SAMARKAND (UZBEKISTAN): World Champion D Gukesh suffered his second consecutive defeat at the FIDE Grand Swiss on Tuesday, falling to Greece’s Nikolas Theodorou in the sixth round. The loss came after Gukesh’s previous-round defeat to USA’s youngest-ever Grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra. In both games, Gukesh overpressed from promising positions, leading to costly complications.
At the top, Arjun Erigaisi held sole leader Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran in a queen-pawn game. While Maghsoodloo remains on five points from six games, Erigaisi stays within striking distance at 4.5 points. Joining him in second place at the halfway mark are Abhimanyu Mishra, Germany’s Matthias Bluebaum, and Nihal Sarin.
Top-seeded Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa struggled against Azerbaijan’s Rauf Mamedov, while his sister, R Vaishali, maintained a joint lead with Kateryna Lagno in the women’s section. Vaishali dominated Ulviyya Fataliyeva with black, converting a rook-and-pawn endgame thanks to an extra pawn, while Lagno narrowly defeated Dinara Wagner.
Gukesh, now at 50%, must win at least four of his remaining five games to remain in contention. Sarin capitalized on a tactical oversight by Poland’s Szymon Gumularz to climb the standings. Play resumes on Thursday after Wednesday’s lone rest day, as players compete for the top two spots in each section and a share of the $855,000 prize fund. The top two finishers will qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament, determining the next World Championship challengers.
Notable Results – Round 6 (Open, Indians unless specified):
Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI) drew Arjun Erigaisi (4.5)
Matthias Bluebaum (GER) drew Abhimanyu Mishra (4.5)
Marcandria Maurizzi (FRA) lost to Anish Giri (4.5)
Amin Tabatabaei (IRI) drew Alireza Firouzja (FRA)
Szymon Gumularz (POL) lost to Nihal Sarin (4.5)
Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) drew V Pranav (3.5)
R Praggnanandhaa (3.5) drew Rauf Mamedov (3.5)
D Gukesh (3) lost to Nikolas Theodorou (GRE, 4)
Vidit Gujrathi (4) defeated Anton Demchenko (SLO)
Other Indians: Raunak Sadhwani (3), Leon Luke Mendonca (2.5), Aditya Mittal (3), S L Narayanan (3), Aryan Chopra (2.5), Divya Deshmukh (2.5), Murali Karthikeyan (1.5).
Women’s Section – Round 6:
Kateryna Lagno (FID, 5) beat Dinara Wagner (GER, 4)
R Vaishali (5) defeated Ulviyya Fataliyeva (AZE, 4)
Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL, 4.5) beat Tan Zhongyi (CHN, 3.5)
Dronavalli Harika (3.5) defeated Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova (UZB, 2.5)
Vantika Agrawal (2.5) beat Lina Nassr (ALG, 1.5)
Draws: Afruza Okhamdamova (UZB) vs Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ), Olga Girya (FID) vs Yuxin Song (CHN)
