Grand Swiss: A relatively quiet day in the open, Lagno sole leader in the women's section

Open: Nihal and Bluebaum co-leaders

Round eight of the FIDE Grand Swiss was relatively peaceful at the very top, with leaders Matthias Bluebaum and Nihal Sarin drawing quickly in just 21 moves from an Accepted Queen's Gambit. The game lasted under one hour and twenty minutes, and with none of the seven players on 4½ points able to score wins, the two leaders maintained their half-point lead heading into the final three rounds.

It was, however, not as a quiet day further down the top boards. Vincent Keymer and Jorden van Foreest were the two major winners of the day, each scoring important victories to close the gap to the leaders. Keymer, playing white, faced defending champion Vidit Gujrathi in a Berlin Defence. After a long and tense game, Vidit faltered late in the endgame, allowing Keymer to break through and claim his fourth win of the tournament - all with the white pieces - to move up to seventh place and join the chasing pack.

Your Calculation Compass: Know When to Calculate

In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Invisible moves

Vidit Gujrathi played a one-move blunder in the endgame, allowing Vincent Keymer to join the chasing pack | Photo: Michal Walusza

Van Foreest's victory came against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in a sharp theoretical duel in the Italian Four Knights. The Dutch grandmaster revisited the line he had previously played against Magnus Carlsen in Tata Steel 2020, but this time managed to convert his superior position into his first-ever classical win over Mamedyarov. He later admitted to being "a little lucky" that Mamedyarov was less precise than Carlsen in the critical phase.

Among the other key encounters, Abhimanyu Mishra pressed Nodirbek Abdusattorov and obtained a promising position, but eventually had to settle for a draw. This result extended Mishra's remarkable undefeated streak in classical chess to 64 games.

Anish Giri also got winning chances, springing a clever tactical trap to win an exchange, but was unable to convert the material edge into a full point, as Parham Maghsoodloo showed good defensive technique to hold the draw.

Hans Niemann held Alireza Firouzja to a draw after correctly evaluating a pawn sacrifice in a slightly worse opposite-coloured bishop middlegame.

Alireza Firouzja | Photo: Michal Walusza

Further down, 14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus bounced back from his loss to Niemann by defeating Levon Aronian in fine style, cementing his reputation as one of the breakout performers of the event.

With Bluebaum and Nihal still leading on 6/8 points, the standings remain very tight going into the final three rounds, as eight players trail just half a point behind: Firouzja, Giri, Abdusattorov, Niemann, Mishra, Maghsoodloo and now Keymer and Van Foreest.

Co-leaders Matthias Bluebaum and Nihal Sarin | Photo: Michal Walusza

Erdogmus 1-0 Aronian

Analysis by Karsten Müller

A Supergrandmaster's Guide to Openings Vol.1 & 2

This video course includes GM Anish Giri's deep insights and IM Sagar Shah's pertinent questions to the super GM. In Vol.1 all the openings after 1.e4 are covered.

Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus continues to impress in Samarkand! | Photo: Michal Walusza

Standings after round 8

...116 players

All games

Women's: Assaubayeva beats Vaishali, Lagno leads

The women's tournament saw major changes atop the standings as Kateryna Lagno overtook Vaishali Rameshbabu to take the sole lead. Vaishali, who entered the round as sole leader, suffered her first defeat of the event, facing Bibisara Assaubayeva. Out of a balanced position, Vaishali blundered with 25...Rad8 while under severe time pressure, losing the initiative and eventually the game after Assaubayeva found the precise tactical refutation.

The Endgame Academy Vol.1: Checkmate & pawn endgames

From Mating with a queen; a rook; two bishops; a knight and a bishop; to the basics of pawn endgames – here you will gain the necessary know-how to turn your endgame advantages into victories!

Lagno took full advantage of the slip, producing a model attacking game with white against Mariya Muzychuk. Playing a positional line against the Semi-Slav, she seized the initiative from the opening and gradually weakened Black's kingside. The attack culminated in an elegant exchange sacrifice, as the game ended six moves later. Lagno’s convincing win gave her a 6½/8 score and the outright lead.

The experienced Kateryna Lagno has grabbed the sole lead | Photo: Michal Walusza

Song Yuxin joined Assaubayeva and Vaishali in a share of second place after squeezing out a victory against Antoaneta Stefanova from a rook endgame a pawn up that was objectively defensible. Song converted after lengthy manoeuvring, demonstrating precise endgame technique.

Elsewhere, Tan Zhongyi continued her comeback with a second consecutive win, this time launching a direct kingside attack to defeat Stavroula Tsolakidou. Dinara Wagner, who had lost in rounds six and seven, held Anna Muzychuk to a draw to stabilise her tournament.

The standings are now finely poised, with Lagno half a point clear of Assaubayeva, Song and Vaishali, which make up the chasing pack on 6/8 points. Round nine will feature a critical clash at the very top as Assaubayeva faces Lagno with the black pieces and Vaishali meets the in-form Song in another key encounter that could further reshuffle the standings.

Song Yuxin | Photo: Michal Walusza

Assaubayeva 1-0 Vaishali

Analysis by Stefan Liebig

Improve your pieces - a winning system you need to know

In this course, we will learn how to identify passively placed pieces in any given situation and how to improve their health by bringing them into active squares.

Bibisara Assaubayeva | Photo: Michal Walusza

Standings after round 8

...56 players

All games

Links

• Official website
• Future of chess and clash of generations at Grand Swiss in Samarkand
• Indians prevail in FIDE Grand Swiss: Vidit and Vaishali triumph! (2023)
• Firouzja wins Grand Swiss, Caruana qualifies to Candidates (2021)
• Grand Swiss: Wang Hao takes it all (2019)