Grand Swiss: Gukesh, Vidit, Abhimanyu, Vaishali and Vantika make a winning start

by Shahid Ahmed - 05/09/2025

The World Champion, GM D Gukesh made a winning start against GM Etienne Bacrot (FRA) in the first round of FIDE Grand Swiss 2025. Gukesh seized his opportunity when the France no.3 erred. The defending champion, GM Vidit Gujrathi scored an emphatic win versus GM Alexander Donchenko (GER). GM Abhimanyu Puranik won a wild game against the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 winner, GM Divya Deshmukh. The game could have gone either player's way. In the Women's event, IM Vantika Agrawal and GM R Vaishali won their respective games against IM Yuliia Osmak (UKR and IM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova (UZB) respectively. Round 2 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 3:30 p.m. IST. Photos: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Anna Muzychuk runs out of time against Zsoka Gaal

GM R Praggnanandhaa had a tough start as he had to defend a slightly inferior position against GM Jeffery Xiong (USA). The game ended in a draw via repetition. GM Arjun Erigaisi played a well contested draw against GM Maksim Chigaev (ESP). The biggest upset of the day was the top seed of the Women's event, GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR) running out of time against WGM Zsoka Gaal (HUN). Anna had winning endgame, however she completely zoned out which cost her the full point. Zsoka fulfilled the IM title after getting knocked out of the Women's World Cup 2025. She is also heavily supported by the legend, GM Judit Polgar, as Hungary's next big talent.

Bacrot - Gukesh: 0-1

GM Etienne Bacrot (FRA, 2637) and GM D Gukesh (2767) played only one rated game against each other, more than six years ago. It was a team event and the game ended in a draw. Gukesh became much stronger since then and World Champion too.

Position after 29...Bh8

In a difficult position, White made the mistake of playing 30.Nd2? dropping the b2-pawn Rxb2 31.Ra1 Qc8 32.c4 Rxd2 33.Qxd2 Nb3 34.Qe3 Nxd4 35.Qxd4 Bxe5 36.Qd1 bxc4 and Black won the game in the next few moves.

GM Etienne Bacrot - GM D Gukesh, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

The World Champion, D Gukesh made a winning start against Etienne Bacrot (FRA) | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Vidit - Donchenko: 1-0

GM Vidit Gujrathi (2712) played only one Classical rated game against GM Alexander Donchenko (GER, 2624) over two and a half years ago. It ended in a draw. This time also he had the White pieces.

Position after 28.Nd6

In an already difficult position, Black went wrong 28...Bc6? 29.Re7+- Rg6 30.b3 a6 31.Nf7+ Kh7 32.Ne5 Rg1+ 33.Kb2 b5 34.Bf7 Re1 35.Rd6 Be4 36.Nd7 Nd3+ 37.cxd3 and it's over.

The defending champion, GM Vidit Gujrathi scored an emphatic victory against GM Alexander Donchenko (GER) | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Xiong - Praggnanandhaa: 0.5-0.5

This is the first-ever rated game between GM Jeffery Xiong (USA, 2640) and GM R Praggnanandhaa (2785). Praggnanandhaa played the French Defence with the black pieces. His opponent opted for the Exchange variation. The game ended in a draw via repetition as Praggnanandhaa defended well in a slightly inferior position.

The first-ever rated game between GM Jeffery Xiong (USA) and R Praggnanandhaa ended in a draw | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

GM Arjun Erigaisi and GM Maksim Chigaev (ESP) played a well contested draw | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

GM Nihal Sarin had a relatively calm draw against GM Rasmus Svane (GER) | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (POL) - GM Pranav Venkatesh: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Rauf - Aditya

Position after 29.h4??

GM Rauf Mamedov (AZE, 2651) made a big mistake of playing 29.h4?? His opponent, GM Aditya Mittal (2589) correctly spotted 29...h6! 30.Qg4 Bd7? instead Qxb2 to maintain his advantage.

GM Aditya Mittal could have won against GM Rauf Mamedov (AZE) | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Divya - Abhimanyu

Position after 33...h5

The reigning FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 champion, GM Divya Deshmukh (2478) played a crazy game against GM Abhimanyu Puranik (2640). 34.Qe2 or f2 would have maintained the upper hand. Instead, she opted for 34.Bf1 and her advantage slowly dissipated.

The FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 winner, GM Divya Deshmukh made a blazing start but the outcome went in favor of her opponent, GM Abhimanyu Puranik | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

The top seed among the Women, GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR) ran out of time in a winning endgame against WGM Zsoka Gaal (HUN) | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

IM Yuliia Osmak (UKR) - IM Vantika Agrawal: 0-1 | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

IM Marsel Efroimski (ISR) - GM Harika Dronavalli: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: FIDE / Anna Shtourman

GM R Vaishali defeated IM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova (UZB) comfortably | Photo: FIDE / Anna Shtourman

Round 1 in progress | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Schedule

Every day game starts at 30 p.m. local time, 3:30 p.m. IST from 4th to 15th September 2025. Rest day is on Wednesday 10th September 2025. The last round on 15th September will start at 2 p.m. local time, 2:30 p.m. IST.

Time Control

The time control for each game is: 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for the next 20 moves, followed by 15 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 1 in the Open section. For Women, the time control is 40 moves in 90 minutes + 30 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move.

Qualification

Open: The winner and the runner-up of Grand Swiss shall qualify for the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026. If any of these players is the FIDE World Champion as of 1 January 2025 or have already qualified for the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 at the moment of the beginning of the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2025, or withdraws the qualification spot(s) shall be awarded, in the order of priority, to the player ⁃ in the 3rd place in the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2025; ⁃ in the 2nd place according to the FIDE Circuit 2024 ranking list; ⁃ who is next yet unqualified in the FIDE Circuit 2025 ranking list.

Women: The winner and the runner-up of WGS shall qualify for the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament 2024. If one or both these players has (-ve) already qualified to the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 at the moment of the beginning of WGS via different qualification track or do (-es) not need to qualify for the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament 2026, the qualification spot(s) shall go to the highest-placed player(s) in the final standings who has/have not yet qualified to the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament 2026 at the moment of the beginning of WGS.

Prizes

The total prize fund in the Open is US$ 625000 with the first prize being $90000. For Women's the total prize fund is $230000, first prize $40000. Total numbers of prizes are 73, Open - 50 and Women - 23.

Watch live stream

Replay FIDE Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss 2023 Round 1 Live Commentary by IM Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Round 1 Open games

Replay Round 1 Women games

Round 1 Open results

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Rtg	No.
1	59	GM	Xiong, Jeffery	2640	0	½ - ½	0	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	2785	1
2	2	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2771	0	½ - ½	0	GM	Chigaev, Maksim	2638	60
3	61	GM	Bacrot, Etienne	2637	0	0 - 1	0	GM	Gukesh, D	2767	3
4	4	GM	Firouzja, Alireza	2754	0	1 - 0	0	GM	Amin, Bassem	2636	62
5	63	GM	Gurel, Ediz	2631	0	½ - ½	0	GM	Keymer, Vincent	2751	5
6	6	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2748	0	1 - 0	0	GM	Ivic, Velimir	2630	64
7	65	GM	Hovhannisyan, Robert	2629	0	0 - 1	0	GM	Giri, Anish	2746	7
8	8	GM	Aronian, Levon	2744	0	½ - ½	0	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.	2628	66
9	67	GM	Volokitin, Andrei	2628	0	½ - ½	0	GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2742	9
10	10	GM	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	2741	0	½ - ½	0	GM	Cheparinov, Ivan	2627	68

Details

Standings after Round 1

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.
1	3	GM	Gukesh, D	IND	2767	1
2	4	GM	Firouzja, Alireza	FRA	2754	1
3	6	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	UZB	2748	1
4	7	GM	Giri, Anish	NED	2746	1
5	16	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	IND	2712	1
6	21	GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham	IRI	2692	1
7	34	GM	Shankland, Sam	USA	2670	1
8	44	GM	Gelfand, Boris	ISR	2652	1
9	52	GM	Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan	TUR	2646	1
10	54	GM	Rodshtein, Maxim	ISR	2645	1

Details

Round 2 pairings

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Rtg	No.
1	3	GM	Gukesh, D	2767	1		1	GM	Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan	2646	52
2	54	GM	Rodshtein, Maxim	2645	1		1	GM	Firouzja, Alireza	2754	4
3	56	GM	Svane, Frederik	2643	1		1	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2748	6
4	7	GM	Giri, Anish	2746	1		1	GM	Salem, A.R. Saleh	2640	58
5	57	GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu	2640	1		1	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	2712	16
6	21	GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham	2692	1		1	GM	Anton Guijarro, David	2625	71
7	76	GM	Demchenko, Anton	2620	1		1	GM	Shankland, Sam	2670	34
8	93	GM	Suleymanli, Aydin	2602	1		1	GM	Gelfand, Boris	2652	44
9	1	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	2785	½		1	GM	Zemlyanskii, Ivan	2586	105
10	66	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.	2628	½		½	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2771	2

Details

Round 1 Women results

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Muzychuk, Anna	2535	0	0 - 1	0	WGM	Gaal, Zsoka	2388	29
2	30	GM	Girya, Olga	2386	0	1 - 0	0	GM	Tan, Zhongyi	2531	2
3	3	GM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	2505	0	1 - 0	0	IM	Narva, Mai	2386	31
4	32	IM	Salimova, Nurgyul	2386	0	½ - ½	0	GM	Lagno, Kateryna	2505	4
5	5	IM	Shuvalova, Polina	2492	0	0 - 1	0	IM	Fataliyeva, Ulviyya	2385	33
6	34	WGM	Balabayeva, Xeniya	2383	0	1 - 0	0	GM	Muzychuk, Mariya	2484	6
7	7	IM	Osmak, Yuliia	2478	0	0 - 1	0	IM	Vantika, Agrawal	2381	35
8	36	WGM	Zhai, Mo	2380	0	1 - 0	0	IM	Garifullina, Leya	2477	8
9	9	GM	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	2472	0	½ - ½	0	IM	Maltsevskaya, Aleksandra	2379	37
10	38	IM	Efroimski, Marsel	2377	0	½ - ½	0	GM	Dronavalli, Harika	2467	10

Details

Standings after Round 2

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.
1	3	GM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	KAZ	2505	1
2	13	GM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	IND	2452	1
3	22	WIM	Khamdamova, Afruza	UZB	2409	1
4	26	IM	Wagner, Dinara	GER	2400	1
5	29	WGM	Gaal, Zsoka	HUN	2388	1
6	30	GM	Girya, Olga	FID	2386	1
7	33	IM	Fataliyeva, Ulviyya	AZE	2385	1
8	34	WGM	Balabayeva, Xeniya	KAZ	2383	1
9	35	IM	Vantika, Agrawal	IND	2381	1
10	36	WGM	Zhai, Mo	CHN	2380	1

Details

Round 2 pairings

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Rtg	No.
1	35	IM	Vantika, Agrawal	2381	1		1	GM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	2505	3
2	39	IM	Roebers, Eline	2377	1		1	GM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	2452	13
3	22	WIM	Khamdamova, Afruza	2409	1		1	WGM	Balabayeva, Xeniya	2383	34
4	26	IM	Wagner, Dinara	2400	1		1	WGM	Zhai, Mo	2380	36
5	29	WGM	Gaal, Zsoka	2388	1		1	IM	Badelka, Olga	2375	40
6	47	WGM	Ouellet, Maili-Jade	2348	1		1	GM	Girya, Olga	2386	30
7	33	IM	Fataliyeva, Ulviyya	2385	1		1	IM	Kamalidenova, Meruert	2349	46
8	4	GM	Lagno, Kateryna	2505	½		1	WIM	Omonova, Umida	2252	52
9	43	WGM	Beydullayeva, Govhar	2368	½		½	GM	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	2472	9
10	10	GM	Dronavalli, Harika	2467	½		½	IM	Salimova, Nurgyul	2386	32

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations: Open and Women

Related news:

	Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and Gukesh are the top three seeds at FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 @ 04/09/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Pranav Venkatesh beats Kazybek Nogerbek in a Wild Card match to earn his place at FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 @ 07/08/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 to take place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan from 3rd to 15th September @ 21/01/2025 by ChessBase India (en)