FIDE Grand Swiss Chess Tournament 2025 – A Gateway to the World Championship
The FIDE Grand Swiss Chess Tournament 2025, one of the most prestigious events in the global chess calendar, is set to captivate chess enthusiasts from September 3 to September 16, 2025, in the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Organized by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), this tournament serves as a qualifier for the World Chess Championship 2026, offering players a chance to secure coveted spots in the Candidates Tournament. With an increased prize fund, a star-studded lineup, and a highly competitive format, the 2025 edition promises to be a thrilling spectacle. Here is everything you need to know about this landmark event in The Chess Calendar
Where to follow the FIDE Grand Swiss Chess 2025
Live: FIDE Grand Swiss Chess 2025 live / Women’s Grand Swiss Chess 2025 live
Participants: Participants open / Participants women
Information and format
The FIDE Grand Swiss 2025, alongside the FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss, will be held over 11 rounds in a Swiss-system. The tournament features a total of 172 players: 116 in the Open section and 56 in the Women’s section.
The Grand Swiss employs an 11-round Swiss-system format, where players are paired based on their scores, ensuring dynamic and competitive matchups throughout the event. The games use classical time controls, designed to test strategic depth and endurance:
- 100 minutes for the first 40 moves
- 50 minutes for the next 20 moves
- 15 minutes for the remainder of the game
- A 30-second increment per move from move one
The top two finishers in the Open event will qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament, while the top two in the Women’s event will earn spots in the 2026 Women’s Candidates Tournament. These qualification spots make the Grand Swiss a high-stakes battleground, as players vie for the opportunity to challenge for the world chess title, currently in possession of Gukesh Dommaraju and Ju Wenjun.
Schedule of the Grand Swiss 2025
Games start at 15:00 local time, which is 12:00 CEST , 6:00 am ET
| 1 | 3 September | 15:00 | Arrivals |
| 17:00 | Press Conference (Water Margin hall, Minyoun) | ||
| 18:30 | Technical Meeting (Expo Centre) | ||
| Opening Ceremony (Changan hall, Minyoun) | |||
| 2 | 4 September | 15:00 | Round 1 |
| 3 | 5 September | 15:00 | Round 2 |
| 4 | 6 September | 15:00 | Round 3 |
| 5 | 7 September | 15:00 | Round 4 |
| 6 | 8 September | 15:00 | Round 5 |
| 7 | 9 September | 15:00 | Round 6 |
| 8 | 10 September | Free Day | |
| 9 | 11 September | 15:00 | Round 7 |
| 10 | 12 September | 15:00 | Round 8 |
| 11 | 13 September | 15:00 | Round 9 |
| 12 | 14 September | 15:00 | Round 10 |
| 13 | 15 September | 14:00 | Round 11 |
| 21:00 | Closing Ceremony |
Notable participants in the Grand Swiss 2025
The Open section is headlined by some of the world’s top talents, including:
- Gukesh Dommaraju, the reigning World Champion, who is lifting the quality of the event despite already being qualified for the 2026 World Championship
- Arjun Erigaisi and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, both Indian superstars ranked among the world’s top fiveplayers.
- Nodirbek Abdusattorov, a local hero from Uzbekistan with a chance to qualify for the Candidates on home soil.
- Alireza Firouzja and Anish Giri, both top-10 players aspiring to more.
Notably absent are former World Champions Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand, as well as Fabiano Caruana, who has already secured a Candidates spot via the 2024 FIDE Circuit, and Hikaru Nakamura, who is pursuing qualification through rating. The requirement of playing at least 30 rated classical games between July 2024 and June 2025 has excluded more high-profile players.
The Women’s Grand Swiss is equally competitive, with top seeds including:
- Top seeded is Tan Zhongyi, currently number 3 in the Women Top 100 list
- Anna Muzychuk, Bibisara Assaubayeva, Harika Dronavali as closest rating competitors
- Vaishali Rameshbabu, the 2023 Women’s Grand Swiss winner
Notable absences include Hou Yifan, the world number-one, who rarely competes, and Ju Wenjun, the reigning Women’s World Champion. Zhu Jiner, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Divya Deshmukh, Tan Zhongyi, Humpy Koneru have already qualified for the 2026 Women’s Candidates via other routes.
Read: Divya Deshmukh, Humpy Koneru and Tan Zhongyi qualify for the Women Candidates 2026 / Zhu Jiner qualifies for 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates Chess Tournament / Goryachkina will play in the open section of FIDE Grand Swiss 2025
The venue of the Grand Swiss 2025
The event will take place in Samarkand, a city renowned for its rich cultural heritage and growing prominence in the chess world. Uzbekistan, a rising chess powerhouse, has previously hosted major events like the 2022 Women’s Candidates Tournament and the 2023 World Rapid and Blitz Championships, and it will also host the Chess Olympiad 2026 in Uzbekistan. This event marks the first time the Grand Swiss will be held in Uzbekistan
More about the Grand Swiss 2025
The FIDE Grand Swiss, introduced in 2019, has quickly become one of the most competitive tournaments in chess. Previous winners in the Open section include Wang Hao (2019), Alireza Firouzja (2021), and Vidit Gujrathi (2023). The Women’s section, launched in 2021, has seen victories by Lei Tingjie (2021) and Vaishali Rameshbabu (2023). Each edition has showcased the tournament’s unpredictability, with players like Gujrathi, ranked 15th in 2023, emerging victorious against stacked fields.The tournament’s history is marked by its role as a qualifier for the Candidates Tournament, making it a crucible for determining the next challengers for the world title. The 2025 edition continues this tradition, with the added allure of a new host city and an enhanced prize fund.