Firouzja, Keymer, Giri join Bluebaum in lead @ Samarkand
German Grandmaster Bluebaum Matthias drew with local hope GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov sharing the lead with 6.5 points after the ninth round of the $ 855,000 FIDE Grand Swiss 2025, Samarkand. Joining the current European champion in the lead were GMs Alireza Firouzja, Vincent Keymer and Anish Giri. In the women’s section, GM Lagno Kateryna remained sole leader with 7.0 points followed by GMs Vaishali Rameshbabu, Assaubayeva Bibisara, Tan Zhongyi and IM Song Yuxin at 6.5 points.
Six of the top ten boards produced results with heart-breaking losses to GMs Nihal, Maghsoodloo, van Foreest, Sevian, Erdogmus and Maurizzi in the hands of GMs Firouzja, Keymer, Giri, Erigaisi, MVL and Yu Yangyi.
The top board game between Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin and Iranian French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja had all the ingredients of a thriller. The Sicilian Alapin game took off slowly as Firouzja consumed more time right out of the opening. An unexpected piece sacrifice from Nihal early into the middle game threw the game open.
An exposed black king, active white pieces and a looming attack, things looked ominous for the former FIDE Grand Swiss champion. A slight hesitation from Nihal in the attacking sequence saw Firouzja re-group his pieces and it was not the same position anymore. Once the melee got settled Nihal found himself with a daunting task of saving the game. Saddled with two rook pawns which were facing three connected pawns in the middle, Nihal fought gamely. Into the sixth hour of play the last move before the second time control, Nihal faltered. The unforced error on the 60th move saw white slip to defeat after another hour of defence and 82 moves. Two champions fighting it out till the very end, a great advertisement for the sport and for the paying spectator.
With just two rounds to go, it will be a do or die situation in the top six boards viz., Firouzja – Giri, Keymer – Bluebaum, Yu – Erigaisi, Nihal – Abdusattorov, Mishra – MVL, Niemann – Praggnanandhaa. For the rest, with Candidates spot out of reach, it will be a fight for minor placings and hefty prize money on offer.
World champion Gukesh Dommaraju continued searching for his form and the elusive win. Going without a win for the sixth round in a row, the Indian was unable to break the defences of Armenian Grandmaster Robert Hovhannisyan (2629). The sub-par performance in Grand Swiss also saw the world champion go below the World Top 10 in LIVE rankings.
In the women’s section, leader GM Lagno Kateryna survived a clear losing position against GM Assaubayeva Bibisara keeping her lead with 7.0 points. Half a point behind were the trio viz. GMs Vaishali Rameshbabu, Assaubayeva Bibisara and IM Song Yuxin at 6.5 points.
The FIDE Grand Swiss Open prize fund got raised from $460,000 to $625,000, a 36% increase, while the Women’s fund sees an even bigger leap, from $140,000 to $230,000 up by 64%, adding upto a total prize fund of $ 855,000.
More than the handsome winner’s paycheck of $ 90,000 it the lure of the Candidates qualification that ups the challenge. With two rounds to go the stakes are incredibly high, tension palpable and every move priceless.
Round ten starts by Sunday, 14th September, at 6 AM ET / 12:00 CEST / 3:30 PM IST.
Round 9 Results (Open): Nihal Sarin (6.0) lost to Firouzja Alireza (6.5), Abdusattorov Nodirbek (6.0) drew with Bluebaum Matthias (6.5), Maghsoodloo Parham (5.5) lost to Keymer Vincent (6.5), Giri Anish (6.5) beat Van Foreest Jorden (5.5), Niemann Hans Moke (6.0) drew with Mishra Abhimanyu (6.0), Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (5.5) drew with Liang Awonder (5.5), Erigaisi Arjun (6.0) beat Sevian Samuel (5.0), Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (5.5) drew with Sargsyan Shant (5.5), Pranav Venkatesh (5.0) lost to Tabatabaei M Amin (5.5), Mamedyarov Shakhriyar (5.5) beat Abhimanyu Puranik (4.5).
Round 9 Results (Women): Lagno Kateryna (7.0) drew with Assaubayeva Bibisara (6.5), Vaishali Rameshbabu (6.5) drew with Song Yuxin (6.5), Krush Irina (6.0) beat Stefanova Antoaneta (5.0), Girya Olga (5.5) drew with Guo Qi (5.5), Muzychuk Mariya (6.0) beat Ushenina Anna (4.5), Muzychuk Anna (5.5) beat Khamdamova Afruza (4.5), Tsolakidou Stavroula (5.0) drew with Dronavalli Harika (5.0), Kaliakhmet Elnaz (4.5) beat Vantika Agrawal (3.5)
Nihal Sarin (2693) – Firouzja Alireza (2754) 1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bc4 Nb6 6. Bb3 d5 7. exd6 c4 8. Bc2 Qxd6 9. O-O g6 10. Na3 Bg7 11. b3 cxb3 12. axb3 Nd5 13. Be4 Qd8 14. Nc4 Rb8 15. Ng5 e6 16. Ba3 Qxg5 17. f4 Qf6 18. Qe2 Nde7 19. g4 Qh4 20. Nd6+ Kf8 21. Bc5 h5 22. Bxc6 b6 23. Nxc8 Rxc8 24. Bf2 Qxg4+ 25. Qxg4 hxg4 26. Bb7 Rd8 27. Rxa7 Bf6 28. Ra2 Kg7 29. Ba6 Nd5 30. Be2 b5 31. Bxg4 b4 32. Ra7 bxc3 33. dxc3 Rhe8 34. c4 Nxf4 35. c5 Nd3 36. Be3 Rd5 37. Bf3 Re5 38. Bd2 Rxc5 39. Kh1 Rc2 40. Be3 Rh8 41. Bg1 Rh4 42. Ra4 Rxa4 43. bxa4 Ra2 44. Bc6 Be5 45. Rf3 Nf4 46. Bb5 f5 47. Bc5 Rc2 48. Bg1 Nd5 49. Rf2 Rc3 50. Rf1 Kf6 51. Re1 Ra3 52. Bd7 Ra2 53. h4 Nc3 54. Bb6 Ne4 55. Bc6 Bg3 56. Rb1 Bf2 57. Bd8+ Ke5 58. Bc7+ Kf6 59. Bd8+ Kg7 60. Bg5 Nxg5 61. hxg5 Bh4 62. Rb7+ Kf8 63. Bd7 Ke7 64. Bb5+ Kd6 65. Rg7 Bxg5 66. Rxg6 Ra1+ 67. Kg2 Be3 68. Kf3 Bb6 69. Ke2 Ra2+ 70. Kd3 Ra3+ 71. Kd2 f4 72. Bc4 Re3 73. Rf6 Ba5+ 74. Kd1 f3 75. Rf7 e5 76. Ba6 e4 77. Bb7 Ke5 78. Re7+ Kd4 79. Rd7+ Kc3 80. Ba6 Kb3 81. Kc1 Re1+ 82. Rd1
82…f2 0-1
Maghsoodloo Parham (2692) – Keymer Vincent (2751) 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. O-O e5 5. e4 Be7 6. Nc3 d6 7. d3 Bg4 8. h3 Be6 9. Ng5 Bd7 10. f4 exf4 11. gxf4 h6 12. Nf3 g5 13. Nh2 gxf4 14. Ne2 Nh5 15. Nxf4 Nxf4 16. Bxf4 Be6 17. Kh1 Qd7 18. Qh5 O-O-O 19. c3 Rdg8 20. d4 cxd4 21. cxd4 Nxd4 22. Rfd1 Bg5 23. Bg3 Bf6 24. Bf4 Kb8 25. Rd3 Ka8 26. Rad1 Rg5 27. Qh4 Rg6 28. Qf2 Rhg8 29. Rg3 Rxg3 30. Bxg3 Be5 31. Nf1 Bxh3 32. Rxd4 Bxd4 33. Qxd4 h5 34. e5 Bxg2+ 35. Kxg2 h4 36. Qxh4 dxe5 37. Qe4 f6 38. Kf2 a6 39. a4 Rg4 40. Qf3 Qd4+ 41. Kg2 Qxb2+ 42. Kh3 Rg6 43. Bf2 Qc2 44. Ng3 Qxa4 45. Qe3 Qd4 46. Qe2 Qd7+ 47. Kh2 Rg4 48. Qe3 Qd4 49. Qe2 Qf4 50. Qc2 Qc4 51. Qd2 Rg8 52. Qb2 Rh8+ 53. Kg1 Rc8 54. Ne2 Qc6 55. Qa3 Qe4 56. Qa2 Qf3 57. Qe6 Rd8 58. Ng3 Kb8 59. Nf1 Qc6 60. Qe7 Rg8+ 61. Ng3 a5 62. Qf7 Rd8 63. Qe7 Qd6 64. Qf7 a4 65. Nf1 a3 66. Ne3 f5 67. Kh2 f4 68. Nc4 Qh6+ 69. Kg2 Qc6+ 70. Kf1
70…Qh1+ 0-1
Photos Courtesy: Michal Walusza / FIDE (International Chess Federation)
Official Site: https://grandswiss2025.fide.com/
