Samarkand, September 10 (HS): World Champion D. Gukesh endured a second consecutive defeat at the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025, going down to Greece’s Nikolas Theodorou in the sixth round.

Coming off a loss to America’s youngest Grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra in the previous round, Gukesh once again overpressed in an equal position and paid the price for his miscalculation. With this setback, he now stands at a 50-percent score, needing at least four wins in the remaining five rounds to stay alive in the title race.

At the top of the leaderboard, Iran’s Parham Maghsoodloo retained his lead, but India’s Arjun Erigaisi delivered a stellar performance with the black pieces to hold him to a draw. Erigaisi remains firmly in contention, just half a point behind with 4.5 points. He shares joint second place with Abhimanyu Mishra (USA), Germany’s Matthias Bluebaum, and India’s Nihal Sarin.

Top seed Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa was held to a hard-fought draw by Azerbaijan’s Rauf Mamedov, missing out on a crucial win. Meanwhile, his sister Rameshbabu Vaishali shone in the women’s section, defeating Ulviyya Fataliyeva of Azerbaijan to retain her share of the lead alongside FIDE nominee Kateryna Lagno.

Vaishali, with the black pieces, showcased aggressive play and converted her extra pawn into a decisive rook-and-pawn endgame victory.

Nihal Sarin also capitalized on a blunder by Poland’s Szymon Gumularz, cementing his place in the chasing pack behind the leaders.

Wednesday will serve as a rest day, before the tournament resumes Thursday with $855,000 in prize money at stake and coveted qualification spots for the 2026 Candidates Tournament on the line.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar