The $625,000 Grand Swiss in Samarkand, a world title eliminator on the ancient Silk Road, was a bitterly fought race for two qualifying spots in the 2026 Candidates, yet paradoxically it ended yesterday with deserved victories for one grandmaster with a pacific reputation and for another, seeded No 32, who nobody expected to do well.
Anish Giri, the Netherlands No 1, took the $90,000 first prize with an unbeaten 8/11 total. The five-time Dutch champion’s key game was in the final round against Hans Niemann, when the controversial American, who could himself have qualified with a win, had his attacking ideas defused in the opening.
Giri gained the bishop pair, then systematically traded pieces into an endgame where the bishops had maximum impact. This is a truly professional game, well worth study for the art of playing for a win with minimum risk. The Dutchman has a reputation as a draw specialist, but when he is on song he can be deadly.
The runner-up, Matthias Bluebaum, seeded only 32nd, has been twice European champion yet has never attained an elite 2700 Fide world rating. He played strongly and alertly in critical moments, notably in the penultimate round when his German compatriot Vincent Keymer had a winning endgame but missed the tactical resource 54 . . . Nxg3! The comments below the moves include a link to Bluebaum’s postgame interview, in which he declares himself “insanely lucky”.
It may be difficult for Bluebaum in the Candidates, where the favourites often play hard (the technical term is “farming”) against any participant considered weaker than the rest.
Final leading Grand Swiss scores were Giri (Netherlands) 8, Bluebaum and Keymer (Germany), Firouzja (France) all 7.5.
Five Americans were in the 15-player group on seven points, of whom Abhimanyu Mishra, 16, and Andy Woodward, 15, are still teenagers. This represents an important success for the St Louis billionaire and FT reader Rex Sinquefield’s mission of building a new group of US talents to challenge for the world crown.
The $230,000 Women’s Grand Prix had two frontrunners, Russia’s Kateryna Lagno and India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu, who shared first prize and qualified for the Candidates with 8/11, half a point ahead of Tan Zhongyi and Song Yuxin (both China) and Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan).
Overall, the open world title is now in a state of flux. China’s Ding Liren lost the crown at the first challenge, while India’s Gukesh Dommaraju performed poorly in Samarkand, losing three games in a row. Whoever wins the Candidates will be favourite against the 19-year-old from Chennai.
In contrast, China’s Ju Wenjun sits firmly on the women’s throne. The 34-year-old has held the world title since 2018, has defeated five challengers, and continues to hone her game through participation in grandmaster tournaments. She is now arguably part of the all-time women’s pantheon represented by Hungary’s three Polgar sisters, China’s Hou Yifan and Georgia’s Nona Gaprindashvili. On current form, Ju should see off her next challenger comfortably.
Puzzle 2641
IM Levy Rozman vs IM Mihai-Lucian Grunberg, Titled Tuesday 2025. White to move and win
Click here for solution
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