Nihal Sarin and Matthias Bluebaum lead the Grand Swiss, Keymer inches in to the top

The 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, has reached a thrilling crescendo after eight rounds, with India’s Nihal Sarin and Germany’s Matthias Bluebaum sharing the lead at six points. Their top-board clash on Friday ended in a quick draw, a cautious standoff that preserved their half-point edge over a crowded field of pursuers.

Germany’s Vincent Keymer has emerged as a serious contender, climbing to 5.5 points and joining a pack of eight players nipping at the leaders’ heels. His round-eight victory over defending champion Vidit Gujrathi of India brought him in contention for the top positions. With other heavyweights like Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri, and Jorden van Foreest also on 5.5 points, the leaderboard remains a tightrope, where a single misstep could reshape the race.

What a tournament for the Germany players! Matthias Bluebaum is shared first, while Vincent Keymer is about to win and be only 1/2 point behind his compatriothttps://t.co/d4JDcWpNXc

— Chessdom (@chessdom) September 12, 2025

As the Grand Swiss heads toward its September 15 climax, the pressure is palpable for the leaders to maintain their edge. Every move now carries the weight of chess history, as the tournament gives two qualification spots to the FIDE 2026 Candidates.

The FIDE Grand Swiss Chess Tournament 2025 is taking place September 3 – September 16 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It will be an 11-round Swiss-system tournament and forms part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship 2026. The winner and runner-up of the tournament will earn the right to play in the Candidates Tournament 2026.

FIDE Grand Swiss Chess Tournament 2025 is in the Top Chess Events Calendar, part of the The Chess Calendar

FIDE Grand Swiss live games

Live games from the FIDE Grand Swiss from round 9 will be on Chessdom in cooperation with Lichess and broadcast by top streamers.

Grand Swiss information: FIDE Grand Swiss Chess Tournament 2025 – A Gateway to the World Championship
Grand Swiss Live: FIDE Grand Swiss Chess 2025 live / Women’s Grand Swiss Chess 2025 live
Grand Swiss Participants: Participants open / Participants women

Round 1: Multiple surprises on the board
Round 2: Maghsoodloo, Firouzja, and Demchenko lead Grand Swiss 2025
Round 3: Parham Maghsoodloo is sole leader of Grand Swiss 2025 after R3
Round 4: Parham Maghsoodloo continues to lead the Grand Swiss, 13 players share second
Round 5: Parham Maghsoodloo continues leading the Grand Swiss, as Abhimanyu Mishra stuns the World Champion
Round 6: Anish Giri leaps to shared second, eyeing Candidates 2026 spot
Round 7: Nihal Sarin and Matthias Bluebaum are co-leaders after round 7 of the FIDE Grand Swiss
Round 8: Nihal Sarin and Matthias Bluebaum lead the Grand Swiss, Keymer inches in to the top

FIDE Grand Swiss Round 8 results

Bo.		White	Rtg	Result		Black	Rtg
1	GM	Bluebaum, Matthias	2671	1/2-1/2	GM	Nihal, Sarin	2693
2	GM	Firouzja, Alireza	2754	1/2-1/2	GM	Niemann, Hans Moke	2733
3	GM	Mishra, Abhimanyu	2611	1/2-1/2	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2748
4	GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham	2692	1/2-1/2	GM	Giri, Anish	2746
5	GM	Keymer, Vincent	2751	1 – 0	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	2712
6	GM	Rapport, Richard	2711	1/2-1/2	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	2785
7	GM	Sargsyan, Shant	2653	1/2-1/2	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2771
8	GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2742	1/2-1/2	GM	Pranav, V	2596
9	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	2692	1 – 0	GM	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	2741
10	GM	Yu, Yangyi	2714	1/2-1/2	GM	Theodorou, Nikolas	2646
11	GM	Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan	2646	1 – 0	GM	Aronian, Levon	2744
12	GM	Rodshtein, Maxim	2645	0 – 1	GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	2738
13	GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu	2640	1/2-1/2	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	2722
14	GM	Liang, Awonder	2698	1 – 0	GM	Salem, A.R. Saleh	2640
15	GM	Bartel, Mateusz	2581	0 – 1	GM	Sevian, Samuel	2692
16	GM	Chigaev, Maksim	2638	1/2-1/2	GM	Dubov, Daniil	2691
17	GM	Esipenko, Andrey	2687	1/2-1/2	GM	Gurel, Ediz	2631
18	GM	Woodward, Andy	2557	1/2-1/2	GM	Yakubboev, Nodirbek	2681
19	GM	Tabatabaei, M. Amin	2673	1/2-1/2	GM	Shirov, Alexei	2616
20	GM	Vitiugov, Nikita	2666	0 – 1	GM	Maurizzi, Marcandria	2610
21	GM	Gumularz, Szymon	2590	0 – 1	GM	Saric, Ivan	2655
22	GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir	2731	1 – 0	GM	Henriquez Villagra, Cristobal	2594
23	GM	Harikrishna, Pentala	2704	0 – 1	GM	Anton Guijarro, David	2625
24	GM	Sjugirov, Sanan	2627	1/2-1/2	GM	Robson, Ray	2674
25	GM	Murzin, Volodar	2670	1/2-1/2	GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	2615
26	GM	Hakobyan, Aram	2625	1 – 0	GM	Shankland, Sam	2670
27	GM	Artemiev, Vladislav	2664	1/2-1/2	GM	Ponomariov, Ruslan	2622
28	GM	Oparin, Grigoriy	2660	1 – 0	GM	Ivanchuk, Vasyl	2608
29	GM	Aditya, Mittal	2589	1/2-1/2	GM	Sadhwani, Raunak	2658
30	GM	Grischuk, Alexander	2657	1/2-1/2	GM	Lagarde, Maxime	2609
31	GM	Demchenko, Anton	2620	1 – 0	GM	Gelfand, Boris	2652
32	GM	Bjerre, Jonas Buhl	2651	1 – 0	GM	Najer, Evgeniy	2613
33	GM	Matlakov, Maxim	2609	0 – 1	GM	Mamedov, Rauf	2651
34	GM	Predke, Alexandr	2609	1/2-1/2	GM	Grandelius, Nils	2648
35	GM	Lu, Shanglei	2647	1/2-1/2	GM	Suleymanli, Aydin	2602
36	GM	Vokhidov, Shamsiddin	2645	1/2-1/2	GM	Narayanan, S L	2591
37	GM	Kuzubov, Yuriy	2600	1/2-1/2	GM	Xiong, Jeffery	2640
38	GM	Cheparinov, Ivan	2627	1/2-1/2	GM	Zemlyanskii, Ivan	2586
39	GM	Moussard, Jules	2591	1/2-1/2	GM	Kollars, Dmitrij	2647
40	GM	Abdisalimov, Abdimalik	2488	1 – 0	GM	Svane, Frederik	2643
41	GM	Bacrot, Etienne	2637	1/2-1/2	GM	Aryan, Chopra	2619
42	GM	Amin, Bassem	2636	0 – 1	GM	Korobov, Anton	2616
43	GM	Hovhannisyan, Robert	2629	1/2-1/2	GM	Samunenkov, Ihor	2550
44	GM	Jobava, Baadur	2590	0 – 1	GM	Volokitin, Andrei	2628
45	GM	Dardha, Daniel	2624	1 – 0	GM	Nigmatov, Ortik	2488
46	GM	Sarana, Alexey	2686	1/2-1/2	GM	Donchenko, Alexander	2624
47	GM	Eljanov, Pavel	2682	1/2-1/2	GM	Svane, Rasmus	2620
48	GM	Deac, Bogdan-Daniel	2674	1/2-1/2	GM	Xu, Xiangyu	2615
49	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali	2669	1 – 0	GM	Santos Latasa, Jaime	2620
50	GM	Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	2661	1/2-1/2	GM	Daneshvar, Bardiya	2598
51	GM	Indjic, Aleksandar	2650	1 – 0	GM	Warmerdam, Max	2591
52	GM	Goryachkina, Aleksandra	2528	1 – 0	GM	Yuffa, Daniil	2648
53	GM	Ivic, Velimir	2630	1 – 0	GM	Madaminov, Mukhiddin	2560
54	GM	Vakhidov, Jakhongir	2521	1/2-1/2	GM	Sargissian, Gabriel	2626
55	GM	Wagner, Dennis	2608	1/2-1/2	IM	Suyarov, Mukhammadzokhid	2482
56	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.	2628	1/2-1/2	GM	Hammer, Jon Ludvig	2618
57	GM	Gukesh, D	2767	1/2-1/2	GM	Divya, Deshmukh	2478
58	GM	Muradli, Mahammad	2590	1 – 0		Olisa, Tennyson Ewomazino	2287

FIDE Grand Swiss Round 8 standings

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.
1	GM	Bluebaum, Matthias	GER	2671	6
2	GM	Nihal, Sarin	IND	2693	6
3	GM	Mishra, Abhimanyu	USA	2611	5.5
4	GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham	IRI	2692	5.5
5	GM	Firouzja, Alireza	FRA	2754	5.5
6	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	UZB	2748	5.5
7	GM	Keymer, Vincent	GER	2751	5.5
8	GM	Niemann, Hans Moke	USA	2733	5.5
9	GM	Giri, Anish	NED	2746	5.5
10	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	NED	2692	5.5
11	GM	Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan	TUR	2646	5
12	GM	Maurizzi, Marcandria	FRA	2610	5
13	GM	Pranav, V	IND	2596	5
14	GM	Sargsyan, Shant	ARM	2653	5
15	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	IND	2771	5
16	GM	Theodorou, Nikolas	GRE	2646	5
17	GM	Rapport, Richard	HUN	2711	5
18	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	IND	2785	5
19	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	IND	2712	5
20	GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	FID	2742	5
21	GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	FRA	2738	5
22	GM	Liang, Awonder	USA	2698	5
23	GM	Yu, Yangyi	CHN	2714	5
24	GM	Sevian, Samuel	USA	2692	5
25	GM	Saric, Ivan	CRO	2655	5
26	GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu	IND	2640	4.5
27	GM	Demchenko, Anton	SLO	2620	4.5
28	GM	Shirov, Alexei	ESP	2616	4.5
29	GM	Hakobyan, Aram	ARM	2625	4.5
30	GM	Anton Guijarro, David	ESP	2625	4.5
31	GM	Gurel, Ediz	TUR	2631	4.5
32	GM	Woodward, Andy	USA	2557	4.5
33	GM	Chigaev, Maksim	ESP	2638	4.5
34	GM	Tabatabaei, M. Amin	IRI	2673	4.5
35	GM	Mamedov, Rauf	AZE	2651	4.5
36	GM	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	AZE	2741	4.5
37	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	UZB	2722	4.5
38	GM	Oparin, Grigoriy	USA	2660	4.5
39	GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir	SLO	2731	4.5
40	GM	Yakubboev, Nodirbek	UZB	2681	4.5
41	GM	Esipenko, Andrey	FID	2687	4.5
42	GM	Dubov, Daniil	FID	2691	4.5
43	GM	Bjerre, Jonas Buhl	DEN	2651	4.5
44	GM	Cheparinov, Ivan	BUL	2627	4
45	GM	Salem, A.R. Saleh	UAE	2640	4
46	GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	IND	2615	4
47	GM	Rodshtein, Maxim	ISR	2645	4
48	GM	Xiong, Jeffery	USA	2640	4
49	GM	Volokitin, Andrei	UKR	2628	4
50	GM	Ponomariov, Ruslan	UKR	2622	4
51	GM	Gumularz, Szymon	POL	2590	4
52	GM	Predke, Alexandr	SRB	2609	4
53	GM	Bartel, Mateusz	POL	2581	4
54	GM	Henriquez Villagra, Cristobal	CHI	2594	4
55	GM	Korobov, Anton	UKR	2616	4
56	GM	Suleymanli, Aydin	AZE	2602	4
57	GM	Lagarde, Maxime	FRA	2609	4
58	GM	Kuzubov, Yuriy	UKR	2600	4
59	GM	Zemlyanskii, Ivan	FID	2586	4
60	GM	Sjugirov, Sanan	HUN	2627	4
61	GM	Divya, Deshmukh	IND	2478	4
62	GM	Narayanan, S L	IND	2591	4
63	GM	Dardha, Daniel	BEL	2624	4
64	GM	Aditya, Mittal	IND	2589	4
65	GM	Aronian, Levon	USA	2744	4
66	GM	Vitiugov, Nikita	ENG	2666	4
67	GM	Abdisalimov, Abdimalik	UZB	2488	4
68	GM	Robson, Ray	USA	2674	4
69	GM	Artemiev, Vladislav	FID	2664	4
70	GM	Murzin, Volodar	FID	2670	4
71	GM	Grischuk, Alexander	FID	2657	4
72	GM	Sadhwani, Raunak	IND	2658	4
73	GM	Grandelius, Nils	SWE	2648	4
74	GM	Lu, Shanglei	CHN	2647	4
75	GM	Vokhidov, Shamsiddin	UZB	2645	4
76	GM	Hovhannisyan, Robert	ARM	2629	3.5
77	GM	Ivanchuk, Vasyl	UKR	2608	3.5
78	GM	Aryan, Chopra	IND	2619	3.5
79	GM	Najer, Evgeniy	FID	2613	3.5
80	GM	Matlakov, Maxim	FID	2609	3.5
81	GM	Moussard, Jules	FRA	2591	3.5
82	GM	Gukesh, D	IND	2767	3.5
83	GM	Samunenkov, Ihor	UKR	2550	3.5
84	GM	Bacrot, Etienne	FRA	2637	3.5
85	GM	Goryachkina, Aleksandra	FID	2528	3.5
86	GM	Shankland, Sam	USA	2670	3.5
87	GM	Gelfand, Boris	ISR	2652	3.5
88	GM	Harikrishna, Pentala	IND	2704	3.5
89	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali	IND	2669	3.5
90	GM	Kollars, Dmitrij	GER	2647	3.5
91	GM	Indjic, Aleksandar	SRB	2650	3.5
92	GM	Ivic, Velimir	SRB	2630	3.5
93	GM	Svane, Rasmus	GER	2620	3
94	GM	Xu, Xiangyu	CHN	2615	3
95	GM	Sargissian, Gabriel	ARM	2626	3
96	GM	Nigmatov, Ortik	UZB	2488	3
97	GM	Donchenko, Alexander	GER	2624	3
98	GM	Daneshvar, Bardiya	IRI	2598	3
99	GM	Vakhidov, Jakhongir	UZB	2521	3
100	GM	Svane, Frederik	GER	2643	3
101	GM	Jobava, Baadur	GEO	2590	3
102	GM	Eljanov, Pavel	UKR	2682	3
103	GM	Deac, Bogdan-Daniel	ROU	2674	3
104	GM	Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	POL	2661	3
105	GM	Sarana, Alexey	SRB	2686	3
106	GM	Amin, Bassem	EGY	2636	3
107	GM	Santos Latasa, Jaime	ESP	2620	2.5
108	GM	Warmerdam, Max	NED	2591	2.5
109	GM	Madaminov, Mukhiddin	UZB	2560	2.5
110	GM	Wagner, Dennis	GER	2608	2.5
111	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.	ARM	2628	2.5
112	IM	Suyarov, Mukhammadzokhid	UZB	2482	2.5
113	GM	Muradli, Mahammad	AZE	2590	2.5
114	GM	Yuffa, Daniil	ESP	2648	2.5
115	GM	Hammer, Jon Ludvig	NOR	2618	2
116		Olisa, Tennyson Ewomazino	NGR	2287	0.5