FIDE Grand Swiss 2025, Day 4: Lagno joins Vaishali at the top as Maghsoodloo holds on to his lead
A quiet day in Samarkand as most of the games on the top boards in both the Open and the Women’s event finished in a draw. With three and a half points, Iranian Parham Maghsoodloo continues to lead in the Open, chased by as many as 13 players who are half a point behind. In the Women’s tournament, Kateryna Lagno scored a convincing victory to share first place with Vaishali Rameshbabu. On board one in the Open tournament, leader Parham Maghsoodloo played as White against Uzbekistan’s top player Nodirbek Abdusattorov. A tense and complicated game developed in the Queen’s Gambit Accepted, with both having to play with high precision and finesse. After exactly four and a half hours of play, a draw was agreed with only the two kings left on the board. On board two, Praggnanandhaa could not find a way to convert his extra pawn against Abhimanyu Mishra, known as the youngest player in history to become a Grandmaster (at 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days). Mishra opted for 36…Re7? Instead, he should have played 36…Nb5 (White cannot take on b7 as Black takes the d4-pawn with a check and then send the rook to the second rank with another check, clearing out White’s back ranks.) 37.Rd7 Protecting the d5-pawn, and now 37…Re7 38.Rd5 Nc3 and Black has better chances of holding. After 37.Rxe7 Kxe7 38.f5! Kf6 39.fxg6 Kxg6 40.Kf4 White is winning according to chess engines. However, in the moves that followed, Praggnanandhaa could not make any progress and had to settle for a draw. An exciting game took place on board five, in a German showdown between Vincent Keymer and Frederik Svane. A sharp position arose in the Open Variation of Ruy Lopez. In this position, Svane played 24…c5, looking to build up pressure on White. But this seemingly logical move was a mistake which Keymer was quick to spot: 25.Bxc5!! Qxc5 26.Rxd5 Qc7. This forced line led to a very uncomfortable position for Black. But Keymer wasn’t precise in his conversion, and the position was soon even. Eventually, White emerged a pawn up in a sharp endgame, but the position was even, with threats for both sides. However, at some point, Svane started losing his way and allowed White to transpose into a winning minor piece endgame with a remote passer on the queenside. Slowly, but surely, Keymer steered the game in his favour and clinched the full point. There were other missed chances among the top players. The victor of the previous Grand Swiss, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi had a winning endgame as Black against Vasyl Ivanchuk. In the Scotch, approaching the endgame, Ivanchuk went for a pawn push which significantly weakened his position and ended up costing him a pawn. Vidit forced a winning rook endgame, but completely misplayed it in the end, allowing Ivanchuk to save half a point. World Champion Gukesh D split a point with compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in the Catalan. Following a shocking loss late on day three, Alireza Firouzja split a point with Szymon Gumularz of Poland after just 25 moves. Giri had a very quick draw as Black against Cheparinov (the first game of the round to finish, after an hour and a half of play), as did Salem and Aronian. MarcAndria Maurizzi prevailed over Maxime-Vachier Lagrave in a hard-fought French derby which stood out. In the Advance Caro-Kann, MVL – playing as White – emerged with two minor pieces for a rook. However, his young opponent had two dangerous advanced passers on the queenside. The position was in balance, but the younger of the two Frenchmen overestimated his chances and grabbed the a4-pawn, which gave White a crushing attack. At the critical moment of the game, MVL – known for his precise calculation – did not manage to find the winning idea. MVL played 30.Bh6?? and after 30…c2! the position was even again. White could have finished it off with 30.Qh4! The point is that 30…Qxe5 (the best move for Black) fails to the elegant 31.Nc2!!, with the idea of 32.Bd4, winning. Maxime’s troubles did not end there. In the ensuing play both opponents traded mistakes but MVL was last to err, capitulating on move 38. The day’s biggest upset came from Divya Deshmukh, who stunned Africa’s top-rated player Bassem Amin. Playing against the Sicilian, the Egyptian created a slightly better position from the opening but then began overspreading, which backfired, leading to a defeat. Black just missed playing 32…Rd4 and then taking the pawn on a5. Instead, she gave White respite with 32…f3. The best choice for White here was 33.Qc1 and to try and hold. Instead, Amin blundered with 33.Ng3?? which was punished with: 33…Rxg4!! 34.hxg4 Qh6+ 35.Nh5 Otherwise checkmate in two moves 35…Bxh5 and White is completely lost. For this victory, Divya was declared the player of the day in the Open. The Women’s event There were slightly more decisive games in the women’s event than in the Open. After four rounds, two players are in the lead with 3.5 points, chased by a group of five, on three points. On the top board, in the Grunfeld Defence, tournament leader Vaishali drew as Black with Dinara Wagner. On board two, seasoned player Kateryna Lagno scored an impressive victory with the white pieces against Song Yuxin. In the Four Knights line of the Sicilian, Lagno took the initiative early in the middlegame and continued to increase her advantage. 21.f6! Putting pressure on the black king trapped in the centre. 21…gxf6 22.gxf6 Nxd3 23.Qxd3 Bxf6 24.Rdf1 Be8 25.Rhg1 Qd7 26.Rg7 After just 26 moves Black is completely paralysed. The Chinese player continued to defend, but she was only delaying the inevitable. For this forceful victory, Lagno was declared the player of the day in the Women’s event. She is now also in shared first place, together with Vaishali Rameshbabu. In a roller coaster game, former World Champion Tan Zhongyi and Nurgyul Salimova split a point. White’s is clearly better, but here Tan overstretched herself.