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Indian Grand Master Nihal Sarin successfully lifted the International President Cup 2024 in Uzbekistan on Friday, November 29 after drawing against Nodirbek Abdusattorov with black pieces. Sarin, who finished the competition in first place with 7.5 points after nine games, will take home the title along with $25,00 from the prize sum of $75000. Another local player, Javokhir Sindarov, came in second place with seven points, while Iran's Parham Maghsoodloo finished third with as many points.
Besides Sarin, other Indians who created waves in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, for a top ten finish among the 118-strong field are International Master Neelash Saha (eighth, 6 points) and Grand Master Karthikeyan Murali (ninth, 6 points). Neelash scored 6/9 to obtain his last GM-norm and finish in eighth place.
Impressive strikes from Indian chess masters
IM Neelash Saha earned 6/9, performed at 2695, and increased his Elo rating by 27.7 points on his way to his third GM norm. He is now 14.3 points from being India's next Grandmaster. Neelash successfully defeated GM Timur Gareyev and GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy (UKR), and then drew with the eventual champion, GM Nihal Sarin, in Round 3, as well as GM Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI) and GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB) to finish eighth overall. Apart from Nihal and Neelash, GM Karthikeyan Murali scored 6/9 and finished ninth due to tie-breaks. WGM Rakshitta Ravi earned her fourth IM norm.
Nihal Sarin (2676) has a 3-2 record versus GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2777) in Classical rated games. This year, they played two quick games at Tata Steel India this month, both of which were drawn. Nihal won the only Blitz-rated game they played at the same event. With continuous winning strokes, Nihal was confident about this tournament win.
