Vidit Wins FIDE Grand Swiss, Nakamura Secures Candidates Spot

GM Vidit Gujrathi has been confirmed as the winner of the 2023 FIDE Grand Swiss after defeating GM Alexandr Predke and finishing on 8.5/11 in what has been described as one of the strongest open tournaments of all time.

Along with receiving $80,000 for first place, Vidit secured his spot at the 2024 Candidates tournament and will be joined by the second-placed GM Hikaru Nakamura, who won $60,000 for his 8/11 score.

In the Women's event, IM Vaishali Rameshbabu finished with a draw to cap off an unbeaten 8.5/11 and won $25,000 for first place as well as her own Candidates spot. For the first time, a brother and sister duo will contend in the Open and Women's Candidates (GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa qualified via the 2023 FIDE World Cup).

• Open: Vidit, Nakamura Book Candidates Spots 
• Women's Section: Vaishali Finishes First With 30-Point Rating Gain

Open Section: Vidit, Nakamura Book Candidates Spots

Congratulations to @viditchess for winning the #FIDEGrandSwiss, and qualifying for the Candidates Tournament! 👏

He bounced back from a first-round defeat to win SEVEN of his next 10 games, and secured top spot with a clutch victory in round 11! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/BaUDGH9c9Y

— Chess.com (@chesscom) November 5, 2023

In our round-10 report, we published statistics that indicate that Vidit was the least likely of the co-leaders to win the event, thanks to GM Andrey Esipenko and Nakamura's superior tiebreaks. However, Vidit bucked the odds by scoring a final-round win over Predke. His result in the Grand Swiss is undoubtedly the greatest achievement of his career.

Playing with the white pieces, the Indian maestro's Queen's Gambit was accepted and perhaps strategically, Predke opted to play the Furman Variation, which carries a 64 per cent draw rate in over 1,000 master-level games. 

Vidit is known as an exceptional endgame player and didn't mind an exchange of queens, later stating: "It might look like Black has very good drawing chances, which it is, okay, very solid for Black, but it is pleasant for me.

As the games around him played out, Vidit began to notice that Esipenko was losing to GM Anish Giri and Nakamura was likely heading toward a draw with GM Arjun Erigaisi, meaning that a draw would be enough to claim a Candidates spot.

True to his style, Vidit found it impossible to resist pressing in the minor-piece-dominated middlegame and won a pawn. From that moment onward, it was clear that the 29-year-old would be the winner of the event.

Our Game of the Day, which decided the winner of the Grand Swiss, has been analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao.

With only one other Candidates spot up for grabs, attention turned toward Arjun-Nakamura and Giri-Esipenko. Boasting performance ratings over 2800, Nakamura or Esipenko both would have been deserving of the spot, and for the latter, it would have been his first time qualifying for the prestigious event.

Although paired with Giri, Esipenko could not be counted out due to his history of knocking over top GMs. (Esipenko was the first and only teenager to beat GM Magnus Carlsen in a classical game while he was the reigning world champion, in 2021.)

Sadly, there was only heartbreak in round 11 for the 21-year-old as Giri toppled him in a rook-and-knight ending and demoted him to third place.

Nakamura meanwhile continued to play some of his best chess in recent times and easily drew with Arjun, selecting a line he had kept hidden for seven months on his way to Candidates qualification.

As the current second seed, his chances of qualifying for a world championship match are better than ever.

In terms of the last two Candidates' qualifier spots, GM Alireza Firouzja is most likely to be the recipient of the highest rating spot while Giri leads GM Gukesh Dommaraju in the battle for the 2023 FIDE Circuit spot, courtesy of his round-11 win, which left him feeling "fantastic."

Another feel-good story from the Grand Swiss occurred further down the rankings with Canada's IM Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux crossing 2500, scoring a GM norm, and confirming his GM title. 

He achieved this after drawing Bassem Amin - Africa’s strongest chess player - in the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament a few hours ago.

GM Norms require a performance of 2600+ after at least 9 rounds, no matter if the tournament is finished. ✅

Shawn has crossed the 2500 elo in this…

— Zach (@thechessnerd) November 3, 2023

In his first act as a GM, the 19-year-old dispatched GM Max Warmerdam in a stunning 27-mover full of colorful tactics.

 Final Standings | Top 20

(Full results here.)

Women's Section: Vaishali Finishes First With 30-Point Rating Gain

Congratulations to @chessvaishali for winning the Women's #FIDEGrandSwiss with an incredible display! 🏆

She went unbeaten through all 11 rounds, and defeated three grandmasters. 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/26V5M49Jwa

— Chess.com (@chesscom) November 5, 2023

A slightly less dramatic finish unfolded in the Women's division as two draws transpired on the top boards. The winning score for Vaishali was  8.5/11, following a relatively peaceful game against IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul.

While the game had no bearing on her Candidates qualification, a win would have pushed Vaishali's FIDE rating over 2500 and secured her the GM title, befitting of a player who performed at a rating of 2658 throughout the Grand Swiss.

Vaishali's tournament was no fluke either—the 22-year-old recently finished on 5/9 in the Qatar Masters, beating her compatriot GM S.P. Sethuraman as well as GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov. Vaishali confirmed in a post-match interview that obtaining the GM title may take some time as she has no tournament plans lined up after a busy few months.

GM Anna Muzychuk also went undefeated in the event and with five wins and six draws, she slotted into second place and won $17,500, though she had already confirmed her Women's Candidates spot by finishing third in the World Cup.

In the final round, the Ukrainian came up against GM Pia Cramling (mom of popular streamer WFM Anna) and drew. 

The second Candidates spot was taken by GM Tan Zhongyi, who overcame IM Gunay Mammadzada in a game that was very convincing—except for one moment, when she played 24.Bh3? and allowed a game-changing shot.

Munguntuul tied Tan for third place, but was unfortunate to miss out on the Candidates.

While the realization of India's younger talent has been at the fore of chess news of late, clearly, even the more experienced players are benefitting from the chess boom in the country. In the world's strongest open tournament of the year, two Indian players stand proudly at the top.

Final Standings | Top 20

(Full results here.)

The 2023 FIDE Grand Swiss (FGS) is one of the events of the FIDE World Championship cycle with the top two players qualifying for the 2024 Candidates Tournament. The FGS started on October 25 and featured a $460,000 prize fund.

The 2023 FIDE Women's Grand Swiss (FWGS) featured a $140,000 prize fund and ran concurrently. The top two players qualify for the 2024 Women's Candidates Tournament.

Previous Coverage

• • • • Nakamura Overcomes Caruana, Leads With Esipenko, Vidit Before Last Round
      • Maghsoodloo, Nakamura Join Leaders
      • Esipenko Sacs Piece On Move 8, Plays Brilliancy
      • 'Express Train' Vidit Leads Open
      • Nakamura Holds Co-leader Esipenko, 5 Players Join Lead
      • Assaubayeva Leads Women's, Nakamura Scores Hat Trick In Open
      • Esipenko Leads In Open, 4-Way Tie In Women's
      • Vaishali Plays Brilliancy As Anna Muzychuk, Tan Take Lead
      • Caruana Beats Niemann, Returns To 2800 Club
      • Caruana Leads Pack Of 32 Winners
      • FIDE Grand Swiss 2023: Who Will Qualify For A Shot At World Title?