Chess
Grand Swiss 2025: Gukesh, Vidit start with a win; Divya Deshmukh loses
Meanwhile, R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi played out a draw in their opening round games.
D Gukesh and Vidit Gujrathi begin the 2025 Grand Swiss tournament with a win. (Photo Credits: Chess.com)
Indian Grandmasters Vidit Gujrathi and Gukesh Dommaraju clinched victories in the opening round matches of the 2025 Grand Swiss Tournament in Uzbekistan on Thursday.
Vidit began his title defence with a solid 35-move victory against Alexander Donchenko of Germany in the opening round, having a brilliant accuracy of 95 percent.
Meanwhile, Gukesh, playing with the black pieces, grinded out a 45-move victory against Etienne Bacrot of France in a Caro-Kann Defense.
On the other hand, recently crowned women's World Cup champion Divya Deshmukh, playing in the open category, had a pale start to her campaign, losing to fellow Indian Abhimanyu Puranik.
Incidentally, Abhinmanyu was one of the Seconds for Divya at the World Cup and has helped her in the opening preparation for some of the matches.
Abhimanyu has another strong Indian challenge in the second round as he will be facing Vidit Gujrathi; meanwhile, Divya to take on Donchenko of Germany.
The other top Indian grandmasters, R Paraggnanaandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi, have started their campiagn with draws against American and Spanish opponents, respectively.
The Grand Swiss tournament is one of the prestigious open tournaments and also offers two candidates spots in both the open and women's categories.
Results in Women's Category
Vantika Agrawal (IND) defeated Yuliia Osmak (UKR)
R Vaishali (IND) defeated Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova (UZB)
Harika Dronavalli (IND) drew with Marsel Efroimski (ISR)
