Uzbekistan/Samarkand: World champion D. Gukesh was held to a draw in the second round by 14-year-old Turkish Grandmaster Yagiz Khan Erdogmus.
At the same time, defending women's champion R. Vaishali performed brilliantly and defeated Holland's Aline Roebers to take the joint lead.
In the open section, despite being in a winning position, Gukesh struggled with lack of time and was forced to share points with Erdogmus. On the other hand, top seed R. Praggnanandhaa made a brilliant comeback and won his first match. He defeated Ivan Zemlyansky, who was playing under the FIDE flag due to the ban on Russia.
In the open category of this tournament with a prize money of US $ 8,55,000, Alireza Firouzja of France, Parham Magsoudloo of Iran and Anton Demchenko of Slovenia are tied at the top with two points each.
In the women's category, Vaishali has reached two points with her second consecutive win and now she is at the joint top with Austria's Olga Bedelka. Given Vaishali's rating and current form, it is expected that she can soon take the lead alone.
This is the fourth edition of the FIDE Grand Prix Swiss. The top two players in both the open and women's categories will qualify for the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament, which will decide the contenders for the next world championship.
A total of 116 players are participating in the open category with a prize money of US $ 6,25,000 ($ 90,000 for first place). In this, the Indian trio — GM Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and Gukesh — are seeded at the top.
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