FIDE Grand Swiss: Vaishali makes history by winning title again to earn Candidates spot; Gukesh ends event with victory
FIDE Grand Swiss: Vaishali's win helps her secure a Candidates spot, thus making her the third woman to qualify for the Candidates along with Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh.
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By: Sports Desk
Updated: September 16, 2025 09:42 AM IST
FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 Chess LIVE: Vaishali Rameshbabu won the title for the second edition in a row, thus securing a spot in the Candidates for the second time as well. (PHOTO: Michal Walusza / FIDE)
FIDE Grand Swiss 2025:Vaishali Rameshbabu has won the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament for the second time in two editions after drawing her final game against former women’s world champion Tan Zhongyi on Monday. Vaishali winning the title is historic because no player in the short history of the event has won the Grand Swiss twice. Even more significantly, Vaishali’s win helps her secure a Candidates spot, thus making her the third woman to qualify for the Candidates along with Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh.
In the open section, Arjun Erigaisi ended with a draw in his final game against Vincent Keymer, which meant he missed on securing a Candidates spot. Anish Giri and German grandmaster Matthias Bluebaum secured the two Candidates spots on offer.
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You can trace how each of our featured games have progressed with the interactives below (Just use the right and left arrows to move the pieces yourself.) You can also watch the live streams of top games featuring Indian players through the YouTube embeds below. You can scroll past the interactives and the videos to follow our live updates from the final round at the FIDE Grand Swiss.
WATCH: Vaishali tells mother and Praggnanandhaa she’s had won the Grand Swiss title
WATCH: Vaishali calls mother on stage to receive Grand Swiss trophy
INTERACTIVE: Vaishali vs Tan Zhongyi
WATCH: Vaishali takes on ex-women’s world champion Tan Zhongyi
INTERACTIVE: Arjun Erigaisi vs Vincent Keymer
INTERACTIVE: Gukesh D vs Andrei Volokitin
INTERACTIVE: Divya Deshmukh vs Ivan Cheparinov
WATCH: Divya Deshmukh faces Ivan Cheparinov in Round 11 at FIDE Grand Swiss
INTERACTIVE: Praggnanandhaa R vs Nikolas Theodorou
Live Updates
Sep 16, 2025 12:18 AM IST
When Vaishali was greeted by her mother after winning title
A sweet moment after Vaishali won the Grand Swiss title and met her mother and brother Praggnanandhaa outside the playing arena.
Her mother Nagalakshmi handed her the phone with her grandmother on the other side.
Check out the moments as @chessvaishali comes out of the playing hall and meets her brother Pragg and mother Nagalakshmi - after becoming the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss Champion 2025!
World champion Gukesh Dommaraju had a forgettable event, ending on the 41st rank in a 116-player field. He had a run of six games where he did not win a single game, losing three in a row at one point. But he did manage to end the tournament with a victory, Gabriel Sargissian, and Andrei Volokitin, both rated in the 2600s.
#6 Arjun Erigaisi - 7 points
#9 Nihal Sarin - 7 points
#15 Vidit Santosh Gujrathi - 7 points
#22 Pranav V - 6.5 points
#26 Pentala Harikrishna - 6.5 points
#35 Praggnanandhaa R - 6 points
#37 Aditya Mittal - 6 points
#39 SL Narayanan - 6 points
#41 Gukesh D - 6 points
#48 Raunak Sadhwani - 6 points
#58 Aryan Chopra - 5.5 points
#73 Abhimanyu Puranik - 5 points
#75 Leon Luke Mendonca - 5 points
#81 Divya Deshmukh 5 points
#102 Murali Karthikeyan 4.5 points
Sep 15, 2025 10:41 PM IST
The top 10 ranking in FIDE Grand Swiss
Rank Name Rating Pts.
1 Giri, Anish 2746 8
2 Bluebaum, Matthias 2671 7.5
3 Firouzja, Alireza 2754 7.5
4 Keymer, Vincent 2751 7.5
5 Mishra, Abhimanyu 2611 7
6 Erigaisi, Arjun 2771 7
7 Woodward, Andy 2557 7
8 Niemann, Hans Moke 2733 7
9 Nihal, Sarin 2693 7
10 Abdusattorov, Nodirbek 2748 7
Sep 15, 2025 10:35 PM IST
Pragg congratulates Vaishali on winning Grand Swiss
India's top grandmaster Praggnanandhaa, who was the top seed at the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament, has hailed his elder sister Vaishali as an inspiration after she claimed the title at Samarkand.
"So proud of you, akka! Winning the FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss is such an incredible achievement. The confidence and determination you’ve shown throughout the tournament has been truly inspiring. Big congratulations on this amazing victory!" Pragg posted in a tweet.
Sep 15, 2025 07:59 PM IST
Divya ends with a draw
A remarkable FIDE Grand Swiss ends with a draw for Divya Deshmukh! She has beaten two grandmasters---Amin Bassem, who is the best grandmaster in Africa; and Serbian GM Velimir Ivic---and held world champion Gukesh to a draw after a six-hour grind. There were also draw against players like Alexander Donchenko, Murali Kartikeyan, Gabrial Sargissian, Aleksandar Indjic, and Ivan Cheparinov.
Divya ends the tournament with a rating gain of 19 points! Here are all of her results at the event in Samarkand
Here are all the moves from Divya's draw against Cheparinov
Vidit Gujrathi has managed to end the Grand Swiss with a draw against the highly-rated prodigy, Abhimanyu Mishra, who is the youngest grandmaster in chess history.
Vidit ends the tournament with just one defeat --- to Vincent Keymer. He played out six draws against players of the calibre of Vasyl Ivanchuk, Abhimanyu Puranik and Alexandr Predke.
FIDE Grand Swiss Round 11 LIVE: Anish Giri defeats Hans Niemann!
Anish Giri defeats Hans Niemann to put one foot into the Candidates tournament! In what was a must-win game, Anish defeated Hans in a 46-move game.
"It was a very difficult situation for him. He was in a must-win situation, so was I. If he was in a must-win and I was in a must-draw, it would be a lot easier for him. He could have just tried to avoid draws at all costs and go for broke. But going for broke now is not the best strategy," Anish Giri told FIDE after the game.
ICYMI: FIDE president makes first move for Divya game
Today, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich made the ceremonial first move for the game featuring Divya Deshmukh. Divya has defeated two grandmasters already in the event, besides holding world champion Gukesh Dommaraju to a draw after six hours of relentless chess.
At the event, interestingly, Divya has been given a fixed board---board 57---which makes her the only player at the event to have a fixed board.
Divya's opponent today is the tricky Ivan Cheparinov, who have been a second to players like Alireza Firouzja.
FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich made the ceremonial first move in the game between 🇮🇳 Divya Deshmukh and 🇧🇬 Ivan Cheparinov to kick off the final round of the #fidegrandswiss! pic.twitter.com/IcaMpsKXV9
Vaishali Rameshbabu wins the FIDE Grand Swiss title for the second time in a row, and also secures her second straight FIDE Candidates spot.
Vaishali held former women's world champion Tan Zhongyi, who has already qualified for the Candidates, to a draw in the 11th round of the event to seal her title and the Candidates spot.
A very muted response from Vaishali, just a handshake after the draw is agreed and off she goes.
FIDE Grand Swiss Round 11 LIVE: Harika defeats Carissa Yip
Harika defeated Carissa Yip in the final game of the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament to end with 6.5 points. Playing with black pieces, Harika started to exchange pieces with gusto to complicate the position rather than to simplify it as chess reasoning dictates.
The game saw Harika hold the edge from the 19th move itself. But then she started to take advantage of the fact that most of Yip's pieces were stationed on the queenside of the board while the king was being protected just by two pawns!
Just look at how Harika's pieces zoom in for the kill before the American star resigned!
FIDE Grand Swiss Round 11 LIVE: Nihal takes a draw vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Another draw! The game between Nihal Sarin and Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave ends in a draw. The thicket of players who could win the second Candidates spot is thinning out.
There was a time when Nihal was leading the FIDE Grand Swiss. He ends the tournament with 7 points.
The reaction you have when your buddy secures a Candidates spot! A clip shared on their social media handles by FIDE shows the reaction of Russian players Ian Nepomniachtchi and Daniil Dubov when they spot that Kateryna Lagno has accepted a draw, which secures her spot in the Candidates tournament.
While Nepo got up from his own seat to shake the hands of Lagno, Dubov waited until Lagno had left the board before giving her a hug.
FIDE Grand Swiss Round 11 LIVE: Aditya Mittal holds Parham
India's Aditya Mittal holds one-time tournament leader Parham Maghsoodloo to a draw in 27 moves. Parham lost three of his last five games in the tournament. The remaining two games, including the one on Monday, he drew. That led to him slipping out from the top of the standings. And it was a decline that was started by Nihal Sarin, who handed him a defeat in a mad time scramble in round 7.
Nihal Sarin has 27 minutes less on his clock compared to his opponent Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. While the Indian has 38 minutes left as he contemplates his 25th move with black pieces, the Frenchman has an hour and seven minutes on his clock!
FIDE Grand Swiss Round 11 LIVE: Hans Niemann’s hotel swap
Hans Niemann started Monday as one of the players who was best suited to win a Candidates spot in the open section at FIDE Grand Swiss.
“Slept well. Changed hotels. My hotel was so bad I couldn’t sleep so I just switched to a nicer hotel and I feel great,” Niemann told FIDE in an interview before the 11th round. “Never going back to that hotel again in my life.”
Asked if changing hotel rooms will help with the results today, he said “Yeah definitely.”
Sep 15, 2025 04:03 PM IST
FIDE Grand Swiss Round 11 LIVE: Eye on Vidit vs Abhimanyu
Just 10 moves on the board but Vidit Gujrathi is already low on time. He has less than an hour on the clock and is already a knight down compared to the Indian-origin teenager who now represents USA.
The young Abhimanyu is the youngest grandmaster in chess history. In Samarkand, he's had one of his best tournaments personally. But he finds himself in a must-win situation against Vidit, who, for the record, was the winning at last edition of Grand Swiss.
Here's what the board looks like
As Vidit contemplates whether to pick off the knight on c3 with the b pawn or the d pawn, Mishra leaves him alone on the board. Capturing the knight with the pawn on d2 will mean a quick queen trade off.
Here are all the move so far: 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. h4 c5 6. h5 Nc6 7. hxg6 fxg6 8. g3 Bg7 9. Bg2 Bf5 10. Nh4 Nxc3
Sep 15, 2025 03:41 PM IST
How can Arjun Erigaisi and Vaishali qualify for Candidates through Grand Swiss?
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.
CLICK HERE to check out all the qualification scenarios for Arjun and Vaishali’s Candidates qualification.
Sep 15, 2025 03:39 PM IST
FIDE Grand Swiss Round 11 LIVE: Who saw that coming?!
Kateryna Lagno, one of the front runners of the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss tournament, has taken a quick, 30-move draw against her opponent, Ulviyya Fataliyeva, an international master.
The draw means Vaishali can win the tournament if she defeats Tan Zhongyi today!
"Today I chose a line that is known to be a very safe one. Of course I am happy with my results here, I won five games and didn't lose a single game. Looks like I have qualified for the Candidates, which was my main goal here. Of course, it would have been nice to win the tournament, but if not, it's not so important anymore," Lagno told FIDE.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the final round of the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament from Samarkand. We have an exciting final round ahead of us, with as many as 18 Indians in action.
But all eyes will be trained on two Indian players -- Vaishali Rameshbabu and Arjun Erigaisi who can qualify to the Candidates today if things go their way.
Follow our live coverage to stay updated on all the results from the Grand Swiss.
FIDE Grand Swiss: Gukesh tastes victory for 1st time in 7 games; Vaishali one game away from Candidates spot
Vaishali Rameshbabu (centre) could secure her second Candidates spot from the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament; Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin (left) have faint hopes of making it to the Candidates; Gukesh Dommaraju (right) finally managed to get a win. (PHOTOS: Michal Walusza / FIDE)
World champion Gukesh Dommaraju managed to get a victory at last at the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament after a run of six games where he lost three games and drew three. Gukesh defeated Armenian grandmaster Gabriel Sargissian on Sunday in what was the Indian teenager’s third win at the Grand Swiss tournament in Samarkand. Gukesh also defeated French grandmaster Etienne Bacrot and Spanish GM Daniil Yuffa at the tournament but both those wins had come in the first three rounds at the event.
Since the win over Yuffa, Gukesh drew with compatriot Arjun Erigaisi before losing three games in a row to Abhimanyu Mishra (rating of 2611), Greek GM Nikolas Theodorou (2646), and Turkish teenage prodigy Ediz Gurel (2631). Gukesh had managed to arrest the spate of defeats by a hard-fought draw in a six-hour, 103-move draw with Divya Deshmukh. He was then held to a draw by another Armenian GM, Robert Hovhannisyan. Gukesh, playing with white pieces, managed to get a resignation out of Sargissian in 42 moves. It was a game where there was just one inaccuracy from the Armenian on move 22 (22… dxe3) which the world champion from Chennai exploited in incremental gains to eventually get a winning position by the time the resignation came.
