Lichess Coverage
Lichess will produce in-depth blog posts with annotations for each round of the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss. WIM Silvia Raluca Sgîrcea will annotate the games from the Women’s Grand Swiss and GM Renier Castellanos Rodriguez will annotate the games from the Open Grand Swiss. Lichess will also create videos for each round of the tournament, with interviews and other types of content. Keep an eye on our socials for the videos!
Annotations by GM Renier Castellanos Rodriguez
https://lichess.org/study/4kgBurog/XVWXCwpH#0
Annotations by WIM Silvia Raluca Sgîrcea
https://lichess.org/study/4kgBurog/k5RH6AMH#0
Open Overview
Round 6 of the open section was a combination of safe draws and ambitious games; a peaceful draw keeps GM Parham Maghsoodloo on a fragile sole lead, a heartbeat away from GMs Nihal Sarin and Anish Giri, who enter the rest day with convincing wins, as well as GMs Abhimanyu Mishra, Arjun Erigaisi, and Matthias Bluebaum who secured the draw in their games.
The Top 10 Boards
The tournament leader, GM Parham Maghsoodloo, scored a safe draw against his opponent, GM Arjun Erigaisi, in the Symmetrical English.
https://lichess.org/study/iAnC0jAl/3sT7XjxK#0
In a sharp Najdorf game, GM Anish Giri unleashed a relentless attack against his opponent, GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi, entering the rest day with a win. With White opting for long castles, and an early g4-g5, soon to be followed by f5 in an ambitious but not quite working plan, Giri’s king would be remarkably safe in the center, where it would remain almost until the very end of the game. After an exchange on the b3 square, leaving Maurizzi with doubled b-pawns, and his king still being on c1, Giri was able to exploit this structure to open up the a-file for his rook and prepare infiltration into his opponent’s camp. Maurizzi resigned a few moves later, in light of a hopeless position with any counterplay opportunity evaporating after O-O and the rook exchange, with Black soon being able to create an advanced passed b-pawn.
https://lichess.org/study/iAnC0jAl/WauBjNmz#0
Michal Walusza/FIDE
A promising game between GM Szymon Gumularz and GM Nihal Sarin ended abruptly, after a fatal tactical oversight by the Polish Grandmaster. White had the bishop pair and an advanced pawn on e6 limiting Black’s space, however Black’s bishop and queen battery on the long diagonal, temporarily blocked by his own knight, would open the door to all sorts of tactical ideas for him to exploit, and his opponent to be mindful of. After 20…h6, White is able to hold by redirecting his bishop via e7-b4, defending and keeping the game going; however, 21.Rf4, attacking the knight, allows Black a tactical blow – Nc3!, attacking the queen while also threatening mate on g2, followed by Ne2+!, a fork when White attempted to protect both with Qf3. With the e1 rook being unable to capture due to the back rank weakness, Black was granted the win.
https://lichess.org/study/iAnC0jAl/bnvy6DkP#0
In a duel between significant material advantage and initiative, in sight of an unsafe king, the game between GM Nordibek Yakubboev and GM Pranav V ended in a — not quite expected throughout the course of this battle — draw. Pranav attempted to exploit his opponent’s king position in the center early on, coordinating his pieces to create attacking opportunities. Already by move 20, Black would play an exchange down against his opponent’s weaker-appearing king and less efficient king coordination. This material deficit would soon increase to a rook for 2 pawns as Pranav decided to sacrifice another piece while attempting to maintain an initiative. With his king still in the center in a seemingly unsafe position, Yakukobboev, after spending a good 24 minutes, almost all his remaining time while only on move 27, decided to return some of his extra material, sacrificing an exchange and staying a piece for two pawns up. While the resulting position was better for White, navigating it was no easy task; Pranav was able to equalize and take the draw.
https://lichess.org/study/iAnC0jAl/1qeNkilc#0
Michal Walusza/FIDE
In an already tough tournament for the World Champion, GM Gukesh D, his game against GM Nikolas Theodorou would unexpectedly go downhill in the endgame. With the Petrov played, the game remained objectively equal for the most part; however, the unbalanced pawn structure would leave the road open for possibly double-edged endgames. After all sorts of simplifications taking place, going into a rook endgame, Gukesh was a pawn up, with an a-passed pawn and e-passed pawn, while his opponent had the weak doubled g-pawns, but a big asset as compensation — the c-d connected advanced passed pawns. The position might theoretically be close to equality; however, from a practical standpoint, it was probably easier for Black to navigate. Gukesh would need to activate his king as soon as possible, with 34.Kf2 being the only move, to maintain this equality and carefully play to eventually get the draw, though, a seemingly innocent but unnecessary check would prove sufficient to lose the game. 34.Ra7?? allowed Theodorou to make progress with his king after escaping the checks, and advance his passed pawns, forcing his opponent, Gukesh, to resign and sending him into the rest day with two consecutive losses to recover from in the second half of the tournament.
Michal Walusza/FIDE
https://lichess.org/study/iAnC0jAl/fHcdUX8o#0
A rapidly simplified-via-tactical-means Exchange Grünfeld game was played between GM Matthias Bluebaum and GM Abhimanyu Mishra, with the games on boards 4 and 5 ending in a similar manner.
Following yesterday’s marathon game by the Turkish prodigy, the game between GM Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş and GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov ended with an early repetition draw on move 16.
In another Grünfeld for this round between GM Praggnanandhaa R and GM Rauf Mamedov, neither side was able to get any meaningful advantage and the two players eventually simplified the position into a draw.
https://lichess.org/study/iAnC0jAl/hbwwDt9U#0
Notable Game
With exchange sacrifices — planned or not — being a fairly popular theme in this Grand Swiss, GM Hans Moke Niemann could not steer away from this trend; timing it at the right moment, he used this idea to support his passed f-pawn toward an unstoppable promotion.
https://lichess.org/study/iAnC0jAl/7m4ov8y4#0
Flashy Games
In an opposite-side castling Najdorf game, GM Andrey Esipenko was faster in the attack against his opponent, GM Andrei Volokitin, opening up his opponent’s king position with a thematic piece sacrifice. Matters only got worse for Volokitin when he attempted to return part of the material back, soon forced to resign under the pressure of an overwhelming attack.
https://lichess.org/study/iAnC0jAl/3rofHeWv#0
In a game with both sides having a critical opportunity to win the game, albeit White’s being much more subtle, GM Anton Korobov was able to emerge victorious with the Black pieces against his opponent, GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek, delivering the decisive blow by exposing his opponent’s king while deploying a piece sacrifice on g2.
https://lichess.org/study/iAnC0jAl/Fm59wRad#0
Women’s Overview
If we were to describe Round 6 of the Women’s section with one word, it would be a storm, before the calm of the rest day. With 7 out of 10 top games being decisive, Vaishali and Lagno remain tied for first place, in a tight competition where everything is still open for the second half of the tournament.
The Top 10 Boards
GM Kateryna Lagno was able to secure a crucial win against her opponent, IM Dinara Wagner, keeping her tied for the first place — a win that would, however, come in a highly surprising way. Lagno got an advantage out of the middlegame with superior piece activity, an advantage that proved to be more aesthetically pleasing than practically decisive, as with Wagner activating her rook and temporarily winning a pawn, while Lagno found no way to convert it to anything concrete, it soon evaporated. The game was simplified into a rook and opposite coloured bishops endgame, with high drawing potential. The game would take an unexpected turn after 51.Bd4?? simplifying the game into an opposite-coloured bishop endgame, but a lost one for Black, due to White’s much more active king and effective bishop, further limiting White’s king, assisted by the White pawns not being connected and easier to block.
https://lichess.org/study/aHqxYHex/B90RWsaT#0
Michal Walusza/FIDE
GM Vaishali Rameshbabu scored a clear win against IM Ulviyya Fataliyeva, showcasing an impressive technique in a game always under her control. Exploiting her opponent’s inaccuracies, Vaishali was able to convert her initiative into a more static advantage, and after she secured her b and c-pawns as future connected passed pawns, she liquidated into a winning rook endgame. You can review the game in depth in our annotations section.
https://lichess.org/study/aHqxYHex/pXCP8oUY#0
Michal Walusza/FIDE
GM Antoanetta Stefanova continues her overall positive performance in the Women’s Grand Swiss, this time getting a win against the Women’s World Championship 2025 Challenger, GM Tan Zhongyi. Having the upper hand during the whole game, with superior piece activity and king safety, Stefanova temporarily sacrificed her piece, shattering her opponent’s kingside pawn structure and getting a decisive advantage. Regaining the piece back shortly after, Stefanova decided to convert her dynamic advantage into a rook endgame with two pawns up and no realistic counterplay opportunities for Tan, who resigned a few moves later.
https://lichess.org/study/aHqxYHex/O4VOdkTs#0
IM Guo Qi converted her slight positional edge into the full point against her opponent IM Khanim Balajayeva, with a highly instructive endgame maneuver. Exploiting her better-placed knight and making use of the pawn structure’s nuances, she was able to not only claim the f2-pawn, but also activate her rooks over her opponent’s passive counterparts, eventually simplifying into a winning rook endgame with two pawns up. The result was sealed after 41…d3, offering a rook sacrifice but rendering the d-pawn unstoppable regardless of her opponent’s response.
https://lichess.org/study/aHqxYHex/ARQGJcfh#0
Michal Walusza/FIDE
GM Mariya Muzychuk scored her 4th win in the tournament, against WIM Guldona Karimova. With a mostly equal game throughout most of its part, albeit slightly preferable for Black, Muzychuk decided to complicate matters to her favour, with an exchange sacrifice in the endgame, which Karimova accepted. As a compensation, Black got not only a pawn, but most importantly superior piece activity as the bishop on e5 restricted White’s rook coordination, while her own rook created threats — and eventually captured a second pawn. Muzychuk was able to capitalize on a later mistaken pawn push by her opponent and win the game.
https://lichess.org/study/aHqxYHex/UaPbylXK#0
IM Stavroula Tsolakidou maintained a positional advantage throughout most of the game against WCM Madinabonu Khalilova. With Black’s king remarkably safe on h7 despite the advanced kingside pawns, largely due to the lack of reasonable entry points and the White knight being restricted, she was able to put pressure on her opponent via the semi-open g-file. The file was eventually open with the help of a pawn sacrifice, and Khalilova was forced to give up an exchange — a material advantage sufficient for Tsolakidou to convert into a win.
https://lichess.org/study/aHqxYHex/8UxJ35AC#0
Board 9 of the Women’s section treated fans with another ambitious game involving material sacrifices. This time, however, the outcome did not favour the side who sacrificed the material. WGM Anna Sukhman sacrificed an exchange with 20.Rxh5, to be followed by another sacrifice, this time of a piece, with 22. Qxd5, getting in total 3 pawns and an open enemy king for a rook. An apparently slow O-O-O before claiming the 4th pawn, allowed IM Irina Bulmaga to exchange the queens off the board under favourable conditions, and slowly take the control of the position. An endgame mistake under time pressure could allow White to save the draw; however, she was not able to accurately execute the right plan, and Bulmaga went on to win the game.
https://lichess.org/study/aHqxYHex/Pv5g7Mhb#0
WIM Afruza Khamdamova managed to squeeze a draw out of a slightly worse position against GM Bibisara Assaubayeva; GM Olga Girya was unable to build on her advantage against her opponent, IM Song Yuxin, while the game between IM Nurgyul Salimova and GM Anna Muzychuk ended in a rather uneventful draw.
Notable Game
Despite getting into a worse position earlier in the game, GM Harika Dronavalli skillfully handled a material imbalance with a rook, piece (giving her the bishop pair) and pawn for a queen, and went on to score her first win in the tournament, against IM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova, reaching 3.5/6.
https://lichess.org/study/aHqxYHex/t9KPozsz#0
Flashy Game
IM Teodora Injac, sacrificing two pawns for the initiative, unleashed an overwhelming kingside attack against her opponent, WGM Govhar Beydullayeva, eventually forcing her to resign due to the unstoppable checkmate.
https://lichess.org/study/aHqxYHex/72lflxiZ#0
Pairings for Round 7 (Top 10 Boards)
Open:
| White | Black |
|---|---|
| GM Nihal Sarin | GM Parham Maghsoodloo |
| GM Arjun Erigaisi | GM Matthias Bluebaum |
| GM Anish Giri | GM Abhimanyu Mishra |
| GM Alireza Firouzja | GM Nodirbek Yakubboev |
| GM Nikolas Theodorou | GM Vincent Keymer |
| GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov | GM M. Amin Tabatabaei |
| GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | GM Shant Sargsyan |
| GM Hans Moke Niemann | GM Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş |
| GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | GM Marc’andria Maurizzi |
| GM V Pranav | GM Jorden Van Foreest |
Women:
| White | Black |
|---|---|
| GM Antoaneta Stefanova | GM Kateryna Lagno |
| GM Rameshbabu Vaishali | IM Guo Qi |
| GM Bibisara Assaubayeva | IM Irina Bulmaga |
| GM Mariya Muzychuk | WIM Afruza Khamdamova |
| IM Stavroula Tsolakidou | GM Olga Girya |
| IM Song Yuxin | IM Ulviyya Fataliyeva |
| IM Dinara Wagner | GM Tan Zhongyi |
| IM Carissa Yip | IM Leya Garifullina |
| GM Alexandra Kosteniuk | GM Harika Dronavalli |
| GM Irina Krush | WGM Zsóka Gaál |