In Saturday’s fourth round, GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov maintained his half-point lead at the London Chess Classic’s Elite Tournament with a third consecutive win. The Uzbek GM defeated GM Michael Adams as Black but saw his main rival GM Alireza Firouzja keeping the pace with a win against GM Pavel Eljanov.
There was a third victory as GM Luke McShane won against tailender GM Gawain Maroroa Jones, who was doing well but saw his position collapse in just a few moves. GM Sam Shankland couldn’t break through GM Abhimanyu Mishra‘s excellent defense and GM Nikolas Theodorou vs. GM Nikita Vitiugov also ended in a draw.
The fifth round starts Sunday, November 30, at 11:00 a.m. ET / 17:00 CET / 9:30 p.m. IST.
Round 4 Results
Standings After Round 4
Adams 0-1 Abdusattorov
He wasn’t the Uzbek representative who attracted all the spotlights at the World Cup, but in his next tournament, Abdusattorov is finding his top form. 3.5/4 is an excellent start, especially when it includes two wins with the black pieces. He has been showing different skill sets: excellent preparation, good middlegame understanding and strong endgame play.
In round four, Abdusattorov defeated Adams in what was their first classical game, and he was quite happy with it, against this particular opponent.
“Of course he’s a legendary player,” Abdusattorov said. “I have huge respect for him. He was a great player and he’s still showing some great results. I learned from his games when I grew up.”
I learned from his games when I grew up.
—Nodirbek Abdusattorov
But despite all the respect, Abdusattorov wanted to try and win: “Going for today’s game, I thought I had to play something sharp, as much as I can, because I thought I have to create some chances from the opening. That’s why I chose 1.e4 c5.”
Below is the game, with notes from the winner:
Firouzja 1-0 Eljanov
“It was a miracle at the end,” Firouzja started the explanation of his win against Eljanov in the broadcast. He said he had played well, felt he was getting an advantage but then completely missed Eljanov’s 43rd move, when it was all equal.
Firouzja had to try and win the game all over, and he managed as Eljanov played the rook endgame too passively. Firouzja actually let the win slip away at some point, but his opponent didn’t profit from that error.
About his chances, Firouzja said: “I have to keep up with Nodirbek, and he’s in very good shape so it will be difficult.”
McShane 1-0 Maroroa Jones
Currently we find last year’s winner Maroroa Jones in last place after a tough and perhaps unnecessary second loss to McShane. Playing ambitiously once again with the black pieces, Maroroa Jones got a good position this time but in a critical phase around move 20, he couldn’t calculate everything correctly.
Black’s 24th move was the key moment, when McShane suddenly could take over. “It kind of fell apart quite quickly for me,” said Maroroa Jones. “I wanted a fight and for a while I thought it was going well. Luke played well.”
McShane: “I think I played OK.”
Shankland ½-½ Mishra
In the commentary, it was mentioned that these two players have been working together for a while.
“First Abhi liked my Chessable courses and I was kind of touched by it because he kept crushing everybody with them,” said Shankland. “Then he found a sponsor for me to do some training one-on-one and then at some point he got so good that I turned the sponsor’s money away and said I’d rather just work with him as a peer. We’ve been working together ever since and our ratings have kind of converged. Only half of that is for the right reason, the other half is for the wrong reason! It’s just been a delight to watch him grow up and he’s a great chess player.”
Abhi liked my Chessable courses and I was kind of touched by it because he kept crushing everybody with them.
—Sam Shankland
Mishra said it was “an interesting experience” to play with his sparring partner. In the endgame he was thinking about the fact that his opponent had written several books about endgames but he also referred to the opening stage:
“I know how dangerous Sam can be in the opening. You check any of his games here, and even in the past couple of tournaments, he’s always up like half an hour in the opening with a much better position. I tried to surprise him in the opening but that didn’t pan out as expected.”
As it went, Mishra was under pressure for most of the game but defended very accurately, particularly in the rook endgame.
Theodorou ½-½ Vitiugov
Theodorou and Vitiugov were the first to finish with a game where the Greek GM showed an interesting new setup in the King’s Indian Attack. He then mixed up his preparation a bit which gave Vitiugov a chance for an advantage, but instead, the game petered out to a draw rather quickly.
After starting with 3/3 in the FIDE Open, GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu split the point with his countryman GM Pranav Anand on Saturday. There’s a double round on Sunday, with games starting at 5 a.m. ET / 11:00 CET / 3:30 p.m. IST and then at 11 a.m. ET / 17:00 CET / 9:30 p.m. IST.
How to review?
The 2025 XTX Markets London Chess Classic is a 10-player round-robin taking place November 26-December 5, 2025, at the Emirates Stadium. The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 more minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment per move starting on move one.
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