat | 2560 | 4½ | 1 - 0 | 4½ | FM | Tulchynskyi, Feliks | 2409 | PGN |
Standings after Round 8
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 2768 | None | 6,5 | |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Ivic, Velimir | 2618 | None | 6 | |
| 3 | 5 | GM | Pranav, Anand | 2581 | None | 6 | |
| 4 | 8 | GM | Smirin, Ilya | 2554 | None | 6 | |
| 5 | 13 | GM | Cornette, Matthieu | 2517 | 4NCL Celtic Tigers | 6 | |
| 6 | 18 | GM | Fernandez, Daniel H | 2501 | 4NCL Wood Green | 6 | |
| 7 | 19 | GM | Ghasi, Ameet K | 2500 | Richmond And Twickenham | 6 | |
| 8 | 3 | GM | Yuffa, Daniil | 2618 | None | 5,5 | |
| 9 | 4 | GM | Iniyan, P | 2601 | None | 5,5 | |
| 10 | 7 | GM | Jumabayev, Rinat | 2560 | None | 5,5 |
Round 9 pairings
| Bo. | White | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Black | Rtg | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Smirin, Ilya | 2554 | 6 | 6½ | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 2768 | |||
| 2 | GM | Ivic, Velimir | 2618 | 6 | 6 | GM | Cornette, Matthieu | 2517 | |||
| 3 | GM | Fernandez, Daniel H | 2501 | 6 | 6 | GM | Ghasi, Ameet K | 2500 | |||
| 4 | GM | Iniyan, P | 2601 | 5½ | 6 | GM | Pranav, Anand | 2581 | |||
| 5 | IM | Chasin, Nico | 2512 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Yuffa, Daniil | 2618 | |||
| 6 | GM | Fodor, Tamas Jr | 2508 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Jumabayev, Rinat | 2560 | |||
| 7 | FM | Kazarian, Anna-Maja *) | 2224 | 5 | 5 | GM | Greenfeld, Alon | 2465 | |||
| 8 | GM | Sanal, Vahap | 2546 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Mikhalevski, Victor | 2504 | |||
| 9 | GM | Gavrilescu, David | 2542 | 5½ | 5½ | IM | Kanyamarala, Tarun | 2376 | |||
| 10 | GM | Wadsworth, Matthew J | 2487 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Maze, Sebastien | 2534 |
