GMs Anish Giri and Vaishali Rameshbabu topped the tables of the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss and 2025 FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, but the 172 players in 11 rounds brought countless stories. We got the surprise Candidates qualification for 32nd seed GM Matthias Bluebaum, a tournament to forget for World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju, star roles for teenage talents such as GMs Abhimanyu Mishra and Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, and much more.
Let’s get to the conclusions.
- Giri Is Back Where He Belongs!
- Bluebaum Defies Odds As 1st German Candidate Since Huebner
- Vaishali Brings Indian Success, Lagno Shows Class
- The Candidates Tournaments Are Shaping Up
- The Grand Swiss Isn’t Gukesh’s Event
- U.S. And Turkish Kids Star
- Mishra Leads The Unbeaten Streaks
- The Veterans Are Still Going Strong
- Divya, Goryachkina’s Open Experiment Pays Off
- Liang, Nihal Set To Cross 2700 Officially
- Grand Swiss Was A Great Event But The Time Control Is Loooong
- We Should Stop Spoiling Final Results, Or Rethink Delays
- Tiebreaks Were Fair But Playoffs Could Be Added
1. Giri Is Back Where He Belongs!
The 31-year-old Giri has been a mainstay of top-level chess since he burst onto the scene by beating GM Magnus Carlsen as a 16-year-old in Wijk aan Zee in 2011. He played the FIDE Candidates Tournament in 2016, a remarkable 14 draws that didn’t reflect how double-edged many of the games had been, and in the pandemic-affected 2020/21, when he was the player to push winner GM Ian Nepomniachtchi hardest in the second half. The Dutchman missed the last two Candidates, however, and had dropped as low as world number-23 earlier this year, so a comeback was called for.
That’s just what we got in Samarkand, with Giri posting an unbeaten +5 score to take clear first place, win the $90,000 top prize, and climb to number-seven on the live rating list.
2025 FIDE Grand Swiss Prize Winners
Rank | Seed | Name | FED | Rating | Score | TB | Prize ($) |
1 | 7 | Anish Giri | 2746 | 8.0 | 2668 | 90,000 | |
2 | 32 | Matthias Bluebaum | 2671 | 7.5 | 2695 | 62,333 | |
3 | 4 | Alireza Firouzja | 2754 | 7.5 | 2684 | 62,333 | |
4 | 5 | Vincent Keymer | 2751 | 7.5 | 2668 | 62,333 | |
5 | 86 | Abhimanyu Mishra | 2611 | 7.0 | 2731 | 15,280 | |
6 | 2 | Arjun Erigaisi | 2771 | 7.0 | 2687 | 15,280 | |
7 | 108 | Andy Woodward | 2557 | 7.0 | 2686 | 15,280 | |
8 | 12 | Hans Moke Niemann | 2733 | 7.0 | 2668 | 15,280 | |
9 | 20 | Nihal Sarin | 2693 | 7.0 | 2666 | 15,280 | |
10 | 6 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 2748 | 7.0 | 2663 | 15,280 | |
11 | 19 | Awonder Liang | 2698 | 7.0 | 2659 | 15,280 | |
12 | 17 | Richard Rapport | 2711 | 7.0 | 2657 | 15,280 | |
13 | 10 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 2741 | 7.0 | 2649 | 15,280 | |
14 | 28 | Nodirbek Yakubboev | 2681 | 7.0 | 2645 | 15,280 | |
15 | 16 | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | 2712 | 7.0 | 2640 | 15,280 | |
16 | 11 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 2738 | 7.0 | 2637 | 15,280 | |
17 | 15 | Yu Yangyi | 2714 | 7.0 | 2634 | 15,280 | |
18 | 22 | Samuel Sevian | 2692 | 7.0 | 2633 | 15,280 | |
19 | 25 | Andrey Esipenko | 2687 | 7.0 | 2630 | 15,280 | |
20 | 43 | Shant Sargsyan | 2653 | 6.5 | 2693 | 6,471 | |
21 | 82 | Alexei Shirov | 2616 | 6.5 | 2685 | 6,471 | |
22 | 96 | Pranav Venkatesh | 2596 | 6.5 | 2679 | 6,471 | |
23 | 23 | Jorden van Foreest | 2692 | 6.5 | 2655 | 6,471 | |
24 | 14 | Javokhir Sindarov | 2722 | 6.5 | 2639 | 6,471 | |
25 | 42 | Ivan Saric | 2655 | 6.5 | 2627 | 6,471 | |
26 | 18 | Pentala Harikrishna | 2704 | 6.5 | 2617 | 6,471 | |
27 | 21 | Parham Maghsoodloo | 2692 | 6.0 | 2701 | 3,062 | |
28 | 52 | Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus | 2646 | 6.0 | 2701 | 3,062 | |
29 | 87 | Marc’Andria Maurizzi | 2610 | 6.0 | 2701 | 3,062 | |
30 | 72 | Aram Hakobyan | 2625 | 6.0 | 2684 | 3,062 | |
31 | 53 | Nikolas Theodorou | 2646 | 6.0 | 2683 | 3,062 | |
32 | 90 | Alexandr Predke | 2609 | 6.0 | 2676 | 3,062 | |
33 | 59 | Jeffery Xiong | 2640 | 6.0 | 2676 | 3,062 | |
34 | 91 | Vasyl Ivanchuk | 2608 | 6.0 | 2668 | 3,062 | |
35 | 1 | Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | 2785 | 6.0 | 2666 | 3,062 | |
36 | 31 | Amin Tabatabaei | 2673 | 6.0 | 2663 | 3,062 | |
37 | 104 | Aditya Mittal | 2589 | 6.0 | 2657 | 3,062 | |
38 | 109 | Ihor Samunenkov | 2550 | 6.0 | 2654 | 3,062 | |
39 | 99 | Narayanan S L | 2591 | 6.0 | 2650 | 3,062 | |
40 | 46 | Rauf Mamedov | 2651 | 6.0 | 2650 | 3,062 | |
41 | 3 | Gukesh Dommaraju | 2767 | 6.0 | 2647 | 3,062 | |
42 | 9 | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2742 | 6.0 | 2646 | 3,062 | |
43 | 39 | Grigoriy Oparin | 2660 | 6.0 | 2637 | 3,062 | |
44 | 13 | Vladimir Fedoseev | 2731 | 6.0 | 2634 | 3,062 | |
45 | 24 | Daniil Dubov | 2691 | 6.0 | 2616 | 3,062 | |
46 | 33 | Volodar Murzin | 2670 | 6.0 | 2611 | 3,062 | |
47 | 41 | Alexander Grischuk | 2657 | 6.0 | 2610 | 3,062 | |
48 | 40 | Raunak Sadhwani | 2658 | 6.0 | 2607 | 3,062 | |
49 | 48 | Nils Grandelius | 2648 | 6.0 | 2601 | 3,062 | |
50 | 55 | Shamsiddin Vokhidov | 2645 | 6.0 | 2592 | 3,062 |
After beating Dutch colleague GM Jorden van Foreest in round nine, Giri gave a memorable interview:
If you’re a player like me, not really good, then I need to believe in miracles! People can become world champion, Gukesh became world champion, and you see sometimes he has bad tournaments like here. I also sometimes have bad tournaments, so why can’t I become world champion? I’m praying, hoping to get lucky, doing my best.
“Gukesh can become World Champion […] Why can’t I become World Champion?”
🇳🇱 Anish Giri on his Round 9 game and his chances at becoming World Champion🏆 pic.twitter.com/ObJRt9DIOZ
— Take Take Take (@TakeTakeTakeApp) September 13, 2025
After the tournament was over Giri told Take Take Take it was “like a fairy tale,” explaining:
I was only one of the people. I was never a favorite, I was never leading, only sharing the lead with a bad tiebreak… I’ve been working towards that, I’ve been dreaming about it for so long, that to say that I’m shocked that it happened would be an overstatement, but I’m extremely happy about it!

The seventh seed will relish the challenge of preparing for the Candidates and notes he now has a better idea of what to do than in 2020/21, when AlphaZero and Leela Chess Zero had overturned our understanding of chess and everything was still in flux.
2. Bluebaum Defies Odds As 1st German Candidate Since Huebner
If you’d said before the event that we were going to get the first German qualifier for the Candidates since GM Robert Hubner in 1991, everyone would assume that it would be the German number-one and fifth seed, GM Vincent Keymer. Instead, it’s the German number-two and 32nd seed Bluebaum who took the Candidates spot on tiebreaks after tying for second with Keymer and GM Alireza Firouzja.

Bluebaum is a two-time European Champion, in 2022 and 2025, but nothing in the 28-year-old’s career could match scoring +4 and defeating the world numbers four and five GMs Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Arjun Erigaisi.
Both Indian stars over-pressed, with Giri commenting, “Sometimes the fire, sometimes the ice wins!”
Bluebaum admitted that before the tournament his goal was only to finish in the top half, while the key game would be the penultimate round, when he was losing against Keymer. A loss would have extinguished his chances while Keymer would be very close to Candidates qualification—instead Bluebaum got to execute the one trick in the position and save the game. Speaking midway through the final round, when the Candidates wasn’t 100 percent confirmed, he commented:
Before the tournament I thought it would be completely impossible for me so now I just have to wait. It would be a great chance for me. I’m already 28 so I’m not all that young anymore, at least in chess terms, so it would be great to manage it and just play there once and see what happens, but I still have to wait.
“I’m very happy with the performance. I never expected to get +4 in this field”
🇩🇪 Matthias Bluebaum after the final round of the FIDE Grand Swiss pic.twitter.com/nxzG6teaQG
— Take Take Take (@TakeTakeTakeApp) September 15, 2025
The record of surprise qualifiers via the Grand Swiss in the Candidates isn’t good, with the likes of GMs Vidit Gujrathi, Wang Hao, and Kirill Alekseenko all struggling, but Bluebaum’s live rating has climbed to a career-best 2693.2 and the Grand Swiss was good practice. While his rivals Keymer and Firouzja faced only two 2700 players, and in total the Grand Swiss had fewer than ten 2700-vs.-2700 clashes, Bluebaum faced five such players.
3. Vaishali Brings Indian Success, Lagno Shows Class

The Indian men didn’t give too much for the new chess superpower to celebrate, but that was made up for by Vaishali, who pulled off the impressive feat of winning the tournament for the second time in a row.
2025 FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss Prize Winners
Rank | Seed | Name | FED | Rating | Score | TB | Prize ($) |
1 | 13 | Vaishali Rameshbabu | 2452 | 8.0 | 2434 | 35,500 | |
2 | 4 | Kateryna Lagno | 2505 | 8.0 | 2433 | 35,500 | |
3 | 3 | Bibisara Assaubayeva | 2505 | 7.5 | 2425 | 21,333 | |
4 | 2 | Tan Zhongyi | 2531 | 7.5 | 2423 | 21,333 | |
5 | 21 | Song Yuxin | 2409 | 7.5 | 2411 | 21,333 | |
6 | 33 | Ulviyya Fataliyeva | 2385 | 7.0 | 2461 | 12,333 | |
7 | 44 | Irina Krush | 2366 | 7.0 | 2419 | 12,333 | |
8 | 6 | Mariya Muzychuk | 2484 | 7.0 | 2404 | 12,333 | |
9 | 42 | Guo Qi | 2371 | 6.5 | 2436 | 4,625 | |
10 | 30 | Olga Girya | 2386 | 6.5 | 2430 | 4,625 | |
11 | 31 | Mai Narva | 2386 | 6.5 | 2429 | 4,625 | |
12 | 1 | Anna Muzychuk | 2535 | 6.5 | 2417 | 4,625 | |
13 | 15 | Stavroula Tsolakidou | 2445 | 6.5 | 2409 | 4,625 | |
14 | 10 | Harika Dronavalli | 2467 | 6.5 | 2401 | 4,625 | |
15 | 9 | Alexandra Kosteniuk | 2472 | 6.5 | 2391 | 4,625 | |
16 | 14 | Lu Miaoyi | 2449 | 6.5 | 2376 | 4,625 | |
17 | 48 | Khanim Balajayeva | 2331 | 6.0 | 2439 | 3,000 | |
18 | 23 | Elina Danielian | 2405 | 6.0 | 2421 | 3,000 | |
19 | 46 | Meruert Kamalidenova | 2349 | 6.0 | 2414 | 3,000 | |
20 | 11 | Carissa Yip | 2458 | 6.0 | 2399 | 3,000 | |
21 | 8 | Leya Garifullina | 2477 | 6.0 | 2381 | 3,000 | |
22 | 20 | Anna Ushenina | 2409 | 6.0 | 2372 | 3,000 | |
23 | 17 | Lela Javakhishvili | 2434 | 6.0 | 2343 | 3,000 |
Congratulations followed from the Indian Prime Minister.
Outstanding accomplishment. Congrats to Vaishali Rameshbabu. Her passion and dedication are exemplary. Best wishes for her future endeavours. @chessvaishali https://t.co/0AgnNjRV93
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 16, 2025
Comparing the results in 2023 and now, Vaishali commented:
Both Grand Swiss victories are very special. Last time I was unbeaten and it was very convincing play right from the very beginning. I also secured a spot with one round to spare the last time, but this year I had to fight till the last round.
🇮🇳Vaishali Rameshbabu Winner’s Interview pic.twitter.com/y3OfdNhZNR
— Take Take Take (@TakeTakeTakeApp) September 15, 2025
Vaishali lost one game, to GM Bibisara Assaubayeva, had one fortunate win, over GM Mariya Muzychuk, but scored another five smooth wins to finish on +5, in a tournament she came into on the back of losing the last seven games in a row in the Chennai Grand Masters. Streaks are a feature of Vaishali’s chess, with the Indian 24-year-old losing four games in a row before winning five in a row to share second in the 2024 Women’s Candidates Tournament.
Only in Chennai.
You randomly bump into a 2 time @FIDE_chess Grand Swiss winner at the airport… Welcome back @chessvaishali . @WacaChess pic.twitter.com/QYirrVgb4g
— Viswanathan Anand (@vishy64theking) September 17, 2025
The 35-year-old GM Kateryna Lagno, meanwhile, finished unbeaten on +5 to take a deserved Candidates spot.

She’s played the last three Candidates in 2019 (third), 2022/23 (lost in Quarterfinals), and 2024 (sixth) and will be hoping to do better next year—the classical world championship title is the only thing missing on her resume!
4. The Candidates Tournaments Are Shaping Up
With four more players qualified to the 2026 Candidates Tournaments, which will decide the challengers for GM Ju Wenjun and Gukesh, the situation looks as follows.

The Women’s field is almost set, with only the FIDE Women’s Events 2024-25 still to be decided. That series is similar to the FIDE Circuit but only features top FIDE events. The top-seven players on the leaderboard are already in the Candidates, so GM Bibisara Assaubayeva is favorite to take that spot, with only the Women’s World Rapid and Blitz Championships remaining.
FIDE Women’s Events 2024-25 Leaderboard

If Assaubayeva does qualify, will be fitting, since she beat Vaishali and should have beaten Lagno in Samarkand, although if she’d won a winning position against GM Anna Muzychuk in the final round she would have significantly boosted her score.

For the Open, meanwhile, the majority of places are still to be decided. The remaining five spots will go to the top-three in the FIDE World Cup that takes place November 1-26 in Goa, India, while the rating spot will almost certainly go to GM Hikaru Nakamura, who has 11 more games to play after winning the Iowa State Championship.
The final spot goes to the FIDE Circuit, which is still being dominated by Praggnanandhaa. His pursuers, including Keymer and GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, may have hoped for the Indian star to qualify via the Grand Swiss, though in the case of Giri he can’t complain since he no longer needs the Circuit—despite scoring the year’s second-best score!

With Bluebaum also out of that race, the Circuit remains a good chance for Keymer and Abdusattorov, but likely only if Praggnanandhaa reaches the final three of the World Cup.
5. The Grand Swiss Isn’t Gukesh’s Event
Gukesh had no need to play the Grand Swiss, part of the cycle to decide his challenger, but called it a “great tournament” in the opening press conference and said, “It’s an opportunity for me to play in a different format and prove myself.” In the end, the tournament turned into an ordeal for the Indian 19-year-old, who despite a good start and finish lost three games in a row, including to two fellow teenagers, and had shaky positions in a couple more games.
Playing highly motivated opponents with little to lose can be tough. As 16-year-old GM Abhimanyu Mishra noted after beating GM Gata Kamsky‘s record as the youngest player ever to beat a reigning world champion in classical chess:
One thing I was counting on before the game is that there’s a lot more pressure on him to perform than me for this game. If I lose, I lose three points. OK, sure, take my rating, it’s no problem, but if I win, it’s a lot more grand!
“I don’t think I was a huge underdog, considering that I drew against Pragg with Black.”
— @ChessMishra, after beating 🇮🇳Gukesh pic.twitter.com/9aTS1fXEQt
— Take Take Take (@TakeTakeTakeApp) September 8, 2025

Surprisingly, however, the Grand Swiss has always been a tricky event for Gukesh, who has performed well below expectations except in his first try as a 13-year-old.
Gukesh At The FIDE Grand Swiss
Year | Age | Rating | Wins | Draws | Losses | Score | Final Position | Performance |
2019 | 13 | 2520 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 6/11 | 48th | 2683 |
2021 | 15 | 2640 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 5/11 | 75th | 2591 |
2023 | 17 | 2758 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 5/11 | 81st | 2578 |
2025 | 19 | 2767 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6/11 | 41st | 2668 |
This year’s performance cost the world champion a spot in the top 10.

It’s not a general pattern that top players struggle, with fellow top-seeds Arjun, Firouzja, Keymer, Abdusattorov, and GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov all outperforming their ratings despite missing out on a Candidates spot.
Some did struggle, however. Top-seed Praggnanandhaa, who has the safety cushion of qualifying via the FIDE Circuit, lost 14 rating points and two-time world championship challenger GM Ian Nepomniachtchi lost 10, despite losing only one game, in the last round, while arguably the year’s top performer, GM Levon Aronian, lost 22 rating points after losing to prodigies Erdogmus and GM Andy Woodward. The Armenian-U.S. star had no excuses for what he called “one of the worst events I’ve played in.” He commented:
I heavily underestimated a lot of players and I kept on pushing or just playing fast, trying to put my opponents under pressure, which was disrespectful towards the game of chess and my opponents.
“I heavily underestimated a lot of players”
🇺🇸Levon Aronian’s post-tournament thoughts after the final round at the FIDE Grand Swiss. pic.twitter.com/va8gjlOVvT
— Take Take Take (@TakeTakeTakeApp) September 15, 2025
That brings us neatly to the next point.

The Grand Swiss is a perfect chance for young stars to face off against the world’s best, and they took it in the most remarkable fashion. The 16-year-old Mishra and 15-year-old Woodward went into the final round with a chance of qualifying for the Candidates, and in Mishra’s case it was far from an outside chance—if he’d beaten Vidit he would have taken Bluebaum’s spot, since he had the best tiebreak of anyone in Samarkand!
Mishra’s astonishing tournament featured playing eight 2700 stars, the tournament winners, and beating the world champion, with his 2828 performance second only to Giri’s 2838. Perhaps for the first time since he set the record as the world’s youngest ever grandmaster at the age of 12, we got a clear indication that Mishra could reach the very top.
Enjoyed playing in #grandswiss The time control is unique, and personally, I prefer it more than the traditional ones as it allows for higher quality games, especially move 40 onwards.
Remained unbeaten with a performance rating of 2828! Live rating is 2652.
Unfortunately, I…
— GM Abhimanyu Mishra (@ChessMishra) September 16, 2025
Woodward, meanwhile, announced himself on the world stage with wins over Aronian and GM Parham Maghsoodloo, who had been the standout player of the first half of the event before falling away badly.
If the future looks bright for the United States, the same very much goes for Turkey.
Erdogmus was the youngest player in Samarkand and is the highest rated 14-year-old in chess history. He never looked out of place and dazzled early on as he confidently held a draw against Gukesh and then in round four played what, now that the event is over, we can safely call the Game of the Tournament, capped off by a brilliant queen sacrifice against another talented youngster, 18-year-old Indian GM Aditya Mittal. The 16-year-old GM Ediz Gurel ultimately scored half a point less, but he did gain the bragging rights of beating the world champion!
Another noteworthy teenager was 15-year-old Chinese IM Lu Miaoyi, the youngest player in the Women’s tournament, who finished in a tie for ninth place after bouncing back from a tough start.
7. Mishra Leads The Unbeaten Streaks
Even if the speed of their growth surprises us, there’s nothing unusual about prodigies scoring big wins and proving they’re underrated. What is shocking, however, is that Mishra has combined his rise with a 67-game unbeaten streak in classical chess, a mark reached in the last decade by GMs Wesley So and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave at the height of their powers, while in 2018-20 Carlsen made it to 125 games.
Player | Unbeaten Streak (Games) |
Abhimanyu Mishra | 67 |
Daniil Dubov | 56 |
Volodar Murzin | 44 |
Anish Giri | 36 |
Giri stands out on the table of unbeaten streaks, while those of GMs Daniil Dubov and GM Volodar Murzin are underwhelming—both players won a single game and lost rating points.
One big streak to fall was that of U.S. GM Sam Sevian, who reached 43 games.
Sam Sevian’s 43-game unbeaten streak is brought to an end by Arjun Erigaisi! https://t.co/Ly81BRIO8L pic.twitter.com/qzPteoa3qg
— chess24 (@chess24com) September 13, 2025
It was a fine tournament for Sevian, who won the preceding game and the two that followed.
8. The Veterans Are Still Going Strong

Three 50-year-olds competed in the Grand Swiss, and while 57-year-old GM Boris Gelfand had a tough tournament, losing three games after a winning start against GM Baadur Jobava, things went better for 56-year-old GM Vasyl Ivanchuk and 53-year-old GM Alexei Shirov.
Shirov’s unbeaten +2 gave him 21st place. Good performances in the Grand Swiss are a habit for Shirov, who in 2021 finished eighth and earned a spot in the since discontinued FIDE Grand Prix.
Ivanchuk commented, “I’m happy that I’m still an active player and in quite good shape, so I can play against strong players—it’s good for me!”
“I’m happy that I’m still an active player. I’m in quite good shape.”
— Interview with legendary 🇺🇦Vasyl Ivanchuk pic.twitter.com/p38MiK3dHp
— Take Take Take (@TakeTakeTakeApp) September 8, 2025
9. Divya, Goryachkina’s Open Experiment Pays Off
Since they’d both already qualified for the Women’s Candidates, GMs Divya Deshmukh and Aleksandra Goryachkina decided to take on the challenge of playing in the open section, something GM Tan Zhongyi also said she might have done if she’d realized it was an option! Playing against the world’s best can be a poisoned chalice, of course, but both players did well, defeating well-known grandmasters—and in fact posting exactly the same performance rating!

Divya had no GM norms going into the recent Women’s World Cup, which she ended with both the World Cup and Grandmaster titles, and now immediately after it she’s posted a GM-norm level performance.
10. Liang, Nihal Set To Cross 2700 Officially
For elite-level grandmasters, crossing a 2700 Elo rating is a big deal, and both GMs Awonder Liang and Nihal Sarin had never quite managed to do it, at least on an official list. This time—if they don’t play more rated games in September—they’ve managed. Both players also went into the final round of the Grand Swiss with only their tiebreaks leaving them unable to reach the Candidates.
Liang, who’s just graduated university and is planning to spend at least a couple of years on chess (“I have a sense that if I don’t play chess right now I might never really get the chance again”), said he had been 0-for-10 (not counting draws) in games where he could cross 2700. He joked:
Basically when I was 2695 I would be an amazing player, but at 2699 I’d instantly become 2300-strength. I think at some point it was a little bit just in my head…
“At some point, it seemed impossible.”
🇺🇸Awonder Liang on crossing 2700 and more. pic.twitter.com/4AuxlyygaL
— Take Take Take (@TakeTakeTakeApp) September 15, 2025
Nihal, meanwhile, said, “I’m very happy with the performance,” but had some regrets, since he’d been winning against both Firouzja and Abdusattorov in rounds nine and ten, but only scored half a point total in the two games.
11. It Was A Great Event But The Time Control Is Loooong
In round five of the Grand Swiss, 14-year-old Erdogmus survived a 190-move, 8.5-hour game against Abdusattorov, though it’s not clear if either player fully recovered from that day!
After 190 moves of battle, 14-year-old Superstar @gmyagizkaan Erdogmus holds Super GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov to a draw! Check out the final moments of Yagiz claiming the draw, the arbiter coming in, and Yagiz’ mom hugging him after this amazing resilient performance! pic.twitter.com/LPcxYiWZb8
— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) September 8, 2025
The game was an outlier, but not by much, since every day of the event brought extremely long games which were inevitable given the time format. While the Women’s section featured a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes, with a 30-second increment from move one (which, for instance, GM Antoaneta Stefanova said she’d like to see shortened!), the Open tournament added 50 minutes at move 40 and an additional 15 minutes at move 60.
The extremely long time control, at a time when FIDE is planning to rate 45-minute games as classical, provoked mixed reactions. As we saw above, Mishra is a fan, but some wondered why the time control for a world championship qualifying event is so different from that of the match. GMs Ding Liren and Gukesh last year played with 120 minutes (no increment) before move 40, then 30 minutes more for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment from move 41. Over an 80-move game, that means each player got 35 minutes more in the Grand Swiss, or one hour and 10 minutes extra between them.
FIDE CEO and GM Emil Sutovsky explained the discrepancy as follows:
The audience is different. The Match is watched by the wide public, and the whole concept of increment is A – unclear to some extent, B – when there is only one game, it partly removes the drama.
For the Grand Swiss with dozens of exciting games followed by hardcore audience…
— Emilchess (@EmilSutovsky) September 8, 2025
One player to object was Argentinian-born GM Alan Pichot, who now represents Spain. He wrote on X:
How easy it is to say that classical chess is more alive than ever when you’re in your home following the tournament and not here playing for two weeks and 10 hours a day of nerves, stress and pressure in order probably to win no prize. It’s ridiculous that a game lasts more than eight hours.
Sutovsky noted that the players will be asked for their opinion on changing the time control for future events.
12. We Should Stop Spoiling Final Results, Or Rethink Delays
All the games in Samarkand had a 15-minute “anti-cheating” delay in both the transmission of the moves and the live broadcasts with commentary. That was mainly no issue (for early rounds, the operators sometimes forgot to keep broadcasting games that had finished in the venue but not yet with the delay) but on the final day the winner of both the Women’s and Open events were announced the moment they were known—i.e., 15 minutes early for the whole online audience.
🇮🇳 Vaishali Rameshbabu is the Winner of the FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss 2025! 🏆
❗️She claims this title for the second consecutive time and secures her spot in the Women’s Candidates 2026!#FIDEGrandSwiss pic.twitter.com/RojzkmTaPf
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) September 15, 2025
The problem was that spoiled the result for anyone both watching the tournament and also following on social media—particularly significant for the Open event, where the all-important Arjun-Keymer game was still tense at the time.
If it was a one-off, it would be a case of accidents happen, but it’s been repeated at major events, including both the Candidates and Olympiad in 2024. It’s a hard problem to solve fully—unless a better way to handle anti-cheating is found that doesn’t interfere with the broadcast—but at least the official social feeds not sharing the results would help.
13. Tiebreaks Were Fair, But Playoffs Could Be Added
There’s no question that Bluebaum deserved his spot in the Candidates based on better tiebreaks, since as well as being first by the average rating of his opponents he also had the best overall performance rating of any player on 7.5/11. What could be questioned, however, is if using a mathematical tiebreaker is the best approach when players are level on points for something as important as Candidates qualification.

A playoff at the venue is obviously an option, even if time might be limited, while Peter Doggers suggests we could return to the old tradition of holding a separate event—for which the interest and sponsorship potential should be high!
I have never seen a convincing argument why players in a tie, whether at the Grand Swiss or the Candidates itself, don’t just play a new, small, classical event, like in the old days. It’s the cleanest solution and surely exciting. I don’t believe sponsorship is a dealbreaker.
— Peter Doggers (@peterdoggers) September 15, 2025
Another player to join the debate was a five-time world champion.
“Who do you hope, or who do you think deserves to be in the Candidates next year?” @MagnusCarlsen pic.twitter.com/Gruo95QA25
— Take Take Take (@TakeTakeTakeApp) September 16, 2025
Carlsen comments: “It has to be said that it’s incredibly cruel to decide the Candidates spots by tiebreaks, as they do.”
It has to be said that it’s incredibly cruel to decide the Candidates spots by tiebreaks, as they do.
—Magnus Carlsen
Are there any changes you’d make to the qualification cycle, or is some cruelty the price we pay for excitement, since in any case there are more worthy Candidates than the eight spots on offer?