‘When you play professional chess… you have to always believe in miracles. Especially if you are a player like me who’s not really good.’ A couple of rounds before the end of the Fide Grand Swiss, held in Samarkand in early September, Anish Giri gave a typically modest assessment of his chances of taking one of the coveted top two spots. Those qualify players for the 2026 Candidates’ tournament, whose winner earns the right to challenge for the world championship.
By any normal standards, Giri is really good – an absolute top player for more than a decade who peaked at no. 3 in the world. But the Grand Swiss is an elite brawl, where he began as the seventh seed. Even for Giri, a top two finish is a tall order.
Giri went on to win the tournament outright with 8/11, but with little sign of divine intervention. Despite one dubious position in the third round, his five wins and six draws included some immaculate technical games and looked wholly deserved. In the final round he used his bishop pair to place Niemann under pressure, and cashed in from the diagram position.
Anish Giri-Hans Niemann
Fide Grand Swiss, Samarkand 2025
33 Rxb3! Bxb3 No better is 33…Rxa6 34 Bxc5+ 34 Bxc5 Kd7 35 Bxd6 Kxd6 36 g5! 36 Ke3 h6 37 f4 g5! offers good chances for a draw Be6 37 Ke3 Kc5 38 Kf4 Kd4 39 gxf6 gxf6 40 a4 h6 41 a5 Bd7 42 Be2 Kc5 After 42…Be6, Giri could win by manoeuvring his bishop to g4. 43 e5 Kd5 44 exf6 Ke6 45 f7 Kxf7 46 Ke5 Black resigns
Matthias Blübaum, the reigning European Individual Champion and 32nd seed, played the tournament of his life, and took the second qualifying spot, having the best tiebreak from a trio of players on 7.5/11. But he was the first to admit to a lucky break in the penultimate round, which reached the position below. Blübaum was scathing about his own play earlier in the game: ‘I just blundered like a complete idiot and I should have lost… it’s a miracle how badly I played.’ Keymer has a clear extra pawn and an easy target on h5. Continuing with 54 Ne4 Rc2 55 Rb6+ Ke7 56 Rg6, preparing Rg6-g5, would almost certainly have won the game. Instead he went after the pawn immediately.
Vincent Keymer-Matthias Blübaum
Fide Grand Swiss, Samarkand 2025
54 Rh7?? Nxg3! A little trick with a big impact. If 55 Kxg3 Rd3+ wins the knight back, leading to a similar situation as in the game. 55 Rh6+ Kf7 56 Nb1 Rb2 57 Kxg3 Rxb1 58 Rxh5 Rb3+ 59 Kg2 Rb4 60 f3 The extra rook’s pawn counts for little here, so the draw is inevitable. 60 Rxe5 Rxh4 is also a trivial draw. Kf6 61 Kg3 Rb3 62 Rh6+ Kf5 63 Rh5+ Kf6 Draw agreed
Comments