FIDE Grand Swiss 2025: Vaishali in joint lead in Women’s section; Gukesh, Erigaisi play out draw in Round 4

FIDE Grand Swiss 2025: Vaishali in joint lead in Women’s section; Gukesh, Erigaisi play out draw in Round 4

Grandmaster R. Vaishali stayed in front after a draw with Dinara Wagner of Germany but was joined by Kateryna Lagno of Russia in the lead after the end of the fourth round of FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand on Sunday.

Lagno defeated Yuxin Song of China with white pieces, and it will be an all-important clash between her and Vaishali in the fifth round with the Indian playing white.

In the game against Dinara, defending champion Vaishali could do little with black pieces despite showing the right intentions by going for the Grunfeld defense.

The German was immaculate in her preparation and did not give away much after sacrificing her rook for a bishop early in the opening.

The middle game saw the queens being traded but Vaishali did not have anything conclusive to play for and the draw was a just result.

In the Open section, Women’s World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh notched up her first win of the tournament by beating Egyptian GM Bassem Amin.

Meanwhile, top seed R. Praggnanandhaa was held to a draw by the world’s youngest-ever Grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra of the United States. Praggnanandhaa nearly outplayed his younger rival but the Indian-origin player put up a stiff resistance just when it seemed salvaging a draw would not be easy.

Praggnanandhaa had an extra pawn in the rook-and-minor-pieces endgame but to find all the precise moves to convert it into a full point was always going to be difficult. In the end, Mishra managed to get a fortress-like position with his knight firmly posted in front of white’s extra pawn and the game was drawn in 57 moves.

In an all-Indian duel, world champion D. Gukesh played out a draw with Arjun Erigaisi who showed fine preparation with black pieces.

Gukesh might have had an optical advantage but Erigaisi quickly neutralised it with some timely exchanges leading to a knights-and-pawns endgame. The peace was signed after 46 moves.

With seven rounds still remaining in the strongest Swiss tournament of the world, Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran retained his half-point lead taking himself to 3.5 points after a hard-fought draw with local hero Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

Defending champion in the Open section, Vidit Gujrathi also came back in reckoning with a victory over veteran Vasyl Ivanchuk of Ukraine. Vidit, Erigaisi, Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa share the second spot on three points along with the Uzbek duo of Abdusattorov and Nodirbek Yakubboev, Richard Rapport of Hungary, Matthias Bluebaum of Germany, Nikita Vitiugov of Switzerland and Turkish talent Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus.

Apart from a handsome prize fund of USD 8,55,000, there are also two places in both Open and women’s sections up for grabs for the 2026 Candidates tournament.

Published on Sep 08, 2025