R Vaishali efficiently defended her Girls’s Grand Swiss title in Samarkand on Monday, thereby qualifying for the distinguished Girls’s Candidates Event, incomes her a second shot on the World Championship match in simply two years.
Solely the third Indian feminine Grandmaster, Vaishali has carried a tag of inconsistency and a bent to break down, however has triumphed in a format that calls for utmost consistency. To win an occasion of this stature requires nice preparation, sustained momentum and a measure of luck.
Till now, no participant had managed to defend their title within the comparatively younger historical past of this event throughout all classes, however the 24-year-old from Chennai broke that jinx by holding China’s Tan Zhongyi to a draw with black items which turned out to be sufficient for her to win the occasion forward of Russian Kateryna Lagno.
So happy with you, akka! 🏆
Profitable the FIDE Girls’s Grand Swiss is such an unimaginable achievement. The boldness and willpower you’ve proven all through the event has been actually inspiring.Large congratulations on this superb victory! ♟️ pic.twitter.com/u6gMGaOgdw
— Praggnanandhaa (@rpraggnachess) September 15, 2025
Requested to decide on between her 2023 triumph and her victory in Samarkand, Vaishali discovered it inconceivable to choose one.
“The Grand Swiss victory in 2023 got here on the proper second. I didn’t play properly for a very long time, made my closing GM norm, and went on to get a fourth GM norm in the course of the occasion. A variety of issues fell into place within the ’23 occasion, and it utterly modified my 12 months,” she instructed the broadcasters after profitable the event.
“This 12 months, once more, issues weren’t going my method though I used to be working very exhausting. I dropped plenty of score factors, so this win could be very essential going ahead,” she added.
After qualifying for the 2024 Toronto Candidates, Vaishali was given a actuality test, dropping 4 matches in a row. Preventing again after a mid-tournament break, she bounced again with 5 consecutive wins to complete joint-second alongside Koneru Humpy and China’s Lei Tingjie.
INTERACTIVE: R. Vaishali vs Tan Zhongyi throughout Spherical 11 of Grand Swiss
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In the meantime, a streak of heartbreaks continues to hang-out Arjun Erigaisi, who simply can’t appear to recover from the end line regardless of main the race.
Arjun completed with seven factors, half a degree adrift of Germany’s Matthias Bluebaum, who got here second to ensure himself a Candidates spot. It’s a fifth respectable likelihood missed for the participant from Warangal.
It began with the FIDE World Cup 2023, the place after easy crusing to the quarterfinals, he met his good pal R. Praggnanandhaa for a spot within the semis and a Candidates berth. It was Praggnanandhaa who handed Arjun his first heartbreak.
Divya Deshmukh and Arjun Erigaisi the throughout closing spherical of FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 chess event in Samarkand. (FIDE/Michal Walusza)
Later, D Gukesh moved forward of him within the 2023 FIDE Circuit leaderboard after profitable the Chennai Grand Masters occasion on tiebreaks.
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Simply as in Samarkand, Arjun was 0.5 factors behind the second-placed finisher, Hikaru Nakamura, on the 2023 FIDE Grand Swiss. Though Arjun breached the elusive 2800-rating mark final 12 months, it was Frenchman Alireza Firouzja who certified for the Candidates by way of the highest-rating path.
Defending champion Vidit Gujrathi, Nihal Sarin and Arjun tied for third place with seven factors at Samarkand. World Champion Gukesh, endured a troublesome occasion and completed fortieth in a subject of 116 gamers with 6 factors. Divya Deshmukh had a powerful outing competing within the open class, notching up 5 factors in 11 rounds to complete above the likes of Levon Aronian and Alexander Grischuk.