New Delhi: Over the last few years, the fide grand swiss has live built a reputation Around long games, high stakes, and stories that swing better tale and heartbreak.The 2025 Edition in Samarkand, Uzbekistan was no different.The Event Crowned Anish Giri (Open) and Vaishali Rameshbabu (Women’s), Produced An Unlikely Candidates Qualifier in Matthias Bluebaum, and Reminded Us of BOTH The BRLLILICE and Vulniability of the Vulnerability of the radius Champion, Gukesh Dommaraju. But more than results, the tournament was about views.Go beyond the boundary with our youtube channel. Subscribe now!“Overall, I think Grand Swiss was a treatment to follow … from an educational percent, from a chess coaching and learning percent, it was a treasure. Range of players with so many games to look forward to, a lot of fight, “Gm srinath narayanan tells Timesofindia.com,
Gukesh’s stumble: a concert for the world champion?
For Gukesh, Samarkand was Harsh.A run of three cultural losses derailed his tournament, Lending Him Outside The Top 40. Following The Grand Swiss, Where he Lost Around 15 Rating Points, The 19-YEAR-Allf Finds Himself Ootside The Top 10 Live World Rankings.But despite a nightmarish tournament, srinath adds perceative: “Gukesh’s performance does not needsarily need to be seen through the lens of heeing a world champion, although Pressure is always there on Him, whather we like it or not.“Having said that, we should for forget that he is a growing chess player and he’s not even 20 annivers
D Gukesh vs Divya Deshmukh (photo by m walusza/fide)
“It was not quite the dominating performance you would expect from Belong in the top 10, and I don’t think this washed a major anomaly.“If gukesh wasn’t the world champion, if he was just a 2750 or 2770-rated player, people wouldn’t raise so many eyeabrows over this performance. Improving as a player, and keep getting getting stranger. “
India’s Mixed Fortunes, Vaishali’s Repeat Magic
The Indian Camp, as a Pack, Saw Contrasting Outomes. While World Champion D Gukesh Falted on Multiple Occasions, Vaishali Continued Her Fairy Tale by Winning The Women’s Grand Swiss for the Second Time in a Row.If Her 2023 Victory was smooth, this time she needed resilience after a torrid tournament at the chennai grand masters.Srinath says: “The Indian performance was overall a mixed bag, but there a lot of positives.“One is vaishali winning it for the second time in a row. That is incredibly nice to
India’s gm Vaishali rameshbabu poses with her trophy after winning the fide women’s grand swiss 2025 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. (FID)
“In the open, nihal played exceptionally well, pranav v was very good, aditya mittal was very good. So there we were quite good performance across the board.”As of now, India’s men may not have classed candidates spots, but the depth of talent, across both open and women’s fields, was evident. While Praggnanandhaa will be aiming to Qualify for the 2026 Candidates by Topping The Fide Circuit, A Top-Three Finish in the World Cup, Scheduled in Goa This October-Novemeber, COLD Best For Some Like Arjun Erigaisi to Secure a Spot in the Candidates.
Anish Giri: The Deserving Winner
For years, Current Dutch No. 1 giri has been the nearly-man of elite chess, always solid, often close, but not quite at the summit.In Samarkand, He Flipped That Script with An Unbeated 8.0 Score, Taking First Place, Pocketing The $ 90,000 prize money and punching his ticket back to the candidates.
Dutch no. 1 anish giri (photo by fide)
Through a steady display of confidence, He Never Overpressed, Yet When Opportunities Came, He Converted Without Hesitation.Srinath puts it simply: “Anish was quite solid throughout, and he took his chances.
Matthias Bluebaum Proves Why Grand Swiss Matters
Every Edition of the Grand Swiss Seems to Produce a Surprise Qualifier, and this time it was matthias bluebaum, the 32nd seed from Germany.His Victories Over Pragnanandhaa and Erigaisi Were Alredy Impressive, but surviving against vincent keymer from a losing position was decision.That Single Turnaraound Not Only Altered His Fate but also Reshaped Germany’s Chess History, Making Bluebaum The First German in 34 years to Qualify for the candidates.
Matthias Bluebaum vs Compatriot Vincent Keymer (Fide Photo)
Srinath explains, “Matthias bluebaum was exceptionally good for the tournament. I think the turning point came in his game against against the against vincent keymer at the 54… NXG3 Moment.“Vincent seemed to be coasting and looked set to win, but that one lapse turns the game in bluebaum’s favorite Tournament like the grand swiss gives players from the wider top 100, that outside the established Elite, The Chance to Prove Themselves and Break Through. “
Teengers make their mark
The Grand Swiss is a fertile ground for prodigies, and this year a triao study out.16-Eld American Gm Abhimanyu Mishra Beat The Reigning World Champion Gukesh, 15-Old andy Woodward Defeated Giants Like Levon Aronian, And 14-OLD YAGIZ KAAN ERDOGMUS Stunned MANIDOGMUS STUNDOGMUS STUNDOGMUS Stunned Hice Hice Poise, subsequent Earning Praise from None Other Than World No. 1 magnus carlsen.
American gm abhimanyu mishra (fide photo)
The impact was worker than individual wins: it signalled that a new generation is ready to unseettle the hierchy.Srinath highlights this broader theme: “The most inspiring thing was the performance of the younger generation, so many heartening performance and so many people who are normally not in the spotlight but Exceptional chess. “
Women in the open
Fide Women’s World Cup 2025 Winner Divya Deshmukh and Aleksandra Goryachkina Opted to Test Themselves in the open field rather than the women’s section and proved a point.Divya, in Particular, Impressed With Her Fearlessness, Producing Fighting Games even against the world champion.“Divya’s play was very refreshing. Nice to see her living up to it.“It was also good to see goryachkina’s performance in the same spirit. Open Section and Produce A Similar Solid Performance.
