The FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 chess tournament is in its business end with the 11th and final round underway in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Monday. The Indian duo of Arjun Erigaisi (Open Section) and R. Vaishali (Women’s Section) are running for the top two places and a big contenders in the race for the Candidates Tournament 2026 spot.
Here are all the qualification scenarios for Arjun and Vaishali’s Candidates qualification.
How can Arjun Erigaisi qualify for the Candidates Tournament 2026?
Arjun is currently eighth in the leaderboard with 6.5 points from 10 rounds. While nine players have 6.5 points in the Open Section, only Arjun, Abhimanyu Mishra, and Andy Woodward have a mathematical chance to finish in second place and win the Candidates spot.
FIDE GRAND SWISS 2025, ROUND 11 LIVE UPDATES: FOLLOW HERE
For Arjun to qualify, he must first beat Vincent Keymer in the final round. A win would take him to 7.5 points, eliminating Keymer at 7 points.
Here are the critical final (11th) round pairings:
- Matthias Bluebaum (7) vs Alireza Firouzja (7)
- Anish Giri (7) vs Hans Moke Niemann (7)
- Arjun Erigaisi (6.5) vs Vincent Keymer (7)
- Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (6.5) vs Abhimanyu Mishra (6.5)
Matthias Bluebaum and Alireza Firouzja, both on 7 points, play each other. Regardless of the result (win, loss, or draw), only one of them will finish ahead of Arjun (if Arjun wins). If Bluebaum and Firouzja draw their game and Arjun wins, all three players will get to 7.5 points, but Firouzja has the worst tiebreaks among them, so in this case, Arjun and Bluebaum qualify. This means Arjun is effectively competing for the second spot.
Therefore, the only way for Arjun to qualify is if:
- He defeats Vincent Keymer.
- The game between Anish Giri and Hans Niemann ends in a draw.
- The game between Vidit Gujrathi and Abhimanyu Mishra ends in a draw (preventing Mishra, who has strong tiebreaks, from getting to 7.5 points).
If any one of these conditions fails, Arjun’s chances are over.
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FIDE Grand Swiss Leaderboard: Open Section
| Rk. | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
| 1 | Matthias Bluebaum | GER | 2671 | 7 | 2688 | 54,5 | 58 |
| 2 | Alireza Firouzja | FRA | 2754 | 7 | 2685 | 52,5 | 56,5 |
| 3 | Anish Giri | NED | 2746 | 7 | 2661 | 50 | 54 |
| 4 | Hans Moke Niemann | USA | 2733 | 7 | 2660 | 48 | 52 |
| 5 | Vincent Keymer | GER | 2751 | 7 | 2657 | 50 | 54,5 |
| 6 | Abhimanyu Mishra | USA | 2611 | 6,5 | 2733 | 57 | 60,5 |
| 7 | Andy Woodward | USA | 2557 | 6,5 | 2683 | 49,5 | 52,5 |
| 8 | Arjun Erigaisi | IND | 2771 | 6,5 | 2680 | 50 | 54 |
| 9 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov | UZB | 2748 | 6,5 | 2659 | 52,5 | 57 |
| 10 | Nihal Sarin | IND | 2693 | 6,5 | 2658 | 51 | 55 |
| 11 | Awonder Liang | USA | 2698 | 6,5 | 2649 | 44 | 48 |
| 12 | Santosh Gujrathi Vidit | IND | 2712 | 6,5 | 2643 | 49,5 | 54 |
| 13 | Yu Yangyi | CHN | 2714 | 6,5 | 2643 | 49 | 54 |
| 14 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | FRA | 2738 | 6,5 | 2630 | 50,5 | 54,5 |
Top board pairings in Round 11 of Open Section
- Matthias Bluebaum (7) – 2671 vs Alireza Firouzja (7) – 2754
- Anish Giri (7) – 2746 vs Hans Moke Niemann (7) – 2733
- Arjun Erigaisi (6½) – 2771 vs Vincent Keymer (7) – 2751
- Nodirbek Abdusattorov (6½) – 2748 vs Awonder Liang (6½) – 2698
- Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (6½) – 2738 vs Nihal Sarin (6½) – 2693
- Andy Woodward (6½) – 2557 vs Yu Yangyi (6½) – 2714
- Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (6½) – 2712 vs Abhimanyu Mishra (6½) – 2611
- Andrey Esipenko (6) – 2687 vs Ian Nepomniachtchi (6) – 2742
- Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (6) – 2741 vs Grigoriy Oparin (6) – 2660
- Nodirbek Yakubboev (6) – 2681 vs Vladimir Fedoseev (6) – 2731
How can Vaishali qualify for the Candidates Tournament 2026?
Vaishali is jointly leading the Women’s Section with 7.5 points, tied with Kateryna Lagno. The simplest path for her to qualify for the Women’s Candidates for the second time in a row is to win or even just draw her final round match against China’s Tan Zhongyi.
However, the defending FIDE Grand Swiss champion faces an extremely tough opponent in Tan, who has already secured her own place in the upcoming Women’s Candidates. Since Vaishali has 7.5 points and very strong tiebreaks, there remains an outside chance she could qualify even with a loss, as the second Candidates spot from this event would not go to Tan.
FIDE Grand Swiss Leaderboard: Women’s Section
| Rk. | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
| 1 | Kateryna Lagno | FID | 2505 | 7,5 | 2438 | 54 | 58 |
| 2 | Vaishali Rameshbabu | IND | 2452 | 7,5 | 2424 | 55 | 59,5 |
| 3 | Zhongyi Tan | CHN | 2531 | 7 | 2419 | 49 | 52 |
| 4 | Yuxin Song | CHN | 2409 | 7 | 2416 | 53 | 56 |
| 5 | Bibisara Assaubayeva | KAZ | 2505 | 7 | 2413 | 53,5 | 57,5 |
| 6 | Ulviyya Fataliyeva | AZE | 2385 | 6,5 | 2456 | 55 | 60 |
| 7 | Irina Krush | USA | 2366 | 6,5 | 2420 | 45,5 | 49 |
Top board pairings in Round 11 of Women’s Section
- Tan Zhongyi (7) – 2531 vs Vaishali Rameshbabu (7½) – 2452
- Kateryna Lagno (7½) – 2505 vs Ulviyya Fataliyeva (6½) – 2385
- Irina Krush (6½) – 2366 vs Yuxin Song (7) – 2409
- Bibisara Assaubayeva (7) – 2505 vs Anna Muzychuk (6) – 2535
- Mariya Muzychuk (6) – 2484 vs Elina Danielian (6) – 2405
- Alexandra Kosteniuk (6) – 2472 vs Qi Guo (6) – 2371
- Stavroula Tsolakidou (5½) – 2445 vs Polina Shuvalova (5½) – 2492
- Mo Zhai (5½) – 2380 vs Miaoyi Lu (5½) – 2449
- Antoaneta Stefanova (5½) – 2395 vs Mai Narva (5½) – 2386
- Olga Girya (5½) – 2386 vs Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (5½) – 2379
