FIDE Grand Swiss 2025: Gukesh wins opening round match, Praggnanandhaa plays out draw; Divya loses

written by Atharva Jori

Winning with black means that Gukesh will play with white pieces in the next game and his expertise there is well known. Seeking to prove himself across formats, reigning world champion D. Gukesh of India began his campaign in the FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, with a crushing victory over France’s Etienne Bacrot in the first round. The Indian ace used all his resources at the right time to deliver a knockout punch when the situation arrived and his choice of opening – the Caro Kann — was deemed as a perfect defence to counter Bacrot. The Caro Kann was deceptive. Bacrot is a veteran of many matches and he could not confine himself to attaining equality out of the middle game which turned insanely complicated. Playing on Gukesh’s ground of complexities has not been easy and that’s what unfolded as the Indian uncorked an exchange sacrifice and went all in with his instinct. The technicalities remained but Gukesh was ruling the roost and he converted that into a full point. The top-seeded R. Praggnanandhaa was held to a draw by Jeffery Xiong in an uneventful encounter. The French defence by the Indian met with the exchange variation surprisingly and Xiong seemed to be in the mood to take on the World No. 4 with his white pieces. The pieces changed hands regularly and when Xiong repeated, he actually held a small optical advantage.

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CRICKET..!

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