GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov clinched “truly an amazing tournament for me” with a round to spare after forcing a draw from a position of strength against GM Alireza Firouzja. Elsewhere in the London Chess Classic Elite Tournament it was a dream day for England, with all four players winning: GM Luke McShane won a rollercoaster against GM Nikolas Theodorou, GM Michael Adams outplayed GM Sam Shankland, GM Nikita Vitiugov overcame GM Pavel Eljanov, and GM Gawain Maroroa Jones ground down GM Abhimanyu Mishra in 88 moves.
A day earlier the Open had ended in a three-way tie for first place between GMs Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Velimir Ivic, and Ameet K. Ghasi, with the additional 8.17 FIDE Circuit points increasing Praggnanandhaa’s lock on the final spot in the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament.
The ninth and final round of the Elite Tournament starts Friday, December 5, at 11:00 a.m. ET / 17:00 CET / 9:30 p.m. IST.
Round 8 Results
After the rest day we got the most decisive day yet at the London Chess Classic.
Standings After Round 8
Abdusattorov can no longer be caught while at the other end of the table it’s only the U.S. GMs Mishra and Shankland who remain winless after Adams and Maroroa Jones picked up their first wins.
Firouzja ½-½ Abdusattorov
This was a must-win game for Firouzja if he wanted to keep faint hopes alive of winning the London Chess Classic, and both players came ready for a fight. Abdusattorov described the Queen’s Gambit Accepted they played as “a very sharp line, known to be very dynamic and interesting.”
Abdusattorov got to play a novelty, while Firouzja tanked on his 18th and 19th moves, burning up almost an hour on his clock.
There was a huge amount to think about, with 19.Ncxe5!? probably leading to a forced draw after very long lines that Abdusattorov demonstrated after the game.
In the end, Firouzja got down to under eight minutes on his clock to his opponent’s more than an hour when he opted for 19.Nfd2?! instead in what Abdusattorov guessed was frustration.
It was Black pushing with an enormous lead on the clock, though Abdusattorov was conscious that his opponent was unlikely to collapse in time pressure: “Although he was very low on time I knew that he’s a blitz/bullet specialist. He’s an expert with playing low on time, so I didn’t really count on that. I was trying to be very objective here.”
The game was balanced on a knife-edge, with Abdusattorov directing all his pieces toward the black king.
29…Rf4! here was a powerful blow which could have led to immediate collapse for White, but Firouzja parried it. Even in the final position Abdusattorov could still have played on, but he missed one trick, commenting, “If I had seen this I would have played this, but a draw is also fine!”
That ended Abdusattorov’s winning streak, but he’d clinched the title with a two-point lead going into the final round and, with another 0.2 rating points gained, he made it a neat +20 for the tournament, with a 2995 performance.
Abdusattorov had a lot of reasons to be happy, and commented: “It was truly an amazing tournament for me! I played many interesting games. Actually, every game is very fighting, very interesting, and I’m truly happy with my performance.”
I’m truly happy with my performance!
—Nodirbek Abdusattorov
No one else was in contention to win the tournament, but that did nothing to dampen their competitive spirit. All the remaining games were decisive, with two curiosities. One was that all four players representing England won, and the other was that the three players who had gone to watch Arsenal’s win over Brentford on Wednesday night—Shankland, Theodorou, and Mishra—had all lost. That match was played in the same venue and explained the timing of the rest day, with organizer and Liverpool fan IM Malcolm Pein having bought the tickets.
I bought tickets to #ARSBRE last night for three players and they all lost their games today. As a Liverpool fan it gives me no pleasure to bring you this information, but let it serve as a warning 🤣 @london_chess
— Malcolm Pein (@TelegraphChess) December 4, 2025
McShane 1-0 Theodorou
The most rollercoaster game of the day was a second win of this year’s event for McShane, who commented, “I think it was a typical game for the late stages of a tournament—there were quite a lot of mistakes on both sides!”
McShane had been doing well, but when 22…Qg5! appeared on the board he realised he was busted.
Black’s move is possible because if White takes twice on f3 he loses the rook on c1, but that’s not even the biggest issue, with McShane explaining: “It’s more than unpleasant, because also there is a terrible threat of …Qxe3.” If White had to capture on e3 with the pawn the black f-pawn will advance and extract blood.
McShane managed to hang on, however, and commented, “It’s a strange one, because I had the feeling that Black is doing much better, of course, but it’s not that easy to break through here.” His stated strategy of “at least make some moves and hope for the best” was crowned with unexpected success, as White later went from hanging on to completely winning in the space of a few moves.
“I’m absolutely delighted, especially considering the mess I got myself into in the middle of the game!” said McShane on returning to 50 percent after scoring two wins and two losses in this year’s event.
Adams 1-0 Shankland
“I’m very happy to win a game—that was one of my ambitions for the tournament, to be honest!” said Adams, whose first win came against Shankland, a player who had starred in the recent World Cup. The fatigue of that event has clearly taken its toll as the U.S. star fell to a third loss in four games, but Adams was happy to take any success he could. Asked if he was surprised by recent struggles, he responded: “I’m 54 years old! I am more surprised by how well I’m playing. When I’m losing games I think it’s pretty normal, to be honest. Any positive game is a pleasant surprise, actually!”
I’m 54 years old. I am more surprised by how well I’m playing!
—Michael Adams
The game itself was full of interesting moments and positions. Adams gained winning chances with a well-timed knight sacrifice and afterward had to overcome resistance from his opponents’ pair of knights that roamed the edges of the board together. In the end, however, a couple of crisp sacrifices clinched the win, starting with 58.Nb7!.
Adams went through the game afterward.
Adams and McShane returned to 50 percent, while Vitiugov moved to +1.
Eljanov 0-1 Vitiugov
This battle was largely decided in the opening, when Eljanov failed to find the best response to Vitiugov’s new idea. Vitiugov went on to force a winning position with a clever rook sacrifice.
By the end it was only a question of whether a fortress would hold, but Vitiugov borrowed GM Magnus Carlsen’s words to comment, “I don’t believe in fortresses!” He proved correct and confirmed “I’m happy!” when asked about his feelings.
Maroroa Jones 1-0 Mishra
For Mishra the feelings must have been the absolute opposite, after he survived a terrifying attack only to lose his way in what should have been a relatively easy to hold endgame. Instead 2024 London Chess Classic winner Maroroa Jones went on to claim a first win in 2025 in 88 moves, thereby climbing off the bottom spot.
Going into the final round second place is still up for grabs, while Abdusattorov will have White against Eljanov as he has a chance to go for a seventh win of the event.
The other big winner in London was Praggnanandhaa, who was held to a draw in the final round by GM Ilya Smirin but still shared first place, with Ivic (who won an incredible rollercoaster game against GM Matthieu Cornette), and Ghasi.
| Seed | FED | Title | Name | Rating | Points | |
| 1= | 1 | GM | Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | 2768 | 7 | |
| 2 | GM | Velimir Ivic | 2618 | 7 | ||
| 19 | GM | Ameet K Ghasi | 2500 | 7 | ||
| 4= | 5 | GM | Pranav Anand | 2581 | 6.5 | |
| 8 | GM | Ilya Smirin | 2554 | 6.5 | ||
| 16 | GM | Tamas Fodor Jr | 2508 | 6.5 | ||
| 23 | GM | Matthew J Wadsworth | 2487 | 6.5 | ||
| 32 | IM | Benny Aizenberg | 2444 | 6.5 | ||
| 9= | 3 | GM | Daniil Yuffa | 2618 | 6 | |
| 4 | GM | P Iniyan | 2601 | 6 | ||
| 9 | GM | Vahap Sanal | 2546 | 6 | ||
| 10 | GM | David Gavrilescu | 2542 | 6 | ||
| 13 | GM | Matthieu Cornette | 2517 | 6 | ||
| 15 | IM | Nico Chasin | 2512 | 6 | ||
| 17 | GM | Victor Mikhalevski | 2504 | 6 | ||
| 18 | GM | Daniel H Fernandez | 2501 | 6 | ||
| 24 | IM | Svyatoslav Bazakutsa | 2478 | 6 | ||
| 29 | IM | Maciej Czopor | 2463 | 6 | ||
| 47 | IM | Tarun Kanyamarala | 2376 | 6 | ||
| 20= | 7 | GM | Rinat Jumabayev | 2560 | 5.5 |
Praggnanandhaa could have scored around four points more with clear first place, but shared first was enough to give him 8.17 extra FIDE Circuit points (previously in his two events with 50+ players, the World Cup and Grand Swiss, he’d scored zero) and 115.17 in total.
That’s currently a lead of 63.18 points over Abdusattorov, who looks like the only player not already qualified for the Candidates who could still challenge Praggnanandhaa for the last spot in the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament.
Abdusattorov is set to earn 19.62 points for winning the Elite Tournament, but even if he takes sole first in the World Rapid Championship (24.35 points based on the published lineup) and in the World Blitz (18.26) he’d still be left on 114.22, just behind Praggnanandhaa.
Abdusattorov could still play another event before the World Rapid and Blitz, but in any case taking sole first in both speed chess events would be a truly heroic achievement, especially with four-time double-champion Carlsen in action. Praggnanandhaa can also still increase his score, so that his spot looks all but locked in after London.
There were other players with a lot to celebrate in the Open. 19-year-old U.S. star Nico Chasin can now be called a GM-elect after he scored his third and final GM norm.
Congratulations to Nico Chasin on scoring his 3rd and final GM norm in the London Chess Classic FIDE Open! https://t.co/B8XUuZ7gIH pic.twitter.com/sNPT6r5V3M
— chess24 (@chess24com) December 4, 2025
And there was an IM norm and new peak rating for FM Anna-Maja Kazarian, who called it a “dream come true.”
My best performance so far. I achieved a WGM and an IM norm at @london_chess and my live rating has surpassed my peak rating from 9 years ago. This is a dream come true ❤️ pic.twitter.com/lJDCBkbQFV
— Anna-Maja Kazarian (@AMKazarian) December 4, 2025
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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