Uzchess Cup 2025, Round 8
Uzbek players 1-2 going into the last round.
Sports fans know that the home field advantage makes a difference, and it seems likely to make a difference in chess as well, though I don’t know if that hypothesis has been tested or not. At any rate, it may be a partial explanation of what’s happening in the Uzchess Cup as two of the four Uzbek players are at the top of the table going into the last round. Nodirbek Abdusattorov leads with 5.5/8 while Javokhir Sindarov is half a point behind. Abdusattorov drew comfortably with Black against Ian Nepomniachtchi while Sindarov, also with Black, drew a little less comfortably against another of the Uzbek players, Nodirbek Yakubboev. Sindarov’s 29th move was a mistake, and had Yakubboev played 31.Be7 rather than 31.Bd6 there’s a good chance that he would have won. (Had he done so there would have been a four-way tie for second.)
Arjun Erigaisi is tied for third and fourth with Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, half a point behind Sindarov, after the latter beat the former. Or rather, crushed him. Erigaisi’s 13…d5 was too optimistic, and Pragg, the early leader in the event before suffering back-to-back losses in rounds 5 and 6, took full, brutal, and speedy advantage, winning in just 29 moves.
Another winner was Richard Rapport, who won against Aravindh Chithambaram, who has unfortunately become the tournament’s punching bag. (Aravindh, the tournament’s 5th seed, is winless so far with four losses, and has pitched 25.5 rating points thus far.)
Finally, Parham Maghsoodloo had been in the fight for first place, and if he had won in this round against Shamshiddin Vokhidov he’d have entered the last round tied with Sindarov for second. He did obtain an opening advantage with White but failed to maintain it with 14.a4. After that the position turned sharp, and while it was equal it was always more dangerous for Maghsoodloo. He quickly went astray in the complications and resigned, a piece down with a vulnerable king, in just 30 moves.
The games, with my comments are here. The last round is underway, with these pairings:
Abdusattorov (5.5) - Praggnanandhaa (4.5) (Equal after 17 moves.)
Sindarov (5) - Maghsoodloo (4) (Drawn after 31 moves.)
Erigaisi (4.5) - Aravindh (2) (White is slightly better after 24 moves.)
Rapport (4) - Yakubboev (4) (Drawn in 30 moves.)
Vokhidov (3) - Nepomniachtchi (3.5) (Vokhidov is clearly winning after 29 moves.)