Giri & Vaishali emerge FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 champions
GMs Anish Giri (Netherlands) and Vaishali Rameshbabu (India) with a similar 8/11 score clinched the Open & Women’s title in the $ 855,000 FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 at Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The winner’s take home $ 90,000 and $ 40,000 for the Open & Women’s section. Securing the other Candidates spot finishing second were GMs Bluebaum Matthias (Germany) and Lagno Kateryna (FIDE) respectively.
With a multitude of final round possibilities, it was arithmetic all the way, before a single positive game turned the whole chess world around. It was the pragmatic and practical approach that carried the day for Anish Giri who has had a good run in the last couple of months. Staying on top of the world rankings for more than a decade, the world championship is one title eluding the Dutch icon. This could well be Anish Giri’s time when he could go on to emulate fellow Dutch legend and former world champion Max Euwe.
A single result in the top seven boards decided the champion in the Open section. Dutch GM Anish Giri, loaded with vast experience, secured the only win in the top board defeating the American GM Hans Moke Niemann. The English opening game saw Anish play out in an unhurried manner, gathering momentum slowly but steadily. The queen trade-off worked well for the Dutch Grandmaster who deftly handled his twin rooks and bishops securing an extra pawn and with that a winning end game. Post liquidation natural looking moves paved the way for a white win and a heart-break to Niemann. For the numbers, Anish came up with five wins and six draws cruising to the top coming up with an ELO 2838 rating performance.
Joining the Dutchman taking the second Candidates spot from the FIDE Grand Swiss was the surprise of the event – GM Bluebaum Matthias. Staying undefeated with four wins and seven draws adding up to a rating performance of ELO 2819 the German had a dream tournament. The two time European champion deserved his place and will now burn the midnight oil to make his Candidates selection work.
World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju (6/11) finished the tournament on a positive note defeating GM Andrei Volokitin of Ukraine. The hat-trick of defeats in the middle of the event, did the damage and the Indian Grandmaster will be working to make suitable comeback.
The rating favorites hoping to secure a Candidates spot viz., Alireza Firouzja, Wesley So, Erigaisi Arjun, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Vincent Keymer, Wei Yi, Ian Nepomniachtchi etc., will now head to Goa for a last chance selection. Three more Candidates spots remain to be picked up in the FIDE World Cup scheduled to be held at Goa, India from 1st November 2025.
In the women’s section, it was GM Vaishali Rameshbabu, with a better tie-break score, who marched her way to the title with six wins, four draws and a loss to GM Assaubayeva Bibisara. Coming up with an ELO rating 2604 performance Vaishali emerged a deserving winner taking her second straight FIDE Grand Swiss title. Booking the second Candidates spot after Vaishali was GM Lagno Kateryna who also logged 8/11 staying undefeated with an ELO 2592 show.
The Vaishali & Lagno duo will join Zhu Jiner, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Divya Deshmukh, Koneru Humpy and Tan Zhongyi in the race for the Candidates 2026, with one player yet to be decided.
Final standings (Open): 1. Anish Giri (Netherlands) 8.0, 2-4 Bluebaum Matthias (Germany), Firouzja Alireza (France), Keymer Vincent (Germany) 7.5, 5-10 Mishra Abhimanyu (USA), Erigaisi Arjun (India), Woodward Andy, Niemann Hans Moke (both USA), Nihal Sarin (India), Abdusattorov Nodirbek (Uzbekistan) 7.0 pts
Final standings (Women): 1-2 Vaishali Rameshbabu (India), Lagno Kateryna (FIDE) 8.0, 3-5 Assaubayeva Bibisara (Kazakhstan), Tan Zhongyi, Song Yuxin (both China) 7.5, 6-8 Fataliyeva Ulviyya (Azerbaijan), Krush Irina (USA), Muzychuk Mariya (Ukraine) 7.0, 9-10 Guo Qi (China), Girya Olga (FIDE) 6.5 pts
Round 11 Results (Open): Bluebaum Matthias (7.5) drew with Firouzja Alireza (7.5), Giri Anish (8.0) beat Niemann Hans Moke (7.0), Erigaisi Arjun (7.0) drew with Keymer Vincent (7.5), Abdusattorov Nodirbek (7.0) drew with Liang Awonder (7.0), Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (7.0) drew with Nihal Sarin (7.0), Woodward Andy (7.0) drew with Yu Yangyi (7.0), Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (7.0) drew with Mishra Abhimanyu (7.0)
Round 11 Results (Women): Tan Zhongyi (7.5) drew with Vaishali Rameshbabu (8.0), Lagno Kateryna (8.0) drew with Fataliyeva Ulviyya (7.0), Krush Irina (7.0) drew with Song Yuxin (7.5), Assaubayeva Bibisara (7.5) drew with Muzychuk Anna (6.5), Muzychuk Mariya (7.0) beat Danielian Elina (6.0), Kosteniuk Alexandra (6.5) drew with Guo Qi (6.5), Yip Carissa (6.0) lost to Dronavalli Harika (6.5), Bulmaga Irina (5.0) drew with Vantika Agrawal (5.0)
Giri Anish (2746) – Niemannn Hans Moke (2733) 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e3 Bb4 5. Qc2 Bxc3 6. Qxc3 Qe7 7. a3 d5 8. d4 exd4 9. Nxd4 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 c5 11. Qh4 Be6 12. cxd5 Nxd5 13. Bb5+ Bd7 14. Qxe7+ Nxe7 15. Be2 Rc8 16. f3 f6 17. Kf2 Kf7 18. Rd1 Be6 19. h4 b6 20. e4 Nc6 21. Be3 Na5 22. Rd6 Rhe8 23. g4 Nb7 24. Rd2 Na5 25. Rd6 Nb7 26. Rdd1 Na5 27. Rac1 Ke7 28. Ba6 Rcd8 29. Rxd8 Rxd8 30. b4 Nb3 31. Rc3 Rd6 32. bxc5 bxc5 33. Rxb3 Bxb3 34. Bxc5 Kd7 35. Bxd6 Kxd6 36. g5 Be6 37. Ke3 Kc5 38. Kf4 Kd4 39. gxf6 gxf6 40. a4 h6 41. a5 Bd7 42. Be2 Kc5 43. e5 Kd5 44. exf6 Ke6 45. f7 Kxf7
46. Ke5 1-0
Tan Zhongyi (2531) – Vaishali Rameshbabu (2452) 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Ndb4 8. Nb5 Bf5 9. O-O a6 10. N5a3 Qxd1 11. Rxd1 g6 12. Bd2 Rd8 13. Nc3 Bg7 14. Nc4 Bc2 15. Rdc1 b5 16. a3 bxc4 17. axb4 Nxb4 18. Nd5 Nxd5 19. Rxc2 O-O 20. Rxa6 e6 21. e4 Nc7 22. Rb6 Rb8 23. Rxb8 Rxb8 24. Bc1 c3 25. bxc3 Nb5 26. Rb2 Ra8 27. Rxb5 Ra1 28. Rb8+ Bf8 29. Bf1 Rxc1 30. Rc8 Kg7 31. Kg2 Bb4 32. c4 Rc2 33. Kf3 Rc3+ 34. Ke2 Rc1 35. Bh3 Rc2+ 36. Kf1 Rc1+ 37. Kg2 h5 38. Rc7 Kf8 39. f4 Rc2+ 40. Kg1 Bc3 41. Rc8+ Kg7 42. Rc7 Kf8 43. Rc8+
43…Kg7 1/2-1/2
Photos Courtesy: Michal Walusza / FIDE (International Chess Federation)
Official Site: https://grandswiss2025.fide.com/
