7th Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2026: Robson, Artemiev and Nihal in a three-way lead
Nihal Sarin scored his first win of the event in Round 5 of 7th Stepan Avagyan Memorial Round-Robin 2026.
Nihal scores his first win after four draws
The defending champion, Aravindh Chithambaram played a well contested draw against Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM). Ray Robson (USA), Vladislav Artemiev and Nihal Sarin are sharing the lead at 3/5 each. They are closely followed by Samuel Sevian (USA), Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM), Aram Hakobyan (ARM) and Aravindh at 2.5/5 each.
Nihal – Donchenko: 1-0
Nihal Sarin (2723) and Alexander Donchenko (GER, 2640) have played four Classical rated game against each other. Donchenko won two and the remaining two ended in draws. Nihal opted for an unusual line in the Sicilian Defense. His opponent went for a Dragon-like structure.
Position after 24.h5!
Nihal made a very nice break on the kingside starting with 22.g4 hxg4 23.f4! Qc5 24.h5! gxh5 25.b4 Qc6 26.e5 Ne4 27.Qe3 Nc3+ 28.Nxc3 Qxc3 29.Rxh5+- and White converted his decisive advantage into a win convincingly.
Nihal Sarin scored his first win of the event in Round 5 | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia
The defending champion, Aravindh Chithambaram is at 2.5/5 | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia
Replay live stream
Replay Round 5 live commentary by GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko (UKR) and WGM Maria Fominykh | Video: Chess Academy of Armenia
Replay Round 5 games
Time Control
40 moves in 90 minutes + 30 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.
Prizes
The total prize fund is 10050000 AMD (≈ US$ 26000). The top three prizes are AMD 3200000, 2200000 and 1700000 each. The top three Chessify prizes are bundle worth $350, $300 and $250 each.
Schedule
29th May – 5th June 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST, 6th June – 11 a.m. local time, 12:30 p.m. IST.
Venue
“Jermuk Ashkhar” Health Center, Vayots Dzor region, Jermuk, Republic of Armenia.
Round 5 results
Standings after Round 5
Round 6-9 pairings
Links
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