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This week’s XTX London Classic at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium took place in an elegant arena with a full view of the football pitch. The English players suffered for most of the event, but hit back in style on Thursday when all four won their eighth-round games.
Scores after eight of the nine rounds were Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) 7, Alireza Firouzja (France) 5, Nikita Vitiugov (England) 4.5, Luke McShane and Michael Adams (both England) 4, Nikolas Theodorou (Greece) and Pavel Eljanov (Ukraine) 3.5, Abhimanyu Mishra (USA) and Gawain Maroroa Jones (England) 3, Sam Shankland (USA) 2.5. The four English victories in Thursday night’s eighth round transformed what had been a difficult event into a demonstration of sustained national strength at the board.
Round nine can be watched free and live on Friday (4pm GMT start) with computer commentary on lichess.org or with grandmaster commentary on chess.com.
Abdusattorov, 21, demonstrated his skills with a dominant 3000+ tournament rating performance and a feat of memory in a key game.
Paired as White in round two with Mishra, the 16-year-old who at 12 set a world record as the youngest ever grandmaster, Abdusattorov faced the rare Arkhangelsk Ruy Lopez, where Black meets 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 by a6, b5, Bb7 and Bc5. The Uzbek GM was fully prepared for it, and for the first 34(!) moves needed only to double-check his analysis while his opponent used his full time allowance.
After the game, Abdusattorov showed that Black could have equalised by 20….Re6! instead of 20…h4?, that his 30 Ke3! improved on a previous 2025 game won by Russia’s Alexander Grischuk, and that 34 Ke3! the final move of his deep preparation, was the only way to get a winning position. White’s g and h pawns are decisive, although it still took another 15 moves to get the pair united on the seventh rank and to force Black’s resignation.
Abdusattorov summed up: “It’s very easy to misjudge this endgame from a human perspective. That’s how we tend to think as humans, but the engine is merciless.”
By round five, when the former tennis star Andy Murray made a ceremonial opening move for him, Abdusattorov’s lead over his main rival Firouzja had already stretched to a full point. The Frenchman, who Magnus Carlsen had predicted back in 2022 to be his successor as world champion, lacked sharpness and conceded several draws to opponents in the lower half of the table.
Abdusattorov’s fifth successive win, against Shankland in round six, raised his tournament performance rating to 3050 and was a crushing attack where the American resigned one move before checkmate.
When the two leaders met in Thursday’s night’s eighth round, Firouzja chose a rare variation of the Queen’s Gambit Accepted with 1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 e4, but got nothing from the opening. Abdusattorov could even have played on at the end with 31….Qg6, but chose to draw by perpetual check to wrap up his tournament victory.
The event’s Fide Open included world No 7 Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, who needed to complete a tournament with 50+ competitors to qualify for next year’s Candidates. He made heavy weather of it, including a round six draw with Velimir Ilic, who accepted a peace offer in a position where 25 Rxe6 Qxe6 26 Qe3! would have given the Serb excellent winning chances.
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At the end, Praggnanandhaa and Ilic both scored 7.5/9 and shared the £10,000 first prize with GM Ameet Ghasi. The 38-year-old Englishman, who works full-time for Biogen and only achieved his grandmaster title a year ago, scored the best result of his career, a remarkable performance by an amateur who took an eight-year break from chess in his late teens.
Ghasi’s decisive final round win against Dan Fernandez was out of the ordinary, too. Fernandez, who ended a point behind the winners but along with Matthew Wadsworth (6.5/9) achieved an elite tournament performance above 2600, went for broke with an early g4-g5 against the ancient Philidor Defence 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6. Ghasi responded forcefully, and the critical moment came at move 15 where the unlikely 15 Nd1! would have kept White in the game while 15 Qg3? as played soon led to decisive material loss.
Many English junior talents took part in the Fide Open, but none were consistent enough to score GM or IM norms. However, Supratit Banerjee, 11, and Kai Hanache, 13, both maintained their very promising progress with strong tournament rating performances.
One of the highlights was a 19-move miniature by IM Jonah Willow, where his 19 Nb5! induced immediate resignation.
4001 1 Rh4+! gxh4 2 Nh6+! Rxh6 3 h3 mate.
