Indian Chess Titans Brace for Battle at FIDE Grand Swiss 2023

Samarkand, Uzbekistan – September 4 (PTI) - The prestigious FIDE Grand Swiss is set to witness some intense battles as India's top-seeded players, including World No. 1 R Praggnanandhaa, gear up for the challenges ahead. Praggnanandhaa faces off against American Grandmaster Jeffery Xiong, while reigning world champion D Gukesh is expected to take on Frenchman Etienne Bacrot with no holds barred in the opening round.

The event features 116 players in the open category and 56 in the women’s section, fighting for a substantial prize pool of USD 855,000, of which USD 625,000 is earmarked for the open section. Despite being part of the qualification process for the next Candidates Tournament, the strongest-ever Swiss open event is notably missing the world's top three ranked players.

World No.1 Magnus Carlsen’s absence is not surprising given his aversion to Classical chess and his decision not to play in the world championship. Meanwhile, Fabiano Caruana is sitting out to conserve his energy, having already secured his spot in the Candidates, and second-ranked Hikaru Nakamura is relying on his rating to gain entry into the Candidates. Interestingly, Nakamura had a mediocre tournament in the USA, yet managed to boost his rating by five points by winning all his games.

The competition provides two qualification spots in both the open and women’s sections. Despite the absence of the top trio, the tournament is making headlines as Indian players occupy the top three seeds for the first time in any open tournament globally. World No. 4 Praggnanandhaa, World No. 5 Arjun Erigaisi, and Gukesh, ranked sixth globally, are all contenders for top honors.

Adding to the excitement is India's Divya Deshmukh, the women’s World Cup winner, who is competing in the open section against the best players. Deshmukh starts her campaign against fellow Indian Abhimanyu Puranik.

Defending champion Vidit Gujrathi, the experienced P Harikrishna, dynamic Nihal Sareen, in-form Pranav Venkatesh, and Leon Luke Mendonca are also strong contenders, ready to engage in 11 competitive rounds.

The open tournament features 15 Indian participants, while the women’s section has three contenders, led by D Harika. Last edition's winner R Vaishali and Vantika Agrawal join her, as Koneru Humpy sits out after qualifying for the Women’s Candidates by reaching the women’s World Cup finals.

Round 1 Indian pairings (Open): Jeffery Xiong (USA) vs R Praggnanandhaa; Arjun Erigaisi vs Maksim Chigaev (ESP); Etienne Bacrot (FRA) vs D Gukesh; Vidit Gujrathi vs Alexander Donchenko (GER); P Harikrishna vs Anton Demchenko (SLO); Nihal Sarin vs Rasmus Svane (GER); Aryan Chopra vs Parham Maghsoodloo (IR); Luke Leon Mendonca vs Andrey Esipenko (FID); Aydin Suleymanli (AZE) vs Murali Karthikeyan; Radoslav Wojtaszek (POL) vs V Pranav; Raunak Sadhwani vs Jules Moussard (FRA); S L Narayanan vs Alexander Grischuk (FID); Rauf Mamedov (AZE) vs Aditya Mittal; Divya Deshmukh vs Abhimanyu Puranik.

Women: Yulia Osmak (UKR) vs Vantika Agrawal; Marcel Eforimski (ISR) vs D Harika; R Vaishali vs Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova (UZB).

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