Indian GM Nihal Sarin defeated GM Parham Maghsoodloo to grab the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss lead on 5.5/7, where he was joined by GM Matthias Bluebaum, who stunned GM Arjun Erigaisi. GMs Alireza Firouzja, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Hans Niemann, and Vidit Gujrathi all won to move within half a point, while World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju lost a topsy-turvy third game in a row, to another 16-year-old, Turkish GM Ediz Gurel.
Defending Champion GM Vaishali Rameshbabu won a fifth game to regain the sole lead in the 2025 FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss on 6/7 after whipping up a checkmating attack against IM Guo Qi. GM Kateryna Lagno is in sole second place after a quick draw, while GM Bibisara Assaubayeva, GM Mariya Muzychuk, and IM Song Yuxin all won to move to 5/7.
This is a flash report—come back later for full player quotes and analysis!
Round eight is on Friday, September 12, starting at 6 a.m. ET / 12:00 CEST / 3:30 p.m. IST.
Standings
It’s all change in the Open in Samarkand, with Nihal and Bluebaum taking over in the lead. Maghsoodloo’s loss was good news for the chasing pack, with seven players now only half a point behind.
FIDE Grand Swiss Standings After Round 7
In the Women’s Grand Swiss we’re back to Vaishali as sole leader, while Lagno is in sole second place and pre-tournament favorites Assaubayeva and Mariya Muzychuk are well-placed to fight for FIDE Candidates spots.
FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss Standings After Round 7
Open: Nihal And Bluebaum Take Over At Top
Six games were decisive on the top-10 boards, with the wins at the tops transforming the standings with four rounds to go.
Round 7 Results: Open
Check out the full games and results.
Our Game of the Day is Bluebaum’s victory over world number-five Arjun, which GM Rafael Leitao will analyze below.
Arjun was the highest seed to suffer an upset loss, but Gukesh’s third loss in a row was perhaps more shocking. GM Divya Deshmukh also picked up a second win and now has half a point more than Gukesh… but they’ve been paired to play in round eight!
FIDE Grand Swiss Round 7 Upset Wins
| Player (Seed) | FED | Rtg | Result | Player (Seed) | FED | Rtg |
| GM Arjun Erigaisi (2) | 2771 | 0 – 1 | GM Matthias Bluebaum (32) | 2671 | ||
| GM Ediz Gurel (63) | 2631 | 1 – 0 | GM D Gukesh (3) | 2767 | ||
| GM David Anton Guijarro (71) | 2625 | 1 – 0 | GM Pavel Eljanov (27) | 2682 | ||
| GM Aram Hakobyan (72) | 2625 | 1 – 0 | GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (29) | 2674 | ||
| GM Daniil Yuffa (49) | 2648 | 0 – 1 | GM Yuriy Kuzubov (94) | 2600 | ||
| GM Divya Deshmukh (115) | 2478 | 1 – 0 | GM Velimir Ivic (64) | 2630 | ||
| GM Abdimalik Abdisalimov (112) | 2488 | 1 – 0 | GM Haik M. Martirosyan (66) | 2628 |
Leaders Bluebaum and Nihal will meet in Friday’s round eight, with the players on five points able to catch them if they draw. We’ve got some mouth-watering clashes with Firouzja-Niemann, Mishra-Abdusattorov, Maghsoodloo-Giri, and Keymer (on 4.5)-Vidit.
FIDE Grand Swiss Round 8 Pairings (Top 21)
| # | White | FED | Rtg | Result | Black | FED | Rtg |
| 1 | GM Matthias Bluebaum (5.5) | 2671 | – | GM Nihal Sarin (5.5) | 2693 | ||
| 2 | GM Alireza Firouzja (5) | 2754 | – | GM Hans Moke Niemann (5) | 2733 | ||
| 3 | GM Abhimanyu Mishra (5) | 2611 | – | GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (5) | 2748 | ||
| 4 | GM Parham Maghsoodloo (5) | 2692 | – | GM Anish Giri (5) | 2746 | ||
| 5 | GM Vincent Keymer (4.5) | 2751 | – | GM Vidit Gujrathi (5) | 2712 | ||
| 6 | GM Richard Rapport (4.5) | 2711 | – | GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (4.5) | 2785 | ||
| 7 | GM Shant Sargsyan (4.5) | 2653 | – | GM Arjun Erigaisi (4.5) | 2771 | ||
| 8 | GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (4.5) | 2742 | – | GM V Pranav (4.5) | 2596 | ||
| 9 | GM Jorden Van Foreest (4.5) | 2692 | – | GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (4.5) | 2741 | ||
| 10 | GM Yu Yangyi (4.5) | 2714 | – | GM Nikolas Theodorou (4.5) | 2646 | ||
| 11 | GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (4) | 2646 | – | GM Levon Aronian (4) | 2744 | ||
| 12 | GM Maxim Rodshtein (4) | 2645 | – | GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (4) | 2738 | ||
| 13 | GM Abhimanyu Puranik (4) | 2640 | – | GM Javokhir Sindarov (4) | 2722 | ||
| 14 | GM Awonder Liang (4) | 2698 | – | GM Saleh Salem (4) | 2640 | ||
| 15 | GM Mateusz Bartel (4) | 2581 | – | GM Samuel Sevian (4) | 2692 | ||
| 16 | GM Maksim Chigaev (4) | 2638 | – | GM Daniil Dubov (4) | 2691 | ||
| 17 | GM Andrey Esipenko (4) | 2687 | – | GM Ediz Gurel (4) | 2631 | ||
| 18 | GM Andy Woodward (4) | 2557 | – | GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (4) | 2681 | ||
| 19 | GM Amin Tabatabaei (4) | 2673 | – | GM Alexei Shirov (4) | 2616 | ||
| 20 | GM Nikita Vitiugov (4) | 2666 | – | GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi (4) | 2610 | ||
| 21 | GM Szymon Gumularz (4) | 2590 | – | GM Ivan Saric (4) | 2655 | ||
| 22 | GM Vladimir Fedoseev (3.5) | 2731 | – | GM Cristobal Henriquez Villagra (4) | 2594 |
Women: Vaishali Marches On
Once again six of the top-10 boards were decisive in the women’s section, with Vaishali taking the chance to regain the sole lead with a win after there was a quick draw on the top board.
Round 7 Results: Women
Check out the full games and results.
It wasn’t a day for significant upsets, with IM Dinara Wagner spoiling a winning position against GM Tan Zhongyi then losing in a painful 139 moves.
FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss Round 7 Upset Wins
| Player (Seed) | FED | Rtg | Result | Player (Seed) | FED | Rtg |
| IM Carissa Yip (11) | 2458 | 1 – 0 | IM Leya Garifullina (8) | 2477 | ||
| IM Lela Javakhishvili (17) | 2434 | 0 – 1 | IM Khanim Balajayeva (48) | 2331 |
With the pre-tournament favorites moving up we have two heavyweight clashes in round eight—Assaubayeva-Vaishali and Lagno-Muzychuk. That’s Mariya, but GM Anna Muzychuk is also back in contention for the Candidates spot and plays Wagner.
FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss Round 8 Pairings (Top 10)
| # | White | FED | Rtg | Result | Black | FED | Rtg |
| 1 | GM Bibisara Assaubayeva (5) | 2505 | – | GM Vaishali Rameshbabu (6) | 2452 | ||
| 2 | GM Kateryna Lagno (5.5) | 2505 | – | GM Mariya Muzychuk (5) | 2484 | ||
| 3 | GM Antoaneta Stefanova (5) | 2395 | – | IM Song Yuxin (5) | 2409 | ||
| 4 | GM Tan Zhongyi (4.5) | 2531 | – | IM Stavroula Tsolakidou (4.5) | 2445 | ||
| 5 | GM Harika Dronavalli (4) | 2467 | – | GM Olga Girya (4.5) | 2386 | ||
| 6 | IM Dinara Wagner (4) | 2400 | – | GM Anna Muzychuk (4) | 2535 | ||
| 7 | IM Khanim Balajayeva (4) | 2331 | – | GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (4) | 2472 | ||
| 8 | IM Ulviyya Fataliyeva (4) | 2385 | – | IM Lu Miaoyi (4) | 2449 | ||
| 9 | WIM Afruza Khamdamova (4) | 2409 | – | GM Elina Danielian (4) | 2405 | ||
| 10 | IM Irina Bulmaga (4) | 2400 | – | GM Irina Krush (4) | 2366 |
This is a flash report—come back later for full player quotes and analysis!
The 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss and FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss are 11-round Swiss tournaments taking place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on September 4-15. Each will decide two places in the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournaments that select the next world championship challengers. The Open tournament has a $625,000 prize fund, with $90,000 for first place, while the Women’s is $230,000 ($40,000). The time control is classical, with a longer time control for the Open of 100 minutes/40 moves + 50 min/20 + 15 min, with a 30-second increment from move 1.
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