FIDE Grand Swiss R11: Giri and Vaishali Crowned Winners

Lichess Coverage

Lichess produced in-depth blog posts with annotations for each round of the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss. WIM Silvia Raluca Sgîrcea annotated games from the Women's Grand Swiss and GM Renier Castellanos Rodriguez annotated the games from the Open Grand Swiss. Lichess also created videos for each round of the tournament, with interviews and other types of content. Check them out on our socials!

Annotations by GM Renier Castellanos Rodriguez

Annotations by WIM Silvia Raluca Sgîrcea

Interviews

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D64HAxegl3c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9VHeBhlSeE

Puzzle Pack

Enjoy our collection of puzzles from the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025!

Open Overview

Round 10's 5-way tie on 7/10 points left all possible scenarios open for the two qualifying spots, promising us an intense fight where any misstep could prove to be critical - a prediction that definitively proved to be true. In a thrilling round 11, Anish Giri achieves a decisive win over Hans Moke Niemann, emerging clear winner of the 2025 Grand Swiss with 8/11. As Bluebaum vs Firouzja and Keymer vs Arjun ended in a draw, Bluebaum, Firouzja and Keymer remained tied at 7.5/11. With marginally better tiebreaks, Bluebaum got the second place - and the spot to the Candidates - with Firouzja staying 3rd, followed by Keymer.

Michal Walusza/FIDE

The Top 10 Boards

GM Alireza Firouzja, for the first time in this tournament, chose to counter GM Matthias Bluebaum’s 1.d4 with the Dutch. One could possibly view this decision close to a surprise weapon choice, however Bluebaum demonstrated a high level of preparation, getting a solid position - and a time advantage - out of the opening. Despite Firouzja’s attempt to gain anything further than equality, Bluebaum kept the game under his control throughout all it’s course, countering any attempts for active, ambitious play with equally strong counterplay. Firouzja was able to get his rooks on the second rank, but with White having a passed pawn on a7, the position was further simplified into an equal rook endgame, successfully converted into the draw by Bluebaum - a draw that proved to be sufficient for him to clinch the second place, and a ticket for the next Candidates.

GM Anish Giri, in probably one of the most critical games of the tournament, resorted once more to 1.c4 and the English, against GM Hans Moke Niemann - a choice proving him right. Despite the queens being exchanged early on, Giri demonstrated an ambitious spirit, appropriate to the tournament situation. Securing the bishop pair advantage, White aimed for any positional edge he could create, and having his opponent take critical decisions about the pawn structure. Taking advantage of his opponent’s inaccurate captures, Giri simplified the position into a bishop endgame with a pawn up, and successfully ground it into the full point - a win that, taking the other results into account, secured him the first place in the tournament, and qualifying for the next Candidates.

Michal Walusza/FIDE

Another ambitious game between potential contenders for the Candidates spot ended in a draw - a result that favoured neither GM Vincent Keymer nor GM Erigaisi Arjun. Arjun sacrificed an exchange, allowing Keymer to capture the a1 rook with his kingside fianchetto bishop, weakening the long diagonal and the king’s position, as compensation. However, as White was unable to find an efficient attacking plan, Black not only solidified his position, but also have opportunities to get the upper hand - opportunities that would, however, remain unexploited. The game was eventually simplified to a largely equal endgame with two knights against a rook and two pawns, and the players conceded into a draw.

Despite GM Liang Awonder achieving an endgame advantage, his opponent, GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, maintaining active play, albeit not always entirely accurate, was able to prevent his opponent from converting it and hold the draw.

GM Andrey Esipenko, getting the upper hand in an aggressive approach to the Najdorf, was able to finish the tournament on a win against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi. Exploiting his superior piece activity, and his opponent’s weaker king still remaining in the center, Esipenko was able to gradually gain material advantage - ending up with three extra pawns, connected g-h passed pawns and restraining his opponent to passivity with no counterplay ideas, Nepomniachtchi resigned by move 40.

Michal Walusza/FIDE

GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was definitely one to finish the tournament in style! Facing GM Grigoriy Oparin in this final round, Mamedyarov maintained the upper hand throughout the game. The decisive blow would come by move 41, temporarily sacrificing an exchange, in a combination getting him a clearly winning, piece-up endgame.

GM Nodirbek Yakubboev was able to get the upper hand in his game against Vladimir Fedoseev; While his advantage seemed to fade away, Yakubboev was able to outplay his opponent in the resulting knight endgame, clinching the win.

GM Abhimanyu Mishra and GM Andy Woodward completed their overall impressive performances in this Grand Swiss, getting a safe draw against GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi and GM Yu Yangyi, respectively. The game between GM Nihal Sarin and GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave also ended in a mostly uneventful draw.

Notable Game

GM Gukesh D, despite having a relatively shaky tournament, convincingly won his game against GM Andrei Volokitin, playing the Caro Kann and capitalizing on his opponent’s positional mistakes.

Women's Overview

A quick draw by Lagno secured herself the qualification to the 2026 Women’s Candidates, leaving the fate of all the other contenders for the qualification to be decided by Tan Zhongyi vs Vaishali Rameshbabu. As this hard fought, but always equal game ended in a draw, Vaishali Rameshbabu emerged winner of 2025 Women’s Grand Swiss, with Kateryna Lagno second and Bibisara Assaubayeva eventually clenching the 3rd place - but not a Candidates spot.

Michal Walusza/FIDE

The Top 10 Boards

Board 1 of the Women’s Grand Swiss, with Lagno having secured a draw on board 2, was meant to decide not only the winner of the event, but also both of the qualifying spots to the next Women’s Candidates. Already knowing the result of 2nd board, GM Vaishali, Rameshbabu needed to secure a draw against the already qualified (through Women’s World Cup) Tan Zhongyi to win the event - and the first of the two qualifying spots for 2026 Women’s Candidates. With a Symmetrical English played, the game was kept level despite both player’s efforts throughout it’s course. With no side succeeding in getting an advantage, the two players eventually conceded to a draw.

GM Kateryna Lagno needed only a draw to secure qualifying to the Candidates, and this is exactly what she got in her game against IM Ulviyya Fataliyeva. With a solid Queen’s Gambit Declined played, the position was rapidly simplified by the two players; Black’s isolated pawn proved to be insignificant as neither player was able to, or really attempted to, use it in their favour, and White eventually allowed exchanging on d4, leaving both players with a d pawn in a largely symmetrical position. The position was furthered simplified into a same colour bishops endgame, and a draw was agreed on move 30. Lagno qualified to the Candidates, while Fataliyeva closed a positive overall tournament on a good note.

Michal Walusza/FIDE

The game between GM Irina Krush and IM Song Yuxin ended in another quick, solid draw. Song opted for the Accelerated Queen’s Indian Defence for her last game in the event, and with accurate play by both side and neither getting an edge, the position was simplified with the rooks and queens being exchanged. In an endgame with all minor pieces still on the board and the pawn structure not allowing any particular convincing and reasonably safe progress plan for either side, the players opted for a draw by repetition. While the draw did not allow Song any hopes for a spot to the Candidates through this event - she needed a win and a combination of results in other boards - she continued her latest strong performances, coming from a solid Fujairah Global 2025 - Masters, and leaving many hopes for future attempts.

A hard-fought battle between GM Bibisara Assaubayeva and GM Anna Muzychuk ended in an unexpected, based on the game’s course, draw. Assaubayeva, in order to qualify for the Candidates from this event, needed not only to win, but also that Tan beat Vaishali. White seemed to be making progress for the first part, getting an advantage early on and building on it throughout the game, eventually reaching an endgame with both material and positional advantage. On the other hand, Tan would not achieve the result that worked in Assaubayeva’s favour, with board 1 ending in a draw, making qualification impossible. White was nevertheless still winning - if not for one detail. Capturing the c-pawn with Rxc2 instead of preparing to capture with the bishop, while winning a pawn, allowed Muzychuk to create a fortress, restricting any possible path for White to make any progress. The game subsequently ended in a draw, however with little impact for Assaubayeva, who still finished 3rd.

Endgame play favoured both Muzychuk sisters in this final round; GM Mariya Muzychuk, who already seemed to navigate the game better, managed to get the upper hand against her opponent GM Elina Danelian. Muzychuk, creating an advanced passed pawn - pawn which her opponent possibly miscalculated and missed the opportunity to capture under time pressure - was able to eventually convert her advantage into a win.

IM Guo Qi, sacrificing a pawn for superior piece activity, got an advantage in her game against GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, but was not able to further capitalize on it; the game eventually ended in a draw.

IM Stavroula Tsolakidou, coming from a relatively dry second half of the tournament, was able to finish the tournament with a convincing win against IM Polina Shuvalova. In a pretty sharp game, true to her style, Tsolakidou, in sight of her opponent threatening to get better out of the opening, but with her king still in the center, sacrificed a piece for a pawn, opening up the positions and lines for her pieces - the a-file was also opened towards her king but Shuvalova wouldn’t be able to exploit this. Shuvalova, already in a tough spot and effectively being forced to castle long, gave up her queen for two pieces. Black’s poor piece coordination allowed white to effectively continue her attack with her queen and a rook; Shuvalova soon resigned in a practically hopeless position, with Tsolakidou finishing on a positive note at 7.5/11, continuing her solid performances in this Women’s World Championship Cycle.

Michal Walusza/FIDE

In a duel with her compatriot, WGM Zhai Mo, the Chinese youngster, IM Lu Miaoyi, successfully converted her positional edge and then material advantage into the full point, placing her at the 9th place of the final standings. Navigating a semi-Slav more accurately, Black got a healthier pawn structure, and despite capturing the b4 pawn a bit prematurely, White did not manage to get better activity in return, choosing a wrong plan with g3, and eventually hanging the h3 pawn. Lu infiltrated to her opponent’s camp and prepared further advancing her passed b pawn, leaving her opponent with no realistic defensive resources and eventually getting the win.

IM Mai Narva finishes on a win, outplaying GM Antoanetta Stefanova in a game she never lost the advantage. Opting for the Bongo-Indian and getting into the Grunfeld Variation, Narva got the upper hand already out of the opening, successfully refuting Stefanova’s over-ambitious play and pawn sacrifices. Being a pawn up, the e6 pawn might appear weak but it’s only a temporary inconvenience - even less important after White exchanges on c6. At the same time, Stefanova’s h-pawn marching all the way to h6 and taking on g7 may be scary on first sight, but it in fact helps black’s king safety while opening up her own king and buying time for Black to launch her own attack. With the e-file open all Black’s heavy pieces were ready to attack the king, and Stefanova was eventually forced to resign as 31.Bf1? caught her already vulnerable king in a mating net.

A seemingly level game between GM Olga Girya and IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya would be decided in an endgame taking a sharp turn against black. Girya got an extra pawn - also creating a passed b-pawn - in an endgame position with all heavy pieces still on the board; despite having the opportunity to both eliminate the passed pawn and to reestablish the material balance, Maltsevskaya decided to delay doing so, possibly in an attempt to tactically challenge her opponent; In the course of this plan, Black found herself a second pawn down, and in time trouble, allowed a simplification into a losing Queen endgame, due to the outside passed pawn and the lack of perpetual check opportunities, soon forced to resign in sight of the unstoppable promotion.

Flashy Game

IM Khanim Balajayeva, weakening her opponent’s kingside and launching an attack, scored a win against WGM Anna Shukhman.