Nihal Sarin wins Tashkent Open, pockets $20,000 prize money | Chess News

Long considered a player who is more adept at faster time controls than classical chess, India’s Nihal Sarin won the classical Tashkent Open Agzamov Memorial 2025 with a draw with black pieces against Uzbekan’s Shamsiddin Vokhidov in the final round on Saturday. Thanks to the victory, Nihal will return from Uzbekan’s capital with a cool $20,000 (approx Rs 17 lakh) in his pocket and 7.1 rating points in his credit. The 20-year-old from Thrissur is rated 2694 in the live ratings, which takes him within touching dance of the 2700-rating peak after his performance in Tashkent.
A member of India’s golden generation of teenage prodigies, in recent years, Nihal has been falling behind contemporaries like Gukesh, who became the youngest world champion in the hory of the sport, and players like Arjun Erigaisi and Praggnanandhaa, at least in the classical format. Nihal was a prominent absentee in India’s all-star Chess Olympiad that returned from Budapest last year after winning the team gold, besides twin individual golds for Gukesh and Arjun.
“I was not hurt at all. Playing for India is always an honour, and I’ve been fortunate to be part of some fantastic teams. I’m genuinely happy for my friends who are playing, and I’ll be cheering for them. Who knows? Maybe next time, I’ll be back in the team,” Nihal had told The Indian Express about being left out of the Olympiad team.
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But the win at the classical Tashkent Open Agzamov Memorial 2025 reiterates that he is still among the elite crop of Indian stars. To win the title, he left behind a total of 153 players from 15 countries who were competing for the title, including 20 grandmasters, 32 international masters, and a women’s international master.
Nihal ended the Tashkent Open Agzamov Memorial 2025 event with a score of eight points out of a possible score of 10 points after remaining undefeated throughout the tournament. The 20-year-old had six wins and four draws in Tashkent. His wins came over players like Adhiban Bhaskaran, Jingyao Tin and Sanan Sjugirov.

Grandmasters like Sanan Sjugirov, India’s Abhimanyu Puranik, Bardiya Daneshvar, and Shamsiddin Vokhidov, who all scored 7.5 points, finished half a point behind Nihal.

Amit Kamath is Assant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. … Read More

© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd

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