FIDE Grand Swiss 2025: Preview

The 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss is shaping up to be one of the strongest tournaments in the game's history. While the world's #1, #2, and #3 rated players, GM Magnus Carlsen, GM Hikaru Nakamura, and GM Fabiano Caruana, respectively, are missing from the field, the lineup of the Grand Swiss remains staggeringly strong. With 18 players rated over 2700, and a stunning 95 players rated over 2600, the world's top players are truly congregating to achieve a most coveted goal: two Candidates tournament spots, in both the Open and Women's sections. Read on for more information about the tournament, including a detailed breakdown of the participants in both sections.

Lichess Coverage

Lichess will produce in-depth blog posts with annotations for each round of the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss. WIM Silvia Raluca Sgîrcea will annotate the games from the Women's Grand Swiss. Lichess will also create videos for each round of the tournament, with interviews and other types of content. Keep an eye on our socials for the videos!

Lichess Broadcast

You can find the broadcast links here:

Round 1 Open
Round 1 Women's

Schedule

What's at Stake?

In the Open section, two qualifications spots to the 2026 FIDE Candidates tournament are on the line; the first two finishers in the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss will receive those spots. Should one of the top finishers have already qualified by other means to the 2026 FIDE Candidates tournament, third place in the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss will receive the qualification spot.

In the Women's section, two qualifications spots to the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament are on the line, with the first two finishers of the 2025 FIDE Women's Grand Swiss receiving those spots. When one or both of the top 2 players have already qualified to the Candidates tournament, the next best finishers will qualify to the Candidates tournament.

Lineup (Open)

Five of the world's top 10 players as well as 14 of the world's top 25 players are participating in the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss.

#1 Seed: GM Praggnanandhaa R

GM Praggnanandhaa R is coming off a very hot 2025, in all three of its quarters so far. In the first quarter, he shared 1st place in the classical portion of the 2025 Tata Steel Masters with his compatriot, GM Gukesh D, defeating Gukesh in the blitz tiebreaker to win the tournament. After that, he finished in tied 2nd place in the Prague Masters, which was held February 26 – March 7. In the second quarter of 2025, Praggnanandhaa finished in a three-way tie for 1st at the Superbet Chess Classic Romania tournament, again winning the tournament in the blitz tiebreaks. Another quarter, another tie for first and tiebreaks — at the Stepan Avagyan Memorial, which was held May 29 – June 6, Praggnanandhaa tied for first but this time came in second due to his worse tiebreak score as compared with the tournament's winner, GM Chithambaram V R Aravindh. Praggnanandhaa continued his tiebreak adventures as he won the 2nd UzChess Cup Masters, after he was involved in another three-way tie for 1st and had to play a grueling blitz tiebreak to clinch 1st place. Going into the Grand Swiss, Praggnanandhaa also — you guessed it — finished in a three-way tie for first at the Sinquefield Cup, where he finished in 2nd after GM Wesley So won the blitz teibreaks.

Praggnanandhaa currently leads the 2025 FIDE Circuit, which means that he has most probably already secured his ticket to the 2026 FIDE Candidates. However, Praggnanandhaa would of course like to do well in any tournament he plays, and he would surely also welcome a guaranteed spot at the Candidates.

GM Praggnanandhaa R
Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE

#2 Seed: GM Arjun Erigaisi

GM Arjun Erigaisi is currently the world's 5th highest rated player, but considering he was north of 2800 in late 2024, a lot of results did not go Arjun's way in 2025. After finishing in 10th place out of 14 in the 2025 Tata Steel Masters, a few good games in the German Bundesliga 2024/25 were not enough to right the ship as he finished in 5th out of 6 in Norway Chess 2025. However, in the third quarter of 2025, Arjun seemed to be regaining his form as he finished in 4th out of 10 in the 2nd UzChess Cup Masters and tied 2nd in the 2025 Chennai Grand Masters, which ran from August 7 to 15. With no clear path to qualify to the 2026 Candidates, Arjun will be looking to do well in the Grand Swiss.

GM Arjun Erigaisi
Photo: Lennart Ootes / FIDE

#3 Seed: World Champion GM Gukesh D

Rounding out India's and the tournament's top three players is GM Gukesh D, the reigning classical chess world champion. After having tied for first in the aforementioned Tata Steel tournament at the start of the year, Gukesh has not had a great chess year. At the Superbet Chess Classic Romania, he finished in 7th place, and then at Norway Chess 2025, despite defeating former world champion and world #1 GM Magnus Carlsen, he finished in fourth place out of six participants. More recently, at the 2025 Sinquefield Cup, he finished in 8th place. However, despite these setbacks, Gukesh's play remains as ambitious as ever, and he will be looking to leave his mark on a tournament where he, as the reigning world champion, has no need to qualify. Indeed, by performing well against the contenders, he could effectively ruin some of his would-be challengers' chances of qualifying to the Candidates.

GM Gukesh D with his World Chess Championship trophy
Photo: Eng Chin An

The Top 10

GM Alireza Firouzja, the 4th seed of the event, is already a household name and surely one of the favorites. Meanwhile, GM Vincent Keymer is coming off a resounding victory at the 2025 Chennai Grand Masters, where he finished in clear 1st, 2 points ahead of the field, and gained a whopping 20 rating points — not an easy feat at all at the highest of levels. GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov has had a less fortunate series of events recently, finishing in last place in the 2025 Sinquefield Cup; thus, Abdusattorov will be looking to get back on track with a good performance at the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss.

GM Anish Giri has quietly returned to the world's top 15 players, gaining rating in most of the tournaments he participated in in 2025, so he will also be looking to do well in the Grand Swiss and earn an invite to his 3rd Candidates appearance. GM Levon Aronian is another veteran who is looking to qualify to the Candidates. He has a good chance to do so as he has been on what many commentators have called "Levon's magical summer" after he won the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Las Vegas and the 2025 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz.

No stranger to the Candidates tournament, and a double world championship challenger himself, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi has not played a lot of classical chess in 2025, but after losing 15 rating points at the 2nd UzChess Cup Masters, he will also be looking to reverse his fortunes. Another player who has been inactive for the majority of 2025 is ex-2800 and the 6th highest rated player in history, GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Mamedyarov, who is coaching the prodigious GM Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş, who is also playing in the Grand Swiss and will be introduced later, is famous for his sharp chess and is definitely one of the tournament's dark horses.

GM Alireza Firouzja with GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov and GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the background
Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE

The Up-And-Comers

14-year-old, 2646-rated GM Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş, 16-year-old, 2631-rated GM Ediz Gürel, and 16-year-old, 2611-rated GM Abhimanyu Mishra top the field of youngsters vying to make it to the Candidates or simply have a good showing at such a world class event. 15-year-old, 2586-rated GM Ivan Zemlyanskii, 15-year-old, 2557-rated GM Andy Woodward, 16-year-old, 2550-rated GM Ihor Samunenkov, and 16-year-old, 2482-rated IM Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov are also names to look out for. GM V Pranav, the reigning World Junior Chess Champion, comes in in good form to the Grand Swiss after having won the Fujairah Global 2025 just yesterday.

The Veterans

The oldest player in the field is GM Boris Gelfand, a former world championship challenger, who, at the age of 57, is one year older than 56-year-old GM Vasyl Ivanchuk, who has been very active in 2025 — more active than a lot of youngsters in the field, in fact! —, and is coming off fresh from the Fujairah Global 2025 - Masters. GM Alexei Shirov, a renowned attacking player, is the third and only player above 50 in the field.

Vasyl Ivanchuk, a fan favorite
Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE

Two Women in the Open

GM Aleksandra Goryachkina and GM Divya Deshmukh are playing in the Open section. Goryachkina, who has reached a rating over 2600, is no stranger to open events as she has achieved very strong performances in two Higher League Russian Championships. Meanwhile, Divya is coming off a 1st place finish at the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025, and that only at the age of 19.

Divya Deshmukh after her FIDE Women's World Cup win
Photo: Anna Shtourman / FIDE

Lineup (Women's)

Four of the world's top 10 players as well as 11 of the world's top 20 players are participating in the 2025 FIDE Women's Grand Swiss.

#1 Seed: GM Anna Muzychuk

GM Anna Muzychuk has had a stellar 2025, winning the Nicosia Women's Grand Prix in March on tiebreaks, the Grosslobming Women's Grand Prix also on tiebreaks, and the Norway Chess Women's tournament. Unfortunately for Muzychuk, because she shared two of those Grand Prix wins, she only finished in third in the Grand Prix and thus has not yet qualified to the 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates. The only other classical chess tournament she played in 2025 was the 2025 FIDE Women's World Cup, where she lost to IM Song Yuxin in the tiebreak games after they drew both of their classical games. With such strong classical performances, and because she has very narrowly missed out on the Candidates with her third place finish at the 2024/2025 FIDE Women's Grand Prix, Muzychuk will be looking to finish strong at the Grand Swiss.

GM Anna Muzychuk
Photo: Anna Shtourman / FIDE

#2 Seed: GM Tan Zhongyi

After losing the 2025 Women's World Chess Championship, GM Tan Zhongyi had a topsy-turvy 2025, winning rating in some tournaments, such as the TePe Sigeman & Co tournament and the 2025 FIDE Women's World Cup, but losing rating in other tournaments, such as the 2025 Cairns Cup and the Women's FIDE Grand Prix Monaco. However, Tan has already qualified to the 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates, so she can approach her games with a calmer state of mind.

GM Tan Zhongyi
Photo: Andrei Anosov / FIDE

#3 Seed: GM Bibisara Assaubayeva

GM Bibisara Assaubayeva, who was IM Assaubayeva only a few months ago, achieved the 2500 rating and her third GM norm at the recently concluded 2025 Sharjah Masters. Apart from that, Assaubayeva did not play many classical tournaments, playing the 2025 Cairns Cup and the 2025 Monaco Women's Grand Prix, where she broke even in the former and lost 16 rating points in the latter. However, she also played a long, eight-game classical match against 2654-rated GM Daniil Yuffa, which she drew with one win, one loss, and six draws. After her GM title, Assaubayeva will definitely be looking to secure a Candidates spot to add to her long list of chess accolades.

GM Bibisara Assaubayeva
Photo: Niki Riga / FIDE

The Top 10

Former Women's World Rapid and Blitz World Champion, GM Kateryna Lagno, has won a large number of championships in her long career, and she will be looking to become a three-discipline world champion by first finishing well in the Grand Swiss to earn a spot in the Candidates. Similarly, GM Harika Dronavalli has been among the top women for a long while, but still has not won a Women's World Chess Championship. IM Polina Shuvalova, who is a multi-time World Youth champion, comes in as the 5th seed and has had a lukewarm 2025 so far, so she will be looking to improve her Candidates chances. GM Mariya Muzychuk, Anna Muzychuk's younger sister, has been a Women's World Champion herself, but will of course be looking to add more titles to her long list of achievements. Just the same, former Women's World Champion and 2021 Women's World Rapid Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk would like to bring home another trophy and get to the Candidates. IM Yuliia Osmak, former U12 Girl's World Youth Chess Champion, has shown good form in 2025, steadily increasing her rating. Meanwhile, 20-year-old IM Leya Garifullina and 24-year-old GM Vaishali Rameshbabu have also shown constant progress in recent years, and certainly have their eyes set on the title.

GM Kateryna Lagno
Photo: Anna Shtourman / FIDE

The Up-And-Comers

15-year-old IM Lu Miaoyi, whose 2449 rating is already good enough for 14th place in the tournament's starting rank list, has been showing rapid progress and will hope to continue her success at the 2025 FIDE Women's Grand Swiss. The same can be said for 16-year-old, 2420-rated WGM Anna Shukhman, 16-year-old, 2409-rated WIM Afruza Khamdamova, 15-year-old, 2299-rated WIM Elnaz Kaliakhmet, and 16-year-old, 2148-rated WCM Madinabonu Khalilova.

The Veterans

Many former women's world champions, long-time leading women players, and overall women's chess legends are participating, including, but not limited to, IM Lela Javakhishvili, GM Anna Ushenina, GM Elina Danielian, GM Antoaneta Stefanova, and GM Irina Krush.

GM Anna Ushenina is a former Women's World Champion
Photo: Lennart Ootes / FIDE

Who's Missing?

In the Open, GM Magnus Carlsen has expressed disinterest in playing for the World Chess Championship. GM Hikaru Nakamura has his eyes set on the rating spot for the Candidates, while GM Fabiano Caruana has already qualified for the Candidates. Therefore, the most notable top players who are missing from the Grand Swiss are world #7 GM Wesley So, world #9 GM Wei Yi, world #14 GM Viswanathan Anand, and world #18 GM Leinier Dominguez Perez.

In the Women's, GM Lei Tingjie is notably missing. Other top players, such as GM Zhu Jiner and GM Humpy Koneru, have already qualified to the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates, while GM Ju Wenjun is the reigning women's world champion and GM Hou Yifan has been inactive in women's chess for a long time.

Prize Fund

The total prize fund in the Open section is $625,000, a substantial increase from the prize fund of the previous edition, which sat at $460,000. 1st to 4th place net more than $50,000, with 1st place taking $90,000. Similarly, the Women's total prize fund has increased from $140,000 to $230,000, with 1st to 4th place receiving more than $20,000 and 1st place winning $40,000.