FIDE chess.com Grand Swiss 2021 starts today

by Shahid Ahmed - 27/10/2021

15 Indian players will be seen in action at FIDE chess.com Grand Swiss and Women's Grand Swiss 2021, starting at Riga, Latvia today. Harikrishna, Adhiban and Harika are the players who qualified by average rating criteria between July 2020 and June 2021. Sasikiran, Sethuraman and Vaishali made it from the reserve players list. The remaining nine players are Wild Card entrants - Nihal, Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa, Raunak, Padmini, Vantika and Divya. 107 GMs and an IM from 36 countries with an average rating 2639 are taking part in the Open. The Women's event witnesses 15 GMs, 20 IMs and 9 WGMs from 23 countries across the world with an average rating of 2405 should give you an idea about the strength and importance of the event. Round 1 starts today at 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE

Harikrishna and Harika will lead the Indian charge

FIDE chess.com Grand Swiss and Women's Grand Swiss got an exemption from the new coronavirus restrictions in Latvia. It will proceed with a strict health safety measures. Apart from Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi who have next month's World Championship Match to prepare for, Ding Liren, Anish Giri, Alexander Grischuk and Wesley So are among the world top 10 who are skipping this event. It means Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Alireza Firouzja and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave are the only four players among world top 10, who will fight for two direct qualification spot to the FIDE Candidates 2022.

The Wild Cards - GMs Raunak Sadhwani, Arjun Erigaisi, D Gukesh and WGM Divya Deshmukh | Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE

FIDE Grand Swiss 2021 official logo | Photo: FIDE

Indian players

Harikrishna, Adhiban, Nihal, Gukesh, Sasikiran, Arjun Erigaisi, Sethuraman, Praggnanandhaa, Surya and Raunak will play in the Open section, FIDE Grand Swiss. IMs Vaishali, Padmini and WGMs Vantika and Divya will play in the Women's section, FIDE Women's Grand Swiss.

SNo		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts.	Rk.	Group
7	GM	Harikrishna Pentala	2719	IND	0,0	7	Open
25	GM	Adhiban B.	2672	IND	0,0	25	Open
41	GM	Nihal Sarin	2652	IND	0,0	41	Open
53	GM	Gukesh D	2640	IND	0,0	53	Open
54	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	2640	IND	0,0	54	Open
60	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2634	IND	0,0	60	Open
79	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	2620	IND	0,0	79	Open
81	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	2618	IND	0,0	81	Open
82	GM	Ganguly Surya Shekhar	2617	IND	0,0	82	Open
84	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	2609	IND	0,0	84	Open
4	GM	Harika Dronavalli	2511	IND	0,0	4	Women
25	WGM	Vaishali R	2419	IND	0,0	25	Women
40	IM	Padmini Rout	2380	IND	0,0	40	Women
46	WIM	Vantika Agrawal	2322	IND	0,0	46	Women
47	WIM	Divya Deshmukh	2305	IND	0,0	47	Women

Details

Round 1 pairings

The first round 1 has a lot of interesting pairings. The most notable being Arjun Erigaisi facing Andrey Esipenko on board no.6 and Adhiban going against his fellow countryman Sethuraman.

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
1	6	60	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	IND	2634	0		0	GM	Esipenko Andrey	RUS	2720	6
1	7	7	GM	Harikrishna Pentala	IND	2719	0		0	GM	Kovalev Vladislav	FID	2634	61
1	25	25	GM	Adhiban B.	IND	2672	0		0	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	IND	2620	79
1	27	27	GM	Sargissian Gabriel	ARM	2664	0		0	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	IND	2618	81
1	28	82	GM	Ganguly Surya Shekhar	IND	2617	0		0	GM	Sjugirov Sanan	RUS	2663	28
1	30	84	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	IND	2609	0		0	GM	Cheparinov Ivan	BUL	2659	30
1	41	41	GM	Nihal Sarin	IND	2652	0		0	GM	Georgiev Kiril	MKD	2577	95
1	53	53	GM	Gukesh D	IND	2640	0		0	IM	Rakotomaharo Fy Antenaina	MAD	2484	107
1	54	108	GM	Miezis Normunds	LAT	2467	0		0	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	IND	2640	54
1	4	4	GM	Harika Dronavalli	IND	2511	0		0	IM	Buksa Nataliya	UKR	2409	29
1	15	40	IM	Padmini Rout	IND	2380	0		0	WGM	Zhu Jiner	CHN	2455	15
1	21	46	WIM	Vantika Agrawal	IND	2322	0		0	IM	Munguntuul Batkhuyag	MGL	2433	21
1	22	22	WGM	Zawadzka Jolanta	POL	2428	0		0	WIM	Divya Deshmukh	IND	2305	47
1	25	50	WIM	February Jesse Nikki	RSA	1857	0		0	WGM	Vaishali R	IND	2419	25

Complete Round 1 pairings: Open and Women

Schedule

Everyday game starts at 2 p.m. local time (4:30 p.m. IST) between 27th October and 7th November 2021. Rest day is on Tuesday 2nd November 2021.

Time Control

The time control for each game is: 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for the next 20 moves, followed by 15 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 1.

Qualification

The top two players in the open event will qualify for the FIDE Candidates 2022. The next six players will earn their spots in the FIDE Grand Prix. The Women's Grand Swiss winner will qualify to the Women's Candidates. The following four best players will qualify for the FIDE Women's Grand Prix.

Prizes

The total prize fund in the Open is US$ 425,000 with the first prize being $70,000. For Women's the total prize fund is $125,000, first prize $20,000. Total numbers of prizes are 60, Open - 40 and Women - 20.

Photo Gallery

Players relaxing with their friends and acquaintances | Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE

Poland no.2 GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek knows that fitness is the key | Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE

Inauguration Ceremony in progress | Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE

Top seed among the Women - GM Mariya Muzychuk drew black at the Draw of Colors | Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE

Mihail Tal's memorial | Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE

Players who announced their withdrawal

Speed King and World no.2 in Blitz, GM Hikaru Nakamura was the first top player to withdraw from the event

World no. 22 and India no.2, GM Vidit Gujrathi also withdrew from the tournament

Indian players' updates from Riga

GM Adhiban Baskaran

GM Sethuraman S P

GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly

GM Raunak Sadhwani

IM Padmini Rout

Links

Official site

Chess-results: Open and Women

Tournament Regulations: Open and Women

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