New Delhi, Sept 5 (HS): The FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 began in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Thursday with mixed results for the Indian contingent. World Champion D. Gukesh made a powerful start, defeating French veteran Étienne Bacrot in the opening round.
Playing with the black pieces, Gukesh employed the Caro–Kann Defense and steered the game into sharp middlegame complications. Bacrot tried to maintain balance, but the Indian grandmaster broke through with a brilliant exchange sacrifice that led to a decisive advantage. Gukesh will play with the white pieces in the next round.
Top seed R. Praggnanandhaa was held to a draw by American GM Jeffery Xiong. The game, a French Defense, saw Xiong gradually swap pieces to alleviate pressure, and the contest eventually petered out into a repetition.
In contrast, Divya Deshmukh, winner of the Women’s World Cup and competing in the Open section, suffered an early setback with a loss against fellow Indian Abhimanyu Puranik.
Among other Indians, Vidit Gujrathi overcame Germany’s Alexander Donchenko, while Pentala Harikrishna went down to Slovenian GM Anton Demchenko, who had the white pieces. Nihal Sarin was held to a draw by German GM Rasmus Svane.
In the women’s section, R. Vaishali started strongly with a win against Uzbekistan’s Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova, while Vantika Agrawal defeated Ukraine’s Yuliia Osmak. Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika settled for a draw against Israel’s Marsel Efroimski.
---------------
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
