Niemann downs Pragg, Vaishali & Lagno lead @ Samarkand
GM Bluebaum Matthias survived a losing position against fellow German GM Vincent Keymer staying afloat on top with 7.0 points after the 10th round of the $ 855,000 FIDE Grand Swiss 2025, Samarkand. Sharing the lead with the German duo were GMs Alireza Firouzja, Hans Moke Niemann and Anish Giri. A large pack of nine GMs trail behind leaders at 6.5 points. In the women’s section, GM Lagno Kateryna & Vaishali Rameshbabu lead jointly with 7.5 points followed by GMs Assaubayeva Bibisara, Tan Zhongyi and IM Song Yuxin at 7.0 points. Two Candidates spot in the run-up for the World Championship are up for grabs and the road to history is waiting to happen.
In the game of the day, American Grandmaster Hans Moke Niemann brought down FIDE Circuit leader GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. The Sicilian Defense Rossolimo Attack worked well for the American who made the best of the tricky position that arose from the opening. It was tactics all the way in the middle-game and for once the higher rated Indian fell short. The game result has far reaching implications as it greatly increases the chances of Niemann to grab one of the two Candidates spot. In the post match observation Niemann felt that it would be good to meet an opponent in the final round who’d also play for a win.
While a draw might fetch a Candidates spot for two time European Champion Bluebaum, a must win on demand situation faces GMs Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri, Vincent Keymer, Hans Moke Niemann, Erigaisi Arjun, Abhimanyu Mishra and the surprise packet from Texas GM Andy Woodward. Elsewhere, defending Grand Swiss champion Vidit Santosh Gujrathi defeated GM Ivan Saric of Croatia, but was left ruing his devastating loss from an equal position to German Vincent Keymer in the previous round. Vidit along with front runners viz., Nihal, Abdusattorov, Liang, Yu Yangyi, MVL will be playing in the top boards in the final round. But their tie-breaks are relatively weaker compared to the rest in the same point bracket.
World champion Gukesh Dommaraju turned it around after going winless for six rounds defeating Armenian Grandmaster Gabriel Sargissian. At a 50% score of 5/10 Gukesh would possibly want to finish the event on the brighter side. The youngest world champion in the history of chess has a long and daunting task of climbing back on the rating ladder.
Women’s world cup winner GM Divya Deshmukh continued her stable run holding former European Champion GM Aleksandar Inđić of Serbia to a draw. Playing in the Open section Divya excelled with a rating performance of ELO 2615 defeating GMs Amin Bassem and Ivic Velimir on way. A hard fought 103 moves draw with the world champion Gukesh Dommaraju would be the icing on the cake for Divya.
Defending Champion Grandmaster Vaishali Rameshbabu vastly improved her chances securing a timely win over former women’s world champion Mariya Muzychuk. Playing out a rare line of the Sicilian Sveshnikov, Vaishali found her usual nemesis – the time. At half way mark the Indian had run into last few minutes while her opponent had half the clock time on hand. Sailing into a worse position nearing the first time control Vaishali rode her luck as Mariya erred in time pressure. Grabbing the opportunity that came her way Vaishali stunned Mariya in 42 moves. The Candidates spot is now within the hand’s reach of the Indian, who’d just need to complete a normal day in the office.
In this edition, 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 up-to a total prize fund of $ 855,000. More than the handsome winner’s paycheck it is the lure of the Candidates qualification that ups the challenge.
The final day final round has arrived. The stakes are high and immeasurable. Everyone gives their everything to make it count. An occasion to witness and not to be missed. The 11th & final round starts an hour earlier by Monday, 15th September, at 5 AM ET / 11:00 CEST / 2:30 PM IST.
Key final round pairings (Open): Bluebaum – Firouzja, Giri – Niemann, Erigaisi – Keymer, Abdusattorov – Liang, MVL – Nihal, Woodward – Yu Yangyi, Vidit – Mishra
Key final round pairings (Women): Zhongyi – Vaishali, Lagno – Fataliyeva, Krush – Song, Assaubayeva – Muzychuk Anna, Muzychuk Mariya – Danielian, Kosteniuk – Guo
Round 10 Results (Open): Firouzja Alireza (7.0) drew with Giri Anish (7.0), Keymer Vincent (7.0) drew with Bluebaum Matthias (7.0), Yu Yangyi (6.5) drew with Erigaisi Arjun (6.5), Nihal Sarin (6.5) drew with Abdusattorov Nodirbek (6.5), Mishra Abhimanyu (6.5) drew with Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (6.5), Niemann Hans Moke (7.0) beat Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (6.5), Saric Ivan (5.5) lost to Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (6.5), Gukesh Dommaraju (5.0) beat Sargissian Gabriel (4.0).
Round 10 Results (Women): Tan Zhongyi (7.0) drew with Lagno Kateryna (7.5), Song Yuxin (7.0) drew with Assaubayeva Bibisara (7.0), Vaishali Rameshbabu (7.5) beat Muzychuk Mariya (6.0), Guo Qi (6.0) drew with Krush Irina (6.5), Fataliyeva Ulviyya (6.5) beat Girya Olga (5.5), Shuvalova Polina (5.5) drew with Muzychuk Anna (6.0), Dronavalli Harika (5.5) drew with Stefanova Antoaneta (5.5), Vantika Agrawal (4.5) beat Ouellet Maili-Jade (3.5).
Saric Ivan (2655) – Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (2712) 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. b3 c5 6. Bb2 Nc6 7. d4 O-O 8. Nbd2 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Bd7 10. c4 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Bc6 12. Rc1 Rc8 13. e3 Qa5 14. cxd5 Bxd5 15. Nc4 Bxc4 16. bxc4 b6 17. Qb3 Rc7 18. a4 Rfc8 19. Qb5 Nd7 20. Qxa5 bxa5 21. Rfd1 f6 22. Bf1 Bc5 23. Rb1 Kf7 24. Rb5 Bb4 25. c5 a6 26. Rb6 Nxb6 27. cxb6 Rc6 28. Bxa6 Rd8 29. Bb5 Rxb6 30. Rc1 Rb7 31. f4 Bd6 32. Rc6 Rc7 33. Ra6 Bc5 34. Bxc5 Rxc5 35. Rxa5 Rc1+ 36. Kf2 Rd2+ 37. Kf3 f5 38. g4 Rcc2 39. Ra7+ Kf8 40. Ra8+ Ke7 41. Ra7+ Kd8 42. h3 Rh2 43. Kg3 Rcg2+ 44. Kf3 Rg1 45. gxf5 exf5 46. a5 Rxh3+ 47. Ke2 Rh2+ 48. Kf3 h5 49. Rd7+ Kc8 50. Rd5 g6 51. e4 fxe4+ 52. Kxe4 h4 53. Ke5 Rc2 54. Kd6 Kb8 55. Bc6 Ka7 56. Rb5 Rd1+ 57. Kc7 Rdc1 58. Rb7+
58…Ka6 0-1
Vaishali Rameshbabu (2452) – Muzychuk Mariya (2484) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 Nxd5 8. exd5 Nb8 9. Rg1 Be7 10. g4 Nd7 11. Be3 a6 12. Nc3 Bg5 13. Bxg5 Qxg5 14. Qd2 Qxd2+ 15. Kxd2 b5 16. a4 b4 17. Ne4 Ke7 18. a5 Nc5 19. f3 Bd7 20. Nxc5 dxc5 21. Bc4 Kd6 22. Rae1 g5 23. h4 gxh4 24. f4 f6 25. g5 exf4 26. gxf6 Rhf8 27. Re7 Rxf6 28. Rxh7 h3 29. Ke2 Bf5 30. Rh4 Bxc2 31. Rxh3 Be4 32. Kf2 Ke5 33. b3 Rd8 34. Re1 f3 35. Rh5+ Rf5 36. Rh6 Kd4 37. d6 Rg5 38. Rh4 Re5 39. Re3 Ree8 40. d7 Re7 41. Rd3+ Ke5
42. Rxe4+ 1-0
Photos Courtesy: Michal Walusza / FIDE (International Chess Federation)
Official Site: https://grandswiss2025.fide.com/
