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Fujairah Global Chess 2025: Pranav V Shocks Nihal Sarin
The Fujairah Global Chess Championship 2025 began with a huge surprise. India’s World Junior Champion GM Pranav Venkatesh defeated top seed GM Nihal Sarin in the very first round.
Nihal, who played with the black pieces in a Sicilian Defense, quickly came under pressure. His pieces had no space to move, and by move 29 his bishop was trapped. Pranav gained the advantage and kept pushing.
On move 45, Pranav slipped, but Nihal missed the chance to bounce back. After a long 71-move battle, Nihal had to resign. The result shocked many because Nihal is close to the 2700 rating mark and had just beaten Pranav last week at the Chennai Grandmasters. This time, Pranav took sweet revenge.
A Grand Opening in Fujairah
The beautiful city of Fujairah, UAE, hosted the opening ceremony of the very first Fujairah Global Chess Championship.
The event attracted 71 countries and 530+ players, making it one of the biggest new chess festivals in the world.
The championship is divided into three sections:
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Superstars: 44 players
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Masters: 239 players
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Open: 250 players
Leaders from the UAE Chess Federation, Fujairah Chess & Culture Club, and Qatar Chess Federation attended the ceremony. Special guests made the first moves to launch the games officially.
The UAE Chess Federation thanked all sponsors and partners who made this event possible.
Fans can watch the games live on Fujairah Chess YouTube and ChessBase India Hindi, or check results on Chess-Results.
Day 1 Surprises
The Superstars section (average rating 2606) saw big upsets:
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Second seed GM Raunak Sadhwani was held to a draw by GM Aleksey Grebnev.
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Third seed GM Amin Tabatabaei lost to Romanian GM Alexander Motylev.
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India’s GM S L Narayanan drew with USA’s GM Sam Shankland.
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UAE’s top player GM Salem Saleh was held by India’s GM Pranav Anand.
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Mexico’s GM Jose Martinez Alcantara drew against India’s GM Pranesh M.
Hungary’s GM Sanan Sjugirov defeated fellow countryman GM Adam Kozak to start with a win. The results were so surprising that many top players were pushed down in the standings. Out of the top 18 seeds, 15 either lost or drew their first game — showing how competitive this event truly is.
Prize Fund
The total prize fund is $125,000:
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Superstars: $80,000
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Masters: $30,000
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Open: $15,000
The Superstars top prizes are:
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1st place – $23,000
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2nd place – $13,000
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3rd place – $9,000
Masters Section Highlights
The Masters section is also filled with top players. On the top board, GM Vladimir Akopian (USA) received a walkover point.
On Board 2, India’s National Champion GM Karthik Venkataraman won against FM Garv Gaur. On Board 3, Turkey’s GM Sanal Vahap defeated India’s Namitbir Singh Walia.
The Masters has 202 players, and the Open section has nearly 290 players. Together, 533 players from 71 countries are making Fujairah Global a truly international chess celebration.
Live broadcast: YouTube
Photos: Flickr, FIDE_Chess
Source: FIDE CHESS NEWS
