Two co-leaders, five chasers
The fifth round of the Superstars tournament in Fujairah saw two players emerging as joint leaders on 4 points from 5 games. Sanan Sjugirov and Pranav Venkatesh both secured victories to separate themselves from the rest of the field, while a broad chasing group remains only half a point behind.
Sjugirov, representing Hungary, defeated his compatriot Gleb Dudin with the black pieces to reach the leading score. Meanwhile, India’s Pranav Venkatesh continued his excellent form by overcoming Mexico’s number one, José Martínez Alcántara, in a sharp encounter.
Pranav 1-0 Martínez
Analysis by Stefan Liebig
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Invisible moves
Close behind on 3½ points is a group of players that includes Zhu Jiner, who drew with Azerbaijan’s Aydin Suleymanli to extend her steady run. Zhu, the only female competitor in the Superstars event, has impressed with mature positional play, confirming her ability to contend in such a strong field. Also on 3½ points are Brandon Jacobson, Andrew Hong and Amin Tabatabaei, each of whom kept themselves in contention for the latter stages.
Elsewhere, India’s Raunak Sadhwani and Aditya Mittal created promising winning chances in their games against Andrew Hong and Nikolas Theodorou respectively, but could not convert them into full points. In another closely watched game, Pranesh M held top seed Nihal Sarin to a draw, with Nihal managing to avoid a difficult situation.
Zhu Jiner continues to impress | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy
Standings after round 5
| 1 | GM | SJUGIROV, Sanan | 2636 | 4 | 14,5 | |
| 2 | GM | PRANAV, V | 2597 | 4 | 14,5 | |
| 3 | GM | SULEYMANLI, Aydin | 2609 | 3,5 | 16 | |
| 4 | GM | JACOBSON, Brandon | 2594 | 3,5 | 16 | |
| 5 | GM | HONG, Andrew | 2580 | 3,5 | 14,5 | |
| 6 | GM | ZHU, Jiner | 2536 | 3,5 | 13 | |
| 7 | GM | TABATABAEI, M. Amin | 2673 | 3,5 | 12,5 | |
| 8 | GM | MARTINEZ ALCANTARA, Jose Eduardo | 2636 | 3 | 14 | |
| 9 | GM | MISHRA, Abhimanyu | 2610 | 3 | 14 | |
| 10 | GM | DUDIN, Gleb | 2583 | 3 | 14 | |
| 11 | GM | CHEPARINOV, Ivan | 2625 | 3 | 13,5 | |
| 12 | GM | ADITYA, Mittal | 2560 | 3 | 13 | |
| 13 | GM | SADHWANI, Raunak | 2676 | 3 | 12,5 | |
| 14 | GM | SHANKLAND, Sam | 2670 | 3 | 12 | |
| 15 | GM | THEODOROU, Nikolas | 2646 | 3 | 11,5 | |
| 16 | GM | DANESHVAR, Bardiya | 2625 | 3 | 11 | |
| 17 | GM | ZEMLYANSKII, Ivan | 2586 | 2,5 | 14,5 | |
| 18 | GM | MOTYLEV, Alexander | 2595 | 2,5 | 14 | |
| 19 | GM | MURADLI, Mahammad | 2586 | 2,5 | 13,5 | |
| 20 | GM | PICHOT, Alan | 2581 | 2,5 | 13,5 | |
| 21 | GM | GREBNEV, Aleksey | 2595 | 2,5 | 13 | |
| 22 | GM | PRANESH, M | 2589 | 2,5 | 13 | |
| 23 | GM | NIHAL, Sarin | 2692 | 2,5 | 12,5 | |
| 24 | GM | BHARATH, Subramaniyam H | 2562 | 2,5 | 12,5 | |
| 25 | GM | SALEM, A.R. Saleh | 2640 | 2,5 | 12 |
