Lagno joins Vaishali in lead @ Samarkand
Grandmasters Lagno Kateryna & Vaishali Rameshbabu shared the lead with 3.5 points after the 4th round of the Women’s section of the $ 855,000 FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 at Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Draws in the top boards saw Grandmaster Parham Maghsoodloo maintain the lead at 3.5 points in the Open section. Behind Parham at 3.0 points were 13 Grandmasters including Erigaisi Arjun, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Gukesh Dommaraju, Vincent Keymer, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Richard Rapport, Gumularz Szymon and Abhimanyu Mishra. Seven more rounds remain in this qualifier, the strongest Swiss tournament leading to the coveted Candidates spots.
Draws in eight of the top ten boards doesn’t indicate the nature of the games that were bitterly fought. Except for the early draw between GMs Ivan Cheparinov and Anish Giri most of the other games led up to bare kings.
The top board game between tournament leader Maghsoodloo and local star Abdusattorov promised to be a big fare. But, caution and precision ruled the day and the Slav game that ran for more than four hours ended in a draw after 56 moves.
FIDE Circuit leader Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu faced Abhimanyu Mishra, the youngest Grandmaster in the history of chess. The English Opening saw Pragg pushing for the initiative and gaining a pawn into the middle game. But, Mishra was resolute in his defense and wasn’t willing to give up. Facing Praggnanandhaa, the top seed of the FIDE Grand Swiss, Mishra had gone undefeated for 59 games and was in some danger of losing out on the glorious streak. But grim defense from the Indian American saved him the day.
In the steps of the top seed, world champion Gukesh Dommaraju and Erigaisi Arjun drew their game. Gukesh faced Erigaisi with a 1-6 lifetime score and would have wanted to reduce the margin, but the Catalan game was balanced right through. Periodical trade-offs led the game into an equal knight and pawn ending, with peace agreed on the 46th turn.
In a big advertisement for age, the legend from Ukraine Vasyl Ivanchuk held defending champion Vidit Santosh Gujrathi to a draw. Showing remarkable fighting spirit the former world rapid and blitz champion hung in there when the chips were down. With a losing rook and pawn ending staring his face, it was the never say die attitude that got him through.
A draw against German Dinara Wagner kept defending champion Vaishali Rameshbabu on top, sharing the lead with a 3.5/4 score. Former world rapid & blitz champion Lagno Kateryna joined Vaishali in the lead defeating Chinese International Master Song Yuxin. Sharing the third place at 3.0 points were five players including former women’s world champion Antoaneta Stefanova. In key pairings for the next round, Vaishali faces Lagno, while Stefanova plays Kamdamova in the second board.
Round five starts by Monday, 8th September, at 6 AM ET / 12:00 CEST / 3:30 PM IST.
Round 4 Results (Open): Maghsoodloo Parham (3.5) drew with Abdusattorov Nodirbek (3.0), Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (3.0) drew with Mishra Abhimanyu (3.0), Gukesh Dommaraju (3.0) drew with Erigaisi Arjun (3.0), Firouzja Alireza (2.5) drew with Gumularz Szymon (3.0), Keymer Vincent (3.0) beat Svane Frederik (2.0), Cheparinov Ivan (2.5) drew with Giri Anish (2.5), Mendonca Leon Luke (2.5) drew with Niemann Hans Moke (2.5), Ivanchuk Vasyl (2.5) drew with Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (2.5).
Round 4 Results (Women): Wagner Dinara (3.0) drew with Vaishali Rameshbabu (3.5), Lagno Kateryna (3.5) beat Song Yuxin (2.5), Tan Zhongyi (2.5) drew with Salimova Nurgyul (2.5), Girya Olga (2.5) drew with Assaubayeva Bibisara (2.5), Fataliyeva Ulviyya (3.0) beat Muzychuk Mariya (2.0), Badelka Olga (2.5) drew with Tsolakidou Stavroula (2.5), Dronavalli Harika (2.0) drew with Balajayeva Khanim (2.5), Vantika Agrawal (1.5) lost to Kosteniuk Alexandra (2.5).
Keymer Vincent (2751) – Svane Frederik (2643) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Bc5 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Bc2 Nxf2 12. Rxf2 f6 13. exf6 Qxf6 14. Qf1 Rae8 15. Nb3 Bxf2+ 16. Qxf2 Ne5 17. Nbd4 Bg4 18. Bg5 Qb6 19. Qh4 Nxf3+ 20. gxf3 Bf5 21. Bb3 c6 22. Be7 Rf7 23. Re1 Bd7 24. Re5 c5 25. Bxc5 Qxc5 26. Rxd5 Qc7 27. Qh5 Ree7 28. Rc5 Qd6 29. Bxf7+ Rxf7 30. Rd5 Qf8 31. a3 h6 32. Qg6 Qe8 33. Qd3 Qe1+ 34. Qf1 Qe3+ 35. Qf2 Qc1+ 36. Kg2 Re7 37. h4 Qf4 38. Ne2 Qf6 39. Rd4 Qg6+ 40. Ng3 Bc6 41. Rd8+ Re8 42. Rxe8+ Qxe8 43. Qc5 Qe6 44. Kf2 Qf6 45. Qh5 Qf4 46. Qg4 Qd2+ 47. Ne2 Be8 48. Qc8 Kf7 49. Qxa6 Qxb2 50. Qb7+ Kf8 51. a4 b4 52. Qxb4+ Qxb4 53. cxb4 Bxa4 54. Nd4 Bd7 55. b5 Ke7 56. h5 Kd6 57. Ke3 Kc5 58. Ke4 Kb6 59. Nf5 Bxb5 60. Ke5 Be2 61. Kf4 Bb5 62. Nxg7 Bc6 63. Nf5 Be8 64. Ng3 Bc6 65. Ne4 Be8 66. Kg4 Bd7+ 67. Kg3 Be8 68. Nf6 Bf7 69. Kh4 Kc5 70. Ng4 Bd5 71. f4 Kd4
72. Nxh6 1-0
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (2738) – Maurizzi MarcAndria (2610) 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Ne7 6. O-O c5 7. Be3 Nec6 8. c3 Nd7 9. a3 Be7 10. b4 cxd4 11. cxd4 O-O 12. Nbd2 Rc8 13. Rc1 a6 14. Nb3 b5 15. Nc5 Nb6 16. Nxa6 Nc4 17. a4 Nxb4 18. Nxb4 Bxb4 19. Qb3 Ba3 20. Rxc4 dxc4 21. Qxa3 Qa5 22. d5 b4 23. Qb2 exd5 24. Nd4 Bd7 25. f4 c3 26. Qb1 Bxa4 27. Bd3 g6 28. f5 b3 29. Qe1 Qc7 30. Bh6 c2 31. Qb4 Qxe5 32. Qxa4 Rc4 33. Nc6 Rxa4 34. Nxe5 Rc8 35. Bc1 Ra2 36. fxg6 hxg6 37. Bxg6 fxg6 38. Nd3
38…Ra1 0-1
Ivanchuk Vasyl (2608) – Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (2712) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. e5 Qe7 7. Qe2 Nd5 8. h4 Qe6 9. Nd2 a5 10. c4 Nb4 11. Nf3 Qg6 12. h5 Qc2 13. h6 gxh6 14. Nd4 Qxe2+ 15. Kxe2 Bg7 16. Rh4 Ba6 17. Ke1 c5 18. a3 cxd4 19. axb4 axb4 20. Bxh6 Bxh6 21. Rxh6 Bb7 22. Rxa8+ Bxa8 23. g3 Ke7 24. Kd2 Rg8 25. Ra6 Bf3 26. Rf6 Bh5 27. Rh6 Bg6 28. Bh3 Ra8 29. f4 Be4 30. f5 Ra5 31. Rxh7 Rxe5 32. g4 Ra5 33. Bf1 Ra2 34. Bd3 Bxd3 35. Kxd3 Rxb2 36. Kxd4 Rg2 37. Ke5 Rxg4 38. f6+ Kf8 39. Rh8+ Rg8 40. Rh1 Ke8 41. c5 d6+ 42. cxd6 c6 43. Ra1 Rg5+ 44. Kf4 Rb5 45. Ra8+ Kd7 46. Rf8 Kxd6 47. Rxf7 b3 48. Ra7 Ke6 49. f7 Rb8 50. Ke3 b2 51. f8=Q Rxf8 52. Rb7 Kd5 53. Rxb2 c5 54. Rc2 Rh8 55. Rc1 Rh2 56. Kd3 Rh3+ 57. Kc2 Kc4 58. Rg1 Rh2+ 59. Kc1 Re2 60. Rg3 Kb4 61. Rh3 c4 62. Rg3 Rh2 63. Rf3 Ra2 64. Rh3 Rg2 65. Rf3 c3 66. Rf7 Rb2 67. Rb7+ Ka3
68. Rc7 1/2-1/2
Photo Courtesy: Michal Walusza / FIDE (International Chess Federation)
Official Site: https://grandswiss2025.fide.com/
