Grand Swiss: Nihal takes down Maghsoodloo, Bluebaum stuns Arjun

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
9/12/2025 – Round seven of the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss saw a shake-up at the top as Parham Maghsoodloo suffered his first loss, falling to Nihal Sarin (pictured), who now shares the lead with Matthias Bluebaum after the German defeated Arjun Erigaisi. A large chasing pack on 5/7 includes Abhimanyu Mishra, who held Anish Giri to a draw to extend his unbeaten streak to 63 games, Hans Niemann, who defeated Yagiz Erdogmus in a wild 26-move Petroff, and defending champion Vidit Gujrathi, now back in contention. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
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Open: Nihal and Bluebaum the new co-leaders

Round seven in Samarkand brought changes in the standings, as sole leader Parham Maghsoodloo suffered his first defeat of the event and was caught at the top of the table.

Paired with Nihal Sarin on the top board, Maghsoodloo chose the Slav Defence with black, attempting to create counterplay by complicating matters. In the sharp positions that followed, the Iranian overreached and eventually lost control, even stepping away from a draw by repetition, allowing Nihal to score a clean victory. This win propelled Nihal into the joint lead with 5½/7 and ended Maghsoodloo's unbeaten run.

Matthias Bluebaum joined Nihal at the top of the standings after winning his second game against a super-grandmaster in the event. Having beaten Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu earlier, the European champion now defeated Arjun Erigaisi. The Indian star opened with the Catalan, but Bluebaum replied with a line often favoured by Arjun himself and equalised comfortably. Arjun tried to press, but his attempt to sharpen play backfired, and Bluebaum took over the initiative, converting confidently.

The chasing group is now large and packed with elite names, all on 5/7 and just half a point behind the leaders. Among them is Abhimanyu Mishra, who drew against Anish Giri. Giri, coming off back-to-back wins, pressed with white and obtained a slightly better endgame, but Mishra defended tenaciously to secure the draw. The result left Mishra not only in striking distance of the leaders but also extended his unbeaten streak in classical chess to 63 games.

Abhimanyu Mishra

Abhimanyu Mishra | Photo: Michal Walusza

Hans Niemann joined the group after defeating Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus in what was one of the wildest games of the day. Out of a Petroff Defence, Niemann sacrificed material to generate a dangerous attack and, for several moves, was a rook down in a chaotic position. His judgement was rewarded when his attack crashed through, handing Erdogmus his first loss of the tournament after just 26 moves.

Another important addition to the chasing pack is 2023 Grand Swiss champion Vidit Gujrathi. Vidit had started the tournament slowly, scoring just one win followed by four draws against lower-rated players, but has now won two games in a row - first against Anton Demchenko, then against Marc'Andria Maurizzi. The defending champion knows how to build momentum in this event: in 2023, he recovered from a first-round loss to Erwin l'Ami and secured overall victory with two consecutive wins in the final rounds.

Further back, Nodirbek Abdusattorov defeated Amin Tabatabaei, and Alireza Firouzja scored a sharp, tactical win against Nodirbek Yakubboev.

Hans Niemann

Hans Niemann | Photo: Michal Walusza

Reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, however, endured another difficult day, suffering his third consecutive defeat, this time at the hands of 16-year-old Turkish grandmaster Ediz Gurel. Gukesh now sits 84th in the standings and has slipped to number 10 on the live rating list.

The pairings for round eight promise further drama at the top: Bluebaum will face Nihal in a battle between the two leaders, Firouzja will meet Niemann, Mishra will play Abdusattorov, Maghsoodloo will attempt to bounce back against Giri, and Keymer will take on Vidit in an important clash for the chasing group.

Ediz Gurel, Gukesh Dommaraju

Ediz Gurel got the better of world champion Gukesh Dommaraju | Photo:Michal Walusza

Nihal 1-0 Maghsoodloo

Analysis by GM Karsten Müller

Parham Maghsoodloo, Nihal Sarin

A tense battle on the top board | Photo: Michal Walusza

Arjun 0-1 Bluebaum

Analysis by André Schulz

Matthias Bluebaum

Co-leader Matthias Bluebaum | Photo: Michal Walusza

Standings after round 7

Rk. Name Pts. TB1
1 Bluebaum, Matthias 5,5 2667
2 Nihal, Sarin 5,5 2625
3 Mishra, Abhimanyu 5 2730
4 Maghsoodloo, Parham 5 2717
5 Firouzja, Alireza 5 2666
6 Abdusattorov, Nodirbek 5 2657
7 Giri, Anish 5 2635
8 Niemann, Hans Moke 5 2631
9 Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi 5 2622
10 Pranav, V 4,5 2680
11 Erigaisi, Arjun 4,5 2677
12 Sargsyan, Shant 4,5 2669
13 Theodorou, Nikolas 4,5 2654
14 Praggnanandhaa, R 4,5 2645
15 Keymer, Vincent 4,5 2639
16 Nepomniachtchi, Ian 4,5 2638
17 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 4,5 2638
18 Rapport, Richard 4,5 2636
19 Yu, Yangyi 4,5 2626
20 Van Foreest, Jorden 4,5 2620
21 Puranik, Abhimanyu 4 2727
22 Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan 4 2722
23 Maurizzi, Marcandria 4 2716
24 Salem, A.R. Saleh 4 2708

...116 players

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Women's: Vaishali sole leader again

Vaishali Rameshbabu took the sole lead in the women's tournament by defeating Guo Qi with white. Playing a sharp line against the Petroff Defence, Vaishali built up a strong attacking position in the early middlegame and converted smoothly when Guo failed to find adequate defensive moves. With this win, Vaishali moved to 6/7.

Kateryna Lagno, meanwhile, drew with Antoaneta Stefanova on board two. Their Four Knights Spanish featured a forcing line where Black sacrificed the exchange to force a perpetual check, leading to an early conclusion.

Among the chasing pack, Bibisara Assaubayeva scored an important win over Irina Bulmaga, but only after a long technical fight. Bulmaga defended resourcefully in a rook-and-knight ending with all pawns on the kingside and even had good drawing chances, but faltered in time trouble and was eventually outplayed after 85 moves.

Mariya Muzychuk continued her remarkable recovery with a third consecutive win, this time over Afruza Khamdamova. Their 40-move game saw both kings exposed on the queenside, but Muzychuk outplayed her 16-year-old opponent in the tactical complications. Notably, Mariya has yet to draw a game in the event - she now has five wins and two losses.

Mariya Muzychuk

Mariya Muzychuk | Photo: Michal Walusza

Song Yuxin also made progress, defeating Ulviyya Fataliyeva and handing her a second consecutive loss. Song's game demonstrated that the Alapin variation of the Sicilian can produce sharp battles. Taking advantage of Fataliyeva's early pawn thrusts on the kingside, Song launched a direct attack against the black king and converted convincingly.

With four rounds to go, Vaishali leads alone on 6/7, half a point ahead of Lagno on 5½. Stefanova, Guo, Assaubayeva and Mariya Muzychuk are all on 5/7, keeping the fight for the two Candidates spots wide open.

Song Yuxin

Song Yuxin | Photo: Michal Walusza

Vaishali 1-0 Guo

Analysis by André Schulz

Vaishali Rameshbabu

Vaishali Rameshbabu | Photo: Michal Walusza

Standings after round 7

Rk. Name Pts. TB1
1 Vaishali, Rameshbabu 6 2402
2 Lagno, Kateryna 5,5 2404
3 Stefanova, Antoaneta 5 2403
4 Song, Yuxin 5 2399
5 Assaubayeva, Bibisara 5 2392
6 Muzychuk, Mariya 5 2378
7 Girya, Olga 4,5 2449
8 Guo, Qi 4,5 2446
9 Tan, Zhongyi 4,5 2394
10 Yip, Carissa 4,5 2382
11 Tsolakidou, Stavroula 4,5 2369
12 Fataliyeva, Ulviyya 4 2469
13 Wagner, Dinara 4 2436
14 Balajayeva, Khanim 4 2432
15 Krush, Irina 4 2432
16 Khamdamova, Afruza 4 2419
17 Kosteniuk, Alexandra 4 2397
18 Danielian, Elina 4 2394
19 Muzychuk, Anna 4 2393
20 Dronavalli, Harika 4 2388
21 Lu, Miaoyi 4 2376
22 Bulmaga, Irina 4 2374
23 Salimova, Nurgyul 3,5 2508
24 Vantika, Agrawal 3,5 2442
25 Narva, Mai 3,5 2433

...56 players

All games

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.