My personal favourite games of the Grand Swiss 2025
Among the 638 games played in the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025, I have identified 20 that I consider especially instructive and worthy of deeper studyGame 1: "An elegant touch"
Firouzja Alireza - Amin Bassem (Round 1, Board 4)
E92 King's Indian Defence - Classical (6.Be2)
Game 2: "Missed it by a whisker"
Xiong Jeffery - Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (Round 1, Board 1)
C01 French - Exchange variation
Game 3: "Facing crossroads"
Erigaisi Arjun - Chigaev Maksim (Round 1, Board 2)
A29 English opening - Four Knights variation with 4.g3
Game 4: "A well-balanced contest"
Aronian Levon - Martirosyan Haik M (Round 1, Board 8)
A28 English opening - Four Knights variation
Game 5: "King hunt"
Suleymanli Aydin - Karthikeyan Murali (Round 1, Board 35)
B22 Sicilian - Alapin variation
Game 6: "Caught between two options"
Mamedov Rauf - Aditya Mittal (Round 1, Board 46)
B22 Sicilian - Alapin variation
Game 7: "Make or break"
Sargsyan Shant - Narayanan SL (Round 2, Board 41)
B30 Sicilian - Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo attack
Game 8: "A sly trap"
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu - Zemlyanskii Ivan (Round 2, Board 9)
A16 English - Anglo-Gruenfeld defense
Game 9: "When two prodigies collide"
Gukesh Dommaraju - Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan (Round 2, Board 1)
D00 Queen's pawn game- Unusual lines
Game 10: "Shell-shocked"
Suleymanli Aydin - Shankland Sam (Round 11, Board 35)
E90 King's Indian Defence - Classical variation with early deviations
Game 11: "Grinding it out"
Sevian Samuel - Predke Alexandr (Round 11, Board 13)
C50 Giuoco Piano
Game 12: "But why?"
Yakubboev Nodirbek - Fedoseev Vladimir (Round 11, Board 10)
E12 Queen's Indian Defence - Petrosian System
Game 13: "So much effort, only to be undone"
Abdusattorov Nodirbek - Liang Awonder (Round 11, Board 4)
D33 Queen's Gambit Declined - Tarrasch (Schlechter-Rubinstein system)
Game 14: “On thin ice”
Giri Anish - Van Foreest Jorden (Round 9, Board 4)
E06 Catalan - Closed
Game 15: “Exceptionally thorough”
Theodorou Nikolas - Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (Round 11, Board 15)
E48 Nimzo Indian - Rubinstein
Game 16: “Anything but easy”
Erigaisi Arjun - Sevian Samuel (Round 9, Board 7)
A13 Reti
Game 17: “A standout effort”
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu - Liang Awonder (Round 9, Board 6)
A14 Closed Catalan - Early deviations
Game 18: "A German masterclass"
Maghsoodloo Parham - Keymer Vincent (Round 9, Board 3)
A05 Reti - King's Indian Attack
Game 19: "A hard nut to crack"
Keymer Vincent - Hovhannisyan Robert (Round 6, Board 11)
A07 Reti - King's Indian Attack (New Yorkand Capablanca Systems)
Game 20: “The final showdown”
Giri Anish - Niemann Hans Moke (Round 11, Board 2)
A28 English opening - Four Knights variation
Appreciate Your Time :)
My favourite players of the tournament were;
1. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu
2. Keymer Vincent
3. Anish Giri
4. Alireza Firouzja
5. Niemann Hans Moke
Thank you for reading & I hope you found this post insightful. Until next time!
