Menorca Masters 2026 R4-5: Nihal Sarin increases his sole lead by a full point at the halfway mark

By admin April 10, 2026 0 comments

Nihal Sarin has emerged sole leader 3.5/5 at the halfway point of Menorca Masters 2026. He continued his momentum from the previous day to beat Richard Rapport (HUN). Then he drew the next game against Leinier Dominguez Perez (USA). The World Champion, D Gukesh, Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR) and Pentala Harikrishna are trailing by a full point at 2.5/5 each.

A good day for Gukesh, Harikrishna scores a beautiful win against Leinier

The World Champion bounced back well with a win over Pentala Harikrishna. Then he drew the next game against Richard Rapport. Pentala Harikrishna finished the day with a nice win over World Blitz 2008 champion.

Round 4: Gukesh – Harikrishna: 1-0

The World Champion D Gukesh shook off the previous round cobwebs and started the day with a clinical victory over Pentala Harikrishna.

The World Champion, D Gukesh bounced back with a win over Pentala Harikrishna | Photo: Saji Mathew

Leinier Dominguez Perez (UKR) and the youngest World Champion ever – Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR) played a 135-move marathon draw | Photo: Saji Mathew

Nihal – Richard: 1-0

Nihal Sarin and Richard Rapport (HUN) played only one Rapid rated game earlier at FIDE World Rapid Team 2024. It had ended in a draw. This time Nihal seized his opportunity when the artist made a slight inaccuracy.

Position after 14…Nd5?

15.Nxd5 exd5 16.Qxc8 Raxc8 17.Bh3 Rcd8 18.Bc7 forces Black to drop a pawn. Instead, he decided to trade his rook for a bishop and two pawns. In terms of material, it is even but positionally White was quite ahead. 18…Bxg5 19.Be6+ Kh8 20.Bxd8 Nxd8 21.Bxd5 Rxf2 22.Rdf1 Bxe3+ 23.Kb1 Rf6 24.c3 and White won the game in ten more moves.

Nihal Sarin continued his momentum from the previous day by scoring a win against Richard Rapport | Photo: Saji Mathew

Round 5: Rapport – Gukesh: 0.5-0.5

Richard Rapport and D Gukesh have played four Rapid rated games against each other. Rapport won two, Gukesh won one and the remaining game ended in a draw. Their fifth Rapid battle was a hard-fought draw.

Richard Rapport (HUN) – D Gukesh: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Saji Mathew

Ponomariov – Nihal: 0.5-0.5

Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR) and Nihal Sarin quite possibly faced each other for the first time in a Rapid rated game. The game ended in a draw.

Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR) – Nihal Sarin: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Saji Mathew

Harikrishna – Leinier: 1-0

Pentala Harikrishna and Leinier Dominguez Perez (USA) have played three Rapid rated games against each other. They had all three different possible results in those games. Harikrishna grabbed a pawn and his opponent responded by initiating a chain exchange.

Position after 12.Nxe5

12…Nxg3 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.Bxc6 Nxf1 15.Bxa8 Ba6 16.Bc6 Qf6 17.Na3 Nxh2!? 18.Qh5! an excellent response Nf1 19.Rxf1 Bxf1 20.Kxf1 Qf4 21.g3 Qc1+ 21.Kg2 Bxd4 22.Nc4 White brought his last piece into the attack and it played a key role in White winning the game in a beautiful way.