FIDE Grand Swiss Chess 2025 Round 1 highlights: Gukesh, Vidit, Vaishali win; Divya loses; Arjun Erigaisi, Pragg draw

Divya Deshmukh, meanwhile, has endured a opening round defeat at the hands of Abhimanyu Puranik, who helped her become women's world cup champion two months back. It was a game where Divya had a slight edge at some point in the middle game.

Here's how the game played out:

Meanwhile, there was an excellent victory for Vantika Agrawal over Ukraine's Yuliia Osmak. Here's how that game played out:

In the Women's Grand Swiss tournament, there were some massive results with the top two seeds --- Anna Muzychuk and Tan Zhongyi --- losing their first round games.

While Muzychuk lost on time to women's grandmaster from Hungary Zsoka Gaal, former women's world champion Tan Zhongyi was handed a defeat by Olga Girya!

After getting a draw against Jeffery Xiong, the top seed at the event, Praggnanandhaa says: "I don't think there is any pressure (as the top seed). This tournament is extremely strong and on a given day anyone can beat anyone. Getting a player like him (Xiong) in the first round is a bit unlucky. But, as I said, everyone is strong here, so you don't really have easy games. Given the position I was in at one point in the game, I am fine with making the draw."

After a long game, Arjun Erigaisi is held to a draw by Maksim Chigaev. So only Gukesh from the top three seeds manages to earn victory in the first round at Samarkand.

Here's how the Arjun vs Maksin game played out

World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju started off his campaign at the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament with victory over French grandmaster Etienne Bacrot.

A look at how the game played out:

"To get a win with black pieces in the first round is a nice start," says Gukesh in the interview afterwards with FIDE. "But I don't want to get too ahead of myself."

Asked about how he is planning to prepare for the event, which is a Swiss tournament, Gukesh adds: "Eating well. sleeping well, saving energy wherever possible, coming to the board with full energy, it's a long tournament,"

Another defending champion from India, Vaishali Rameshbabu, has started off her defence of the Grand Swiss with victory over an International Master Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova.

Here's how the game played out:

The defending champion at the Grand Swiss, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, starts his campaign with victory over Germany's Alexander Donchenko in just 37 moves!

WHAT A VICTORY!

Here's how the game between Vidit and Alexander Donchenko played out:

The game started out with a Four Knights Variation of the Sicilian Defense.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Qd3 d5 7. exd5 Nb4 8. Qg3 Bc5 9. a3 Nbxd5 10. Nxd5 Qxd5 11. Nb5 O-O 12. Nc3 Qd6 13. Bd3 h6 14. Bf4 e5?! {Inaccuracy. Qb6 was best} 15. Be3 Bd7 16. O-O-O Bxe3+ 17. Qxe3 Qc7 18. Ne4 Nd5 19. Qc5 Qc6 20. Rhe1 b6?! {Inaccuracy. Rfc8 was best} 21. Qd6 f5 22. Qxc6 Bxc6 23. Nd6 Nf4 24. Rxe5 Bxg2 25. Nxf5 Kh8 26. Rd2 Rf6?! {Inaccuracy. Nxd3+ was best} 27. Bc4 Raf8 28. Nd6 Bc6?! {Inaccuracy. Ng6 was best} 29. Re7 Rg6 30. b3 a6?! {Inaccuracy. Kh7 was best} 31. Nf7+ Kh7 32. Ne5 Rg1+ 33. Kb2 b5 34. Bf7 Re1 35. Rd6 Be4 36. Nd7 Nd3+?! {Inaccuracy. Rxf7 was best} 37. cxd3

1-0

Results starting to come in and many top players have ended with a drawn first game. This includes Vincent Keymer (vs Ediz Gurel), Levon Aronian (vs Haik M. Martirosyan), Ian Nepomniachtchi (vs Andrei Volokitin), Hans Moke Niemann (vs Gabriel Sargissian) and Richard Rapport (vs Ruslan Ponomariov).

The world champion is in a winning position against his quarry from France, Etienne Bacrot. Gukesh is currently three pawns and a bishop up on the board, while the French grandmaster holds a additional rook on the board.

But the Indian teenager should see this through easily.

Both players have just reached the 40-move threshold which means they will both get an additional 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.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov, the Uzbek chess poster boy, is winning in the battle against Serbian grandmaster Velimir Ivic.

Both players have played out 42 moves and Nodirbek has been allowed to promote a pawn to a queen while Ivic has tried to pile on the pressure on the Uzbek's king, that is sequestered behind a bishop on h1.

The end is near in that game.

The first defeat for an Indian player in the first round of the Grand Swiss! Murali Karthikeyan was in trouble after audacious queen sacrifice from opponent, Aydin Suleymanli, on move 16. And he never managed to get his bearings after that.

Here's a look at how that game played out:

Meanwhile, in another game, the Indian veteran Pentala Harikrishna has also suffered an opening round defeat to Anton Demchenko.

A decent result for Hans Niemann, who has also been held to draw by Gabriel Sargissian. At one stage, Niemann was in trouble in a game that had some weird pawn structures.

But he managed to navigate the game into a draw.

At a 11-round Swiss tournament, getting a draw first up is not that terrible a result for a player of Niemann's calibre.

The first big result of the day is here! India's Praggnanandhaa, who is the top seed at the Grand Swiss, has been held to a draw in the first round by American grandmaster Jeffery Xiong after 31 moves!

Pragg was in deep trouble for a while there, but manages to hold on and secure a draw!

Here's how the game played out

An old rivalry between India's Gukesh, who currently occupies the world champion's throne, and Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov was fanned again before the start of the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament in Samarkand, when the Uzbek prodigy was asked for his unpopular opinion by FIDE's social media team for a video.

To this, Abdusattorov replied, “Gukesh will lose his title in the next match. Is that controversial?”

Responding to the comment, Gukesh said at the pre-tournament press conference, “I mean, first of all, obviously, Nodirbek Abdusattorov is a great player and he’s very much capable. But at this tournament, he can only qualify for the Candidates, so it’s one more step to become world champion.”

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Hans Niemann, who came to the Grand Swiss to try and qualify for the Candidates, is in deep trouble against Armenian grandmaster Gabriel Sargissian.

And have you ever seen anything like this in chess? The pawn structure for both players looks like it was arbitrarily set up on the board by a novice.

Sargissian has a tripled-pawn queue building up on e file. But Niemann has too many pawn islands as well.

For now, the engines are betting money on Sargissian winning against Niemann.

Praggnanandhaa, who is the top seed at the Grand Swiss tournament, is taking on Jeffery Xiong in the first round.

He's courting some serious time trouble at the moment. He is down to 18 minutes on the clock after just 23 moves. The time control at Grand Swiss is more than generous: players get 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.

But even by that standard, Pragg has 18 minutes to make 17 moves before he gets to the first threshold.

The queens came off on the 22nd move!

All the moves from Praggnanandhaa vs Jeffery Xiong: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bb5 Bd6 6. c4 dxc4 7. d5 a6 8. Bxc4 Qe7+ 9. Be2 Ne5 10. O-O Nf6 11. Re1 O-O 12. Bf4 Nxf3+ 13. Bxf3 Qd8 14. Bxd6 Qxd6 15. Nd2 Rd8 16. Rc1 Bd7 17. Nc4 Qf8 18. Qb3 Rab8 19. h3 h6 20. Qc3 Qc5 21. Re5 b5 22. Na5 Qxc3 23. Rxc3 Ne8

Daniil Dubov and Alexei Shirov ends in a draw! The first result of Round 1 of the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament in Samarkand.

Murali Karthikeyan in trouble after audacious queen sacrifice from opponent, 20-year-old Aydin Suleymanli, on move 16.

After just 16 moves, Praggnanandhaa is already almost an hour behind on his clock compared to his opponent Jeffery Xiong!

The engine also shows that the American grandmaster also has a slight edge on the eval bar for the moment. But Pragg is in his best year yet. He is also the top seed at the Grand Swiss.

Besides the players have plenty of time in this tournament as compared to any other classical event. The time control for each game in the open section 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.

Here's what the game between Pragg and Xiong has played out so far:

Here's what has transpired in the Divya Deshmukh vs Abhimanyu Puranik game, where we have had an Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined. But what's Divya's king doing on d2?

She's down a rook, but has captured her second's twin knights.

Here are all the 15 moves from both players so far: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 Bf5 6. e3 c6 7. f3 Nh5 8. Bxb8 Rxb8 9. g4 Qh4+ 10. Kd2 Ng3 11. gxf5 Nxh1 12. Nh3 Bd6 13. Bg2 O-O 14. Qxh1 Rfe8 15. Re1 Rbd8

Such an interesting photo this one! We have Alireza, the crown prince of chess, looking relaxed and laidback. His opponent, Amin Bassem, who is already down over 10 minutes out the opening is in deep thought.

Meanwhile, we have Gukesh in the background fretting over his position on the board.

And between all of this, we have Daniil Dubov taking a casual stroll away from his board, looking at the scenery around the playing hall.

10 moves in already in the game between Arjun Erigaisi and Maksim Chigaev. And we see an English Opening here as well, with the players opting for a Four Knights Variation.

Here are all the 10 moves so far: 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Bc5 7. O-O O-O 8. d3 h6 9. Nxd5 Qxd5 10. Bd2 Qd6

The Exchange Variation of the French Defense makes an appearance in the game between Praggnanandhaa and Jeffery Xiong.

Here are all the moves on the board so far: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bb5 Bd6 6. c4 dxc4

A look at how the game has played out

And we're off! The Advance Variation of the Caro-Kann Defense makes an appearance in the game between Gukesh and Etienne Bacrot.

The 4. Nf3 was popularized by English Grandmaster Nigel Short, who competed in the world championship battles in the past. It's a sounder response than 4. Bd3, though less ambitious than 4. Nc3.

Here are all the moves played so far: 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Ne7 6. O-O h6

Here's the first look at the playing hall in Samarkand. The three Indians from the golden generation --- Gukesh, Arjun and Pragg --- are the top seeds here! And we have world champion Gukesh walking past the table of Praggnanandhaa!

Last month, FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky had shared an origin story of the FIDE Grand Swiss on his X handle.

When I was a professional player, I could only dream about an event like that. In spite of being a regular top-50 (and a top-20 at the peak), winning strongest opens like European championship, Aeroflot and Gibraltar, my path in the World Championship Cycle was limited to the World Cup. And the opportunities to face the very best and progress were limited.

The change was badly needed - my career was over, but now I could help to so many players! I knew how many really superb Grandmasters, almost as good as the elite guys are there, how scarce is the opportunity, and how much they deserve this chance.

Wang Hao in 2019, Vidit and Vaishali in 2023 proved that point with flying colors.

I also knew it would be a great jumping board for the youngsters, and enable their breakthrough.

This entire cohort - Gukesh, Pragg, Firouzja, Arjun, Nodirbek, Vincent, Hans, Nihal, Murzin etc made their first appearance in the Grand Swiss getting a wild card from FIDE. Because we knew - that is the future of chess. The format allowed for that, and that's why we chose it from the beginning.

The budget has been rising every time. And not only the prizes drastically increased - we cover all travel and lodging expenses for all the players, and every tournament had more participants.

And although it became incrementally more difficult to organize, we never backed down - on a contrary: The first edition was only Open with a handful of wild-cards for female players. Starting 2021, the separate Women's event is staged. And that's despite all the challenges. I remember critics left and right about the concept, when the even was just launched in 2019. I vividly remember the event in 2021 in Riga, amidst tight covid restrictions. In 2023 when we were back in Isle of Man, unshattered by two big wars going on.

Divya Deshmukh will be among the two women in contention in the open section, which has 116 players. Meanwhile, there are 56 contenders in the Women’s tournament.

Divya's decision to compete in the Open section was as bold as it was practical. She did not need to play in the women's section since it offered two spots for the Women's Candidates and she's already qualified for that.

Divya had told The Indian Express earlier in an interview that she actually relishes the opportunity to play in the open section at events.

“I truly enjoy playing in open tournaments,” Divya had told The Indian Express after becoming the Women's World Cup winner. “As much as they are difficult, it's a must-have experience and it makes you much stronger when you play against people who are way stronger than you to begin with. You learn so much about yourself at such events: like where you're lacking, where your weaknesses are and how you can improve on those.”

Divya speaks positively about the experience of playing in a mixed field. “These tournaments, all the struggles I went through and getting beaten left to right, has definitely helped me to become what I am,” she had said in another interview before adding: “Playing in these events, I realised that there’s a lot less pressure on me. I enjoy those tournaments more.”

One of the oldest cities in Central Asia, Samarkand, famous for its Old Silk Route, is ready to host the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025.

Image Credit: Michal Walusza/ FIDE

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the FIDE Grand Swiss Chess Tournament 2025, taking place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The first round will begin at 3:30 PM IST with several top Indians, including reigning World Champion D. Gukesh, India No. 1 R. Praggnanandhaa, and Women's World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh, among others, in action.

Grand Swiss holds significant stakes, as the top two finishers in both the Open and Women’s sections will earn a place in the 2026 Candidates Tournament, which decides the challenger for the World Champion title. Stay tuned as we bring you all the live action as it unfolds at the Silk Road EXPO in Samarkand.