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How can Arjun Erigaisi and Vaishali qualify for Candidates through Grand Swiss? Check all scenarios, result, pairings and standings of final round

Here are all the qualification scenarios for Arjun and Vaishali's Candidates qualification through FIDE Grand Swiss tournament happening in Samarkand.

India's R. Vaishali and Arjun Erigaisi in action during FIDE Grand Swiss. (Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza)

The FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 chess tournament is in its business end with the 11th and final round underway in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Monday. The Indian duo of Arjun Erigaisi (Open Section) and R. Vaishali (Women’s Section) are running for the top two places and a big contenders in the race for the Candidates Tournament 2026 spot.

Here are all the qualification scenarios for Arjun and Vaishali’s Candidates qualification.

How can Arjun Erigaisi qualify for the Candidates Tournament 2026?

Arjun is currently eighth in the leaderboard with 6.5 points from 10 rounds. While nine players have 6.5 points in the Open Section, only Arjun, Abhimanyu Mishra, and Andy Woodward have a mathematical chance to finish in second place and win the Candidates spot.

FIDE GRAND SWISS 2025, ROUND 11 LIVE UPDATES: FOLLOW HERE

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For Arjun to qualify, he must first beat Vincent Keymer in the final round. A win would take him to 7.5 points, eliminating Keymer at 7 points.

Here are the critical final (11th) round pairings:

Matthias Bluebaum (7) vs Alireza Firouzja (7)
Anish Giri (7) vs Hans Moke Niemann (7)
Arjun Erigaisi (6.5) vs Vincent Keymer (7)
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (6.5) vs Abhimanyu Mishra (6.5)

Matthias Bluebaum and Alireza Firouzja, both on 7 points, play each other. Regardless of the result (win, loss, or draw), only one of them will finish ahead of Arjun (if Arjun wins). If Bluebaum and Firouzja draw their game and Arjun wins, all three players will get to 7.5 points, but Firouzja has the worst tiebreaks among them, so in this case, Arjun and Bluebaum qualify. This means Arjun is effectively competing for the second spot.

Therefore, the only way for Arjun to qualify is if:

He defeats Vincent Keymer.
The game between Anish Giri and Hans Niemann ends in a draw.
The game between Vidit Gujrathi and Abhimanyu Mishra ends in a draw (preventing Mishra, who has strong tiebreaks, from getting to 7.5 points).

If any one of these conditions fails, Arjun’s chances are over.

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FIDE Grand Swiss Leaderboard: Open Section

Rk.	Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Matthias Bluebaum	GER	2671	7	2688	54,5	58
2	Alireza Firouzja	FRA	2754	7	2685	52,5	56,5
3	Anish Giri	NED	2746	7	2661	50	54
4	Hans Moke Niemann	USA	2733	7	2660	48	52
5	Vincent Keymer	GER	2751	7	2657	50	54,5
6	Abhimanyu Mishra	USA	2611	6,5	2733	57	60,5
7	Andy Woodward	USA	2557	6,5	2683	49,5	52,5
8	Arjun Erigaisi	IND	2771	6,5	2680	50	54
9	Nodirbek Abdusattorov	UZB	2748	6,5	2659	52,5	57
10	Nihal Sarin	IND	2693	6,5	2658	51	55
11	Awonder Liang	USA	2698	6,5	2649	44	48
12	Santosh Gujrathi Vidit	IND	2712	6,5	2643	49,5	54
13	Yu Yangyi	CHN	2714	6,5	2643	49	54
14	Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	FRA	2738	6,5	2630	50,5	54,5

Top board pairings in Round 11 of Open Section

Matthias Bluebaum (7) – 2671 vs Alireza Firouzja (7) – 2754
Anish Giri (7) – 2746 vs Hans Moke Niemann (7) – 2733
Arjun Erigaisi (6½) – 2771 vs Vincent Keymer (7) – 2751
Nodirbek Abdusattorov (6½) – 2748 vs Awonder Liang (6½) – 2698
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (6½) – 2738 vs Nihal Sarin (6½) – 2693
Andy Woodward (6½) – 2557 vs Yu Yangyi (6½) – 2714
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (6½) – 2712 vs Abhimanyu Mishra (6½) – 2611
Andrey Esipenko (6) – 2687 vs Ian Nepomniachtchi (6) – 2742
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (6) – 2741 vs Grigoriy Oparin (6) – 2660
Nodirbek Yakubboev (6) – 2681 vs Vladimir Fedoseev (6) – 2731

How can Vaishali qualify for the Candidates Tournament 2026?

Vaishali is jointly leading the Women’s Section with 7.5 points, tied with Kateryna Lagno. The simplest path for her to qualify for the Women’s Candidates for the second time in a row is to win or even just draw her final round match against China’s Tan Zhongyi.

However, the defending FIDE Grand Swiss champion faces an extremely tough opponent in Tan, who has already secured her own place in the upcoming Women’s Candidates. Since Vaishali has 7.5 points and very strong tiebreaks, there remains an outside chance she could qualify even with a loss, as the second Candidates spot from this event would not go to Tan.

FIDE Grand Swiss Leaderboard: Women’s Section

Rk.	Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Kateryna Lagno	FID	2505	7,5	2438	54	58
2	Vaishali Rameshbabu	IND	2452	7,5	2424	55	59,5
3	Zhongyi Tan	CHN	2531	7	2419	49	52
4	Yuxin Song	CHN	2409	7	2416	53	56
5	Bibisara Assaubayeva	KAZ	2505	7	2413	53,5	57,5
6	Ulviyya Fataliyeva	AZE	2385	6,5	2456	55	60
7	Irina Krush	USA	2366	6,5	2420	45,5	49