 "Reigning world champion D Gukesh and Indian No 1 R Praggnanandhaa have had contrasting fortunes so far in the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Image credit: FIDE")
In a reversal of fortunes in the second round of the FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, reigning world champion D Gukesh was held to a draw while fellow Indian Grandmasters R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi registered victories. Also registering a victory on Friday was Nihal Sarin, while the trio of Vidit Gujrathi, Abhimanyu Puranik and Divya Deshmukh played out draws.
Gukesh, who has had a mixed run so far this year and is seeking a revival ahead of the FIDE World Cup that will be taking place on home soil later this year, had begun his campaign on a confident note with a commanding victory over French GM Etienne Bacrot while playing as black.
The 19-year-old, however, wasn’t able to pull off a similar performance against Turkish GM Yagiz Erdogmus on the following day despite leading the contest for the better part and finding himself in a dominant position at one stage. Gukesh’s decision to use his dark-squared bishop to capture his opponent’s corresponding piece in his 40th move proved to be his undoing, allowing Erdogmus to claw his way back into the contest and secure half-a-point.
It was the other way round for Indian No 1 Praggnanandhaa in his second-round meeting with Russian GM Ivan Zemlyanskii as he romped to victory in 33 moves while playing as white, forcing his opponent to surrender shortly after the latter committed a rook blunder (30. Rc7).
Pragg, Arjun collect their first wins
Praggnanandhaa has been the standout performer among the Indians this year and is eyeing a place in next year’s Candidates Tournament, in which two spots have been reserved for the top-two finishers in the ongoing tournament.
Arjun, meanwhile, had to wait slightly longer before collecting his first victory of the tournament. Playing with black pieces after his draw against Russian-Spanish GM Maksim Chigaev, the 22-year-old’s second-round meeting with Haik Martirosyan turned out to be an error-strewn affair that concluded with the Armenian GM resigning in 54 moves.
Also winning with black pieces against an Armenian GM in the second round was Nihal, who played with an accuracy of 96.4 according to the Chess.com’s Stockfish engine against Aram Hakobyan, cornering his opponent’s king with his light-squared bishop.
Vidit, Divya also held to draws
Both Vidit and Abhimanyu had started their campaigns on a winning note on Thursday, the latter defeated wildcard entry and Women’s World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh, but shook hands in 38 moves in the second round in an all-Indian affair.
Divya, who had been granted a wildcard entry into the ‘Open’ section along with Russia’s Aleksandra Goryachkina, opened her account with half-a-point after playing out a 41-move draw against Russian-German GM Alexander Donchenko.
The trio of France’s Alireza Firouzja, Iran’s Parham Maghsoodloo and Anton Demchenko of Slovenia currently share the lead in the ‘Open’ category with two points each. Indian GM R Vaishali, meanwhile, finds herself in the joint-lead among the women along with Austria’s Olga Bedelka after collecting back-to-back wins.