5th Straight Win Gives Abdusattorov 1.5-Point Lead Over Firouzja
GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov made it a magnificent five wins in a row at the London Chess Classic Elite Tournament after GM Sam Shankland went astray in a razor-sharp position. Abdusattorov now has a 1.5-point lead over GM Alireza Firouzja, who had to play carefully to make a draw after GM Abhimanyu Mishra went for the classic rook sacrifice on c3 in a Najdorf Sicilian.
The day's other win came for GM Pavel Eljanov, who returned to 50 percent by inflicting a third black loss in a row on GM Gawain Maroroa Jones, while there were relatively uneventful draws in GM Michael Adams vs. GM Nikolas Theodorou and GM Luke McShane vs. GM Nikita Vitiugov.
The seventh round starts Tuesday, December 2, at 11:00 a.m. ET / 17:00 CET / 9:30 p.m. IST.
Round 6 Results
Standings After Round 6
Shankland 0-1 Abdusattorov
Abdusattorov's post-World Cup rampage continues as he scored a fifth win in a row to move to 5.5/6, a result one of his victims, Mishra, called "truly incredible."
It was a case of fortune favoring the brave after Abdusattorov chose a sideline against Shankland's Scotch, saying, "I wanted something fun!" Moving his dark-squared bishop three times in the space of the first six moves encouraged the U.S. star to expand on the kingside, which he did with 7.f4.
It was healthy for White, though later pushing f5 and putting a knight on e6 proved to be less powerful than it looked. The white king began to look more exposed, but nevertheless, the game essentially hinged on one moment—the position after 26...Bh4.
At this stage Shankland was over half an hour up on the clock. Abdusattorov expected 27.Rg1 and had calculated a very long line perfectly as far as a position where he could force a draw. He wanted more, but the line he showed after that was flawed, and would have given his opponent chances.
The computer, meanwhile, demands 27.Qh5!, which Abdusattorov admitted he hadn't calculated at all. Black's best response is the sad 27...Rc8, to which the Uzbek star commented, "It's not in my spirit!"
Instead Shankland went for 27.Rd4?, a losing move since White was blundering a tactic three moves later. There was no way back.
Shankland resigns with mate next move, and Abdusattorov wins a 5th game in the row! https://t.co/8OKKf45MAq pic.twitter.com/23pU3Gro9a
— chess24 (@chess24com) December 1, 2025
"First place is almost out of contention now," said Theodorou, one of four players 2.5 points behind with three games to go. The only player closer is Firouzja, but he slipped 1.5 points behind after being held to a draw by Mishra.
Firouzja ½-½ Mishra
Mishra commented: "I’ve had a lot of draws in this tournament so far, so I wanted to generate some kind of a fighting position, and I thought what better way to do that than the Najdorf."
Even better was that he'd correctly guessed how the game would go and in the morning had prepared all the way until getting to play a famous exchange sacrifice of a rook for a knight on c3.
"It’s a bit unfortunate that I couldn’t convert this into anything tangible," Mishra concluded, after offering a draw on move 33.
McShane ½-½ Vitiugov
McShane and Vitiugov were two players who started the day on 50 percent and could have challenged for the top spots with a win, but instead we got a spectacular draw. McShane confessed, however, that both players were aware it was a theoretical draw.
Luke McShane: "I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit that there are no mistakes in this game whatsoever because I think we both knew very well that this is a theoretical draw!" https://t.co/7xRpUCjI5d pic.twitter.com/9de1PKGa4m
— chess24 (@chess24com) December 1, 2025
"At least there is the happy side that it’s quite an interesting draw if you have not seen it before!" McShane added, while Vitiugov explained he hadn't chosen the Najdorf to make a draw but had learned from bitter experience (a loss to GM Peter Svidler in the 2021 World Cup) how to equalize the position. The players took 25 minutes giving a masterclass about the game, in case you want to brush up on your own homework!
Both players showed countless possible deviations from the true path, but as Vitiugov summed up: "Once I was told in my childhood that it’s a bit late to think over the board! It’s better to stick with the lines. It’s not just my lines, it’s the engine lines."
Once I was told in my childhood that it's a bit late to think over the board!
—Nikita Vitiugov
Adams ½-½ Theodorou
After that game where both players knew everything until the end, Adams-Theodorou instead left the beaten path early on. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6!? was chosen by the Greek GM because he reasoned, "Actually I was looking at the database and I suppose Michael has been playing 1.e4 for a very long time but I didn’t find a single game with 2…a6."
Adams was duly surprised, but not shaken, and 6.Qxd4, trading off queens, came as a surprise to Theodorou. "I thought this type of position wasn’t bad for me, but of course it’s not really enough against serious opposition these days," said Adams, as the game fizzled out into a draw.
That left the last game of the day—a win for Eljanov.
Eljanov 1-0 Maroroa Jones
Maroroa Jones won the 2024 London Chess Classic with an unbeaten +3, but this year he's so far scored no wins and suffered three losses, all with the black pieces. The English GM's fighting spirit remains intact, as he opted for one of his favorite weapons, the King's Indian Defense.
Black never got the kind of counterplay he aims for and when Eljanov won a pawn it looked like one-way traffic, but midway through the game there was a chance to escape. It required, however, not seeing any ghosts and capturing with the queen on b6. Despite 15 minutes on the clock, Maroroa Jones didn't go for it, and there was no way back.
That took Eljanov back to 50 percent, 2.5 points behind the leader, while Maroroa Jones finds himself bottom of the table.
In Tuesday's round seven, the last round before a late rest day, the key matchups will be Abdusattorov-McShane and Vitiugov-Firouzja. Can Firouzja keep within touching distance before he has White against Abdusattorov in the penultimate round?
Meanwhile the FIDE Open is wide open after seven rounds, with GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu in a six-way tie for first place. Praggnanandhaa's best achievement in round seven was to make a very well-timed draw offer against GM Velimir Ivic, since the final position is surprisingly almost lost for Black.
Praggnanandhaa faces co-leader GM David Gavrilescu in round eight.
The live broadcast was hosted by GMs David Howell and Alojzije Jankovic.
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.
Previous Coverage:
- Round 5: Abdusattorov Wins Again, Extends Lead In London
- Round 4: Wins For Abdusattorov, Firouzja, McShane In London's 4th Round
- Round 3: Abdusattorov Beats Vitiugov To Grab Sole Lead
- Round 2: Abdusattorov, Firouzja, Theodorou Score 1st Wins In London
- Round 1: Shankland Escapes vs. Firouzja As London Chess Classic Takes Off
Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later. An amateur player, he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St. Andrews, Odesa, Oxford, and Krakow.
