Bluebaum, Nihal & Lagno lead @ Samarkand
GMs Bluebaum Matthias & Nihal Sarin drew quietly, maintaining their joint lead with 6.0 points after the 8th round of the $ 855,000 FIDE Grand Swiss 2025, Samarkand. Following the leaders were eight Grandmasters viz., Mishra, Maghsoodloo, Firouzja, Abdusattorov, Keymer, Niemann, Giri and van Foreest at 5.5 points. In the women’s section, GM Lagno Kateryna moved into sole lead with 6.5 points defeating former women’s world champion GM Mariya Muzychuk.
Peace reigned in the top boards with leaders Bluebaum & Nihal setting the trend. The Queen’s Gambit Accepted top board game saw neither player willing to step into risk area. Little out of the opening Nihal’s subtle draw offer by repetition received a green signal from the German giving the first result of the day.
GM Bluebaum Matthias with a whopping ELO 2854 performance is on a honeymoon trail. Giving his everything in the next three rounds could be a life turning chance for the German to land in the world championship trail. Equally well-placed is joint leader GM Nihal Sarin for a podium finish, while a huge pack of GMs close-by at 5.5 points, would need to land a win or two to grab the coveted Candidates spot.
As eight of the top ten boards ended in draws the changes in leader-board were far and few. GMs Vincent Keymer and Jorden van Foreest improved their chances overcoming GMs Vidit Santosh Gujrathi and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov moving right behind the leaders. The defending champion Vidit Santosh Gujrathi slipped to a painful loss from a drawish position against German champion Vincent Keymer. Just after the four hour mark the disaster struck for the Indian who lost the game with a single move. The King and pawn ending phase is always tricky and when the draw was within his reach Vidit’s 43…c6? gave it all away. The wrong pawn move left Vidit staring at defeat and a mountain to climb in the final three rounds.
World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju gave himself a breathing space holding Women’s World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh to a draw. An even result after three consecutive losses should come as a relief to the Indian even though it took more than five hours. The marathon 103 mover kept oscillating from time to time, but both hung on gamely to split the point.
In the women’s section GM Lagno Kateryna moved into sole lead with 6.5 points scalping former women’s world champion Mariya Muzychuk in a Slav game that lasted just 31 moves. Defending champion leader Vaishali Rameshbabu lost her first game of the event going down to GM Assaubayeva Bibisara. The defeat pushed Vaishali to a shared second place with GM Assaubayeva Bibisara and IM Song Yuxin at 6.0 points.
Top round nine pairings offer a chess feast viz., Nihal – Firouzja, Abdusattorov – Bluebaum, Maghsoodloo – Keymer, Giri – van Foreest, Niemann – Mishra, Praggnanandhaa – Liang, Erigaisi – Sevian, Saric – Nepomniachtchi, MVL – Erdogmus.
Players in striking distance should make the best of the chance as the tournament enters the critical phase.With three rounds to go, the stakes are high and every single move would count.
Round nine starts by Saturday, 13th September, at 6 AM ET / 12:00 CEST / 3:30 PM IST.
Round 8 Results (Open): Bluebaum Matthias (6.0) drew with Nihal Sarin (6.0), Firouzja Alireza (5.5) drew with Niemannn Hans Moke (5.5), Mishra Abhimanyu (5.5) drew with Abdusattorov Nodirbek (5.5), Maghsoodloo Parham (5.5) drew with Giri Anish (5.5), Keymer Vincent (5.5) beat Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (5.0), Rapport Richard (5.0) drew with Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (5.0), Sargsyan Shant (5.0) drew with Erigaisi Arjun (5.0), Nepomniachtchi Ian (5.0) drew with Pranav Venkatesh (5.0), Gukesh Dommaraju (3.5) drew with Divya Deshmukh (4.0).
Round 8 Results (Women): Assaubayeva Bibisara (6.0) beat Vaishali Rameshbabu (6.0), Lagno Kateryna (6.5) beat Muzychuk Mariya (5.0), Stefanova ANtoaneta (5.0) lost to Song Yuxin (6.0), Tan Zhongyi (5.5) beat Tsolakidou Stavroula (4.5), Dronavalli Harika (4.5) drew with Girya Olga (4.5), Wagner Dinara (4.5) drew with Muzychuk Anna (4.5), Vantika Agrawal (3.5) lost to Shuvalova Polina (4.5).
Keymer Vincent (2751) – Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (2712) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. O-O Nd7 7. Nbd2 a5 8. Nc4 Qe7 9. Re1 O-O 10. a4 b6 11. Ne3 Bxe3 12. Bxe3 c5 13. Nd2 Bb7 14. b3 Qe6 15. Nf1 Qg6 16. Ng3 f5 17. exf5 Rxf5 18. h3 Qc6 19. f3 Rf6 20. Bd2 Rg6 21. Kh2 Qd6 22. Re3 h5 23. Ne4 Bxe4 24. fxe4 Rf8 25. Rf3 h4 26. Qe2 Rxf3 27. Qxf3 Nf8 28. Rc1 Ne6 29. Qh5 Nf4 30. Bxf4 exf4 31. e5 Qc6 32. Rg1 Rg3 33. Qxh4 g5 34. Qh5 Kg7 35. h4 Qg6 36. Qxg6+ Kxg6 37. Re1 Re3 38. h5+ Kxh5 39. Rxe3 fxe3 40. Kg1 Kg6 41. Kf1 Kf5 42. Ke2 Kxe5 43. Kxe3 c6 44. c4 Kf5 45. Kf3 Kf6 46. Ke4 Ke6 47. g3 Kf6 48. g4 Ke6 49. d4 cxd4 50. Kxd4 Kd6 51. c5+ bxc5+ 52. Kc4 Ke5 53. Kxc5 Kf4 54. b4 axb4 55. Kxb4 Kxg4 56. a5 Kh3 57. a6 g4 58. a7 g3 59. a8=Q g2 60. Qa7 Kh2 61. Qf2 Kh1 62. Qh4+ Kg1
63. Kc3 1-0
Jorden van Foreest (2692) – Mamedyarov Shakhriyar (2741) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3 Nd5 9. Nf3 Bd6 10. Nc3 O-O 11. Be2 Nf4 12. O-O Bg4 13. d3 Nxe2+ 14. Qxe2 f5 15. h3 Bh5 16. g4 fxg4 17. Ng5 Qd7 18. Nce4 Bc7 19. Ng3 g6 20. Nxh5 gxh5 21. hxg4 hxg4 22. Kg2 Bb6 23. Be3 Qd5+ 24. Ne4 Rf3 25. Bxb6 axb6 26. Rh1 Rf4 27. Rh4 Kh8 28. Rah1 Ra7 29. b3 Raf7 30. Kf1 Rg7 31. Qe3 Nb7 32. Rh5 Nd8 33. Nc3 Qd4 34. Rxe5 Qxe3 35. Rxe3 g3 36. Re8+ Rg8 37. Rxg8+ Kxg8 38. Ne4 gxf2 39. Nxf2 Kg7 40. Ke2 Ne6 41. Ne4 h5 42. Ng3 Kg6 43. Nxh5 Rf5 44. Ng3 Nd4+ 45. Kd2 Rg5 46. Ne4 Rg2+ 47. Ke3 c5 48. c3 Nf5+ 49. Kf4 Ne7
50. Ra1 1-0
Photo Courtesy: Michal Walusza / FIDE (International Chess Federation)
Official Site: https://grandswiss2025.fide.com/
