An incredible comeback

Even the most reckless of betting men would find it hard to pick a non-undefeated player as the winner of the strongest open chess tournament of the year. Coming back from a loss is a tall order with such motivated, well-prepared elite grandmasters fighting for a spot in the prelude to the World Championship match. And that is precisely what Vidit Gujrathi achieved in the 2023 FIDE Grand Swiss.

Following a painful first-round loss, the 29-year-old grandmaster from Maharashtra scored 7 wins in 10 games to clinch clear first place with 8½/11 points and a 2876 rating performance.

Master advanced Tactics and Calculations like a super Grandmaster

The Indian chess grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi with an ELO of over 2700 (June 2023) is one of the best 20 players in the world. For the first time, the sympathetic top player presents himself in a video course. Let a world-class player show you tactical moti

On his way to a memorable victory, Vidit defeated rising stars Hans Niemann, Bogdan-Daniel Deac and Javokhir Sindarov — and, importantly, held Hikaru Nakamura to a draw in round 8. His deciding win on Sunday was achieved in his game with white against an in-form Alexandr Predke, who had defeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Sam Shankland in previous rounds.

Vidit thus gained a spot in the next edition of the Candidates Tournament, where he will join compatriot Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu as the second Indian player in the field. We might even see a third Indian in the 8-player lineup if Gukesh manages to qualify via the FIDE Circuit (although Anish Giri surpassed him in the leaderboard thanks to a strong performance on the Isle of Man).

Now that a semi-retired Vishy Anand is not fighting to regain the world title, India’s current number 2 and number 3 have taken the baton and will surely be very motivated to gain the right to face Ding Liren in the next World Championship match. The rise to the top of the new Indian generation is coming more quickly than some might have expected!

Vidit outplayed Predke in a dynamic, queenless position. Playing white, the eventual tournament winner correctly calculated that he could grab a pawn on move 21.

After using 13 of his remaining 33 minutes (this is move 21), Vidit assessed that it was safe to play 21.Nxa6. White will need to be precise to keep his advantage while untangling his pieces, as Black will surely attack the somewhat restricted knight on a6.

Once the dust had settled, White had both the extra pawn on the queenside and a more flexible minor piece.

29.a4 gains space and cements White’s advantage. Predke tried to create counterplay on the kingside, but to no avail — Vidit dealt with the threats around his king while pushing his outside passer all the way to the seventh rank.

Resignation came in the following position.

Check out Karsten Müller’s Endgame Magic show featuring Vidit!

Basic Opening Strategy

In this video course you will learn about basic chess opening strategies, which can help you start your chess game.

Vidit Gujrathi facing Alexandr Predke | Photo: Anna Shtourman

Nakamura reaches Candidates

A 38-draw with white against Arjun Erigaisi allowed Hikaru Nakamura to finish the tournament in sole second place, a half point behind Vidit.

Both for Nakamura and Vidit, getting a draw on Sunday was no guarantee of finishing in the top two, as Andrey Esipenko, who entered the round sharing the lead with them, was sure to end the event with a better tiebreak score than both (average rating of opponents excluding the lowest-rated rival).

Esipenko, however, erred in a queenless position against Anish Giri, after having amassed a 26-minute advantage on the clock by once again showing excellent opening preparation. An inspired Giri, who came from scoring back-to-back wins, made the most of Esipenko’s positional mistake and went on to grab his third consecutive victory.

20.Rb5 was one of the many precise manoeuvres that Giri found on his way to victory.

Anish Giri | Photo: Anna Shtourman

Understanding Middlegame Strategies Vol.1-6

In this Videocourse we deal with different aspects of the middlegame which are important to study and improve your general understanding of chess structures.

Calm and collected — Hikaru Nakamura | Photo: Anna Shtourman

The fact that Nakamura qualified to the Candidates via the Grand Swiss means Alireza Firouzja is now the favourite to get the rating spot...

...although Giri’s strong performance left him 8 points behind the Frenchman in the live ratings list, and both players are set to participate in the Sinquefield Cup later this month.

Giri’s strong run also allowed him to climb to first place in the FIDE Circuit (below Fabiano Caruana, who already qualified to the Candidates), so things are looking up for the Dutch star — who, by the way, is a good friend of Vidit’s!

Final standings

...114 players

All games - Round 11

Find games from all rounds at Live.ChessBase.com

Vaishali in control, Tan (barely) reaches Candidates

The third Indian player to secure a ticket to Toronto is Vaishali Rameshbabu, who will be travelling to Canada with her brother Praggnanandhaa after qualifying to the Women’s Candidates by claiming outright victory in the Grand Swiss.

Soon after getting her third GM norm in Qatar, Vaishali won the 11-round Swiss tournament by scoring six wins and five draws in Douglas. The 22-year-old collected crucial wins over direct contenders Mariya Muzychuk, Antoaneta Stefanova and Tan Zhongyi on her way to victory. In the final round, she safely held a draw with black against Batkhuyag Munguntuul.

Attacking with the Jobava London System

The Jobava London System is a minor form of the London System. White tries to play Lf4 quickly followed by Nc3.

After gaining 30.1 rating points, the Indian IM climbed to the 14^th spot in the women’s live ratings list, with 2497.1 Elo points to her name — just 3 points shy of reaching the 2500-mark, which is what she needs to get the GM title!

Permanent support — Vaishali Rameshbabu and her mom | Photo: Anna Shtourman

The second spot in the 2024 Women’s Candidates was given to Tan Zhongyi, who actually finished in third place. Anna Muzychuk, who finished second, had already qualified via the FIDE World Cup.

Tan bounced back from her loss against Vaishali by beating Gunay Mammadzada with the white pieces. Mammadzada missed a winning move in the sharp middlegame, though.

The forcing 24...Qc3 gives Black a large advantage here, since White must trade queens — 25.Qc1, for example, fails to 25...e4 and Black mates on the long diagonal — which leads to Black gaining a pawn: i.e. 25.Qxc3 Rxc3, and there is no way to defend both the f3-pawn and the d5-pawn after ...Ra8-a5.

None of this was seen on the board, however, as Mammadzada, after thinking for 12 minutes, erred with 24...Rf8 in the first diagrammed position.

Tan quickly replied by 25.c4, getting the upper hand. She would then convert her advantage into the 34-move win that gained her a ticket to the Candidates. The Chinese grandmaster finished the tournament with the same score as Munguntuul, and outscored the Mongolian underdog by merely 3 points in the first tiebreak criterion!

Tan Zhongyi | Photo: Anna Shtourman

Fundamentals of Chess Openings

Starting out in chess is difficult, and this DVD aims to reduce that stress. Designed for beginner levels in openings, a brief introduction to the reasons we play some of the most common moves in popular openings like the Spanish and Sicilian is given.

Anna Muzychuk | Photo: Anna Shtourman

Final standings

...50 players

All games - Round 11

Find games from all rounds at Live.ChessBase.com

Links

• Grand Swiss’ official website
• Race for the Candidates: Four places still up for grabs
• All ChessBase reports on the 2021 Grand Swiss
• All ChessBase reports on the 2019 Grand Swiss