FIDE Grand Swiss Stunner: R Praggnanandhaa Falls To Matthias Bluebaum, Gukesh-Divya Lose Too

Last Updated:September 08, 2025, 22:58 IST

R Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh suffer surprise losses at FIDE Grand Swiss as Parham Maghsoodloo leads, R Vaishali maintains joint lead in women's section.

R. Praggnanandhaa was outplayed by Matthias Bluebaum (PTI Photo)

Top seed Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa suffered a shock loss to Germany’s Matthias Bluebaum, while World Champion D Gukesh lost to the world’s youngest ever Grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra of the USA in the fifth round of the FIDE Grand Swiss on Monday.

On a day when Arjun Erigaisi achieved a prolific victory over Russian-turned-Swiss Nikita Vituigov, Parham Maghsoodloo continued his impressive form to outwit Richard Rapport of Hungary.

The victory with the black pieces kept Maghsoodloo in sole lead with 4.5 points out of a possible five, marking a strong return to form after previously reaching a peak rating of 2740.

Maghsoodloo is now followed by Arjun, Bluebaum, and Mishra, each with four points, with the possibility of Nodirbek Abdusattorov joining them.

For the record, the event carries a prize fund of 625,000 USD in the open section and 230,000 USD in the women’s section, with the top two finishers in both sections guaranteed a berth in the next Candidates tournament, which will determine the finalists for the world championship.

In the women’s section, India’s R Vaishali maintained her joint lead after drawing with Russia’s Lateryna Lagno, who is playing under the FIDE flag.

The two overnight leaders were joined by Dinara Wagner of Germany and Ulviyya Fataliyeva of Azerbaijan at the top of the table with four points from five games.

Matthias Bluebaum is enjoying the tournament of his career, causing the biggest upset so far with a third successive victory after two opening draws.

Praggnanandhaa tried an unconventional opening with black against the Queen pawn, and the position remained level for a long time. However, an oversight in the ensuing minor piece endgame cost the Indian dearly as he lost a pawn, and Bluebaum did not give a second chance in the game that lasted 55 moves.

Gukesh made a mistake as early as the 12th move. It was an Italian opening wherein Mishra caught his illustrious opponent off-guard, and a piece sacrifice by the American of Indian origin put Gukesh under deep trouble in the early middle game.

With resourceful play, Gukesh nearly escaped the attack unscathed, but the position demanded very precise play even in the endgame. Mishra scored his biggest victory in 61 moves.

Arjun, however, displayed deep and clean preparation as he defeated Vituigov, who holds the reputation of being a theoretician of the highest degree. The Indian came up with a precise plan out of a known Catalan opening, won the black queen for two pieces, and then eliminated all possible counterplay with his immaculate technique.

Important and Indian results round 5 open (Indians unless specified):

Richard Rapport (Hun, 3) lost to Parham Maghsoodloo (Iri, 4.5); Matthias Blubaum (Ger, 4) beat R Praggnanandhaa (3); Arjun Erigaisi (4) beat Nikita Vitiugov (Eng, 3); Abhimanyu Mishra (4) beat D Gukesh (3); Marcandria Maurizzi (Fra, 4) beat Vincent Keymer (Ger, 3); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 3) Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (Tur, 3); Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzb, 3.5) drew with Szymon Gumularz (Pol, 3.5); Sam Shankland (Usa, 2.5) lost to Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 3.5); Anish Giri (Ned, 2.5) Grigoriy Oparin (Usa, 2.5); Levon Aronian (3) drew with Shant Sargsyan (Arm, 2.5); Vidit Gujrathi (3) drew with Ivan Cheparinov (Bul, 3); Nihal Sarin (3.5) beat Leon Luke Mendonca (2.5); V Pranav (2.5) playing Andrey Esipenko (Fid, 2.5); Abhimanyu Puranik (3) beat Vlaldimir Fedoseev (Slo, 2); Andrei Volokitin (Ukr, 2.5) drew with P Harikrishna (2); Raunak Sadhwani (2.5) drew with Yuriy Kuzubov (Ukr, 2.5); Daniil Yuffa (Esp, 2.5) drew with Aditya Mittal (2.5); S L Narayanan (2) drew with Lu Shanglei (Chn, 2.5); Divya Deshmukh (2) lost to Shamsiddin Vakhidov ((Uzb, 3); Aryan Chopra (1.5) playing Alexander Grischuk (Fid, 1.5); Anton Korobov (Ukr, 2) beat Murali Karthikeyan (1).

Women: R Vaishali (4) drew with Kateryna Lagno (Fid, 4); Antoaneta Stefanova (Bul, 3.5) drew with Afruza Khamdamova (Uzb, 3.5); Irina Bulmaga (Rou, 3) lost to Dinara Wagner (Ger, 4); Alexandra Kosteniuk (Sui, 2.5) lost to Ulviyya Fataliyeva (Aze, 4); Elina Danielian (Arm, 2.5) lost to Tan Zhongyi (Chn, 3.5); Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kaz, 3.5) beat Nurgyul Salimova (Bul, 2.5); Carissa Yip (Usa, 2.5) lost to Olga Girya (Fid, 3.5); Meruert Kamalidenova (Kaz, 2.5) drew with Dronavalli Harika (2.5); Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 2.5) beat Vantika Agrawal (1.5)

(With PTI Inputs)

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