Abdusattorov overwhelms rivals at Arsenal but England hit back in style
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 last night 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…b4?, 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 the 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.Sign up to The RecapThe best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend’s actionafter newsletter promotionAt the end, Praggnanandhaa and Ilic both scored 7.5/9 and shared the £10,000 first prize with the 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 from 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.
Jimmy Kimmel on the Trump administration: ‘They have better-quality cabinets at Ikea’
Late-night hosts tore into Donald Trump’s five-hour Truth Social posting spree and his inability to stay awake during cabinet meetings.Jimmy Kimmel wasted no time in returning to his favorite target – Donald Trump – on Tuesday evening. “I know I’ve said this before, but for real this time: he went completely off the rails last night,” the host began. “The man who is allegedly running the country banged out an onslaught of posts and reposts in a furious social media blitzkrieg that started at 7.09pm, went nonstop until almost midnight
Norman conquest coin hoard to go on show in Bath before permanent display
The coins were buried in a valley in the English West Country almost 1,000 years ago at a time of huge political and social turmoil.A millennium on, plans have been announced to bring the Chew Valley Hoard, 2,584 silver coins hidden shortly after the Norman conquest, back to the south-west of England.The feelgood story of how the coins, worth more than £4m, were found by a band of metal detectorists will be told but visitors will also be encouraged to reflect on how the world continues to be gripped by worries about conflict, the actions of the powerful and money.Sam Astill, the chief executive of South West Heritage Trust, which acquired the hoard for the nation last year, said the idea was not just about showing off the coins and telling their history.He said: “There will also be a conversation about turning points, turning points in history or in people’s lives
Jon Stewart on Trump claiming not to know about his own MRI: ‘That’s not physically possible’
Late-night hosts tore into Donald Trump for his use of an ableist slur and unconvincing attempts to assuage concerns about his cognitive abilities.As the Thanksgiving spirit gave way to the work week, Jon Stewart tore into the president for using an ableist slur to describe the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz. In a Truth Social post over the weekend, Trump called Walz, who ran against him last year as Kamala Harris’s running mate, “seriously retarded”.“On Thanksgiving?! Are you confusing that with Festivus?” the Daily Show host exclaimed on Monday evening.Days later, asked by reporters if he regretted his remarks, Trump doubled down, saying that there was “something seriously wrong” with the Democratic governor
A Traitors cloak, Britpop Trumps and a very arty swearbox: it’s the 2025 Culture Christmas gift guide!
Put some artful oomph into your festive season with our bumper guide, featuring everything from a satanic South Park shirt to Marina Abramović’s penis salt and pepper potsThe Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.Is there an overly sweary person in your life? Do you have a friend who’s utterly bereft without The Traitors? Would anyone you know like to shake up their cocktail-making? And do you ever wish your neighbours’ doormat was, well, a bit more kinky?The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link
Comedian Judi Love: ‘I’m a big girl, the boss, and you love it’
Judi Love was 17 when she was kidnapped, though she adds a couple of years on when reliving it on stage. It was only the anecdote’s second to-audience outing when I watched her recite it, peppered with punchlines, at a late-October work-in-progress gig. The bones of her new show – All About the Love, embarking on a 23-date tour next year – are very much still evolving, but this Wednesday night in Bedford is a sell out, such is the pull of Love’s telly star power.She starts by twerking her way into the spotlight, before riffing on her career as a social worker and trading “chicken and chips for champagne and ceviche”. Interspersed are opening bouts of sharp crowd work – Love at her free-wheeling best
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