September 9, 2025

Nagpur’s chess star Divya Deshmukh lit up the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on a day filled with draws. The Women’s World Cup winner scored her first win to leap into the joint fourth spot. With a 2478 Elo rating, she played brilliantly with black pieces, stunning Egypt’s top and African Grandmaster Amin Bassem, who has an Elo of 2636. In a fiery battle, Divya showed great fighting spirit. She turned a tricky position against the 38-year-old Amin into a brilliant tactical win. Playing a Sicilian Defense with Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo attack, Divya sacrificed her rook on move 33 and sprang a checkmating trap after 47 moves, opening her winning account with extra pawns and sharp attacks. Dressed in a vibrant pink suit, this 19-year-old didn’t give up till the very end! Other Indian stars played tough games too. Young Gukesh D and Arjun Erigaisi fought hard but ended in a tactical draw, while top seed Praggnanandhaa R was held to a draw by the young prodigy Abhimanyu Mishra. The day’s leader, Parham Maghsoodloo from Iran, also missed a chance to win as he drew against sixth seed Nodirbek Abdusattorov in a long 56-move game. Turkey’s Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus surprised everyone with a fantastic endgame to beat India’s Aditya Mittal in just 42 moves. Even after Aditya skillfully promoted two pawns into queens, Yagiz’s double rook attack ended the battle with a clever pawn checkmate. The fourth round belonged to two Nagpur GMs — Divya Deshmukh and Raunak Sadhwani. Raunak also scored his first win, using his two rooks effectively to beat Norway’s Jon Ludvig Hammer in a 41-move game. Both now have two points from four games. In the classic chess marathon of the day, veteran Vasyl Ivanchuk fought for over six hours in 68 moves to draw with India’s Vidit Gujrathi, refusing to give an inch. In the women’s section, Vaishali Rameshbabu and Ukraine’s Lagno Kateryna shared the lead with 3.5 points each. Vaishali quickly drew her match against Wagner Dinara in 31 moves, while Lagno won her game against Song Yuxin in just 27 moves. Another tough moment was for India’s Vantika Agrawal, who was caught and defeated by ninth seed Alexandra Kosteniuk in 40 moves, facing a fate similar to Aditya Mittal’s checkmate loss. As the fourth round ended, Iranian GM Maghsoodloo held a sole lead with 3.5 points. Thirteen other masters were hot on his heels with three points each. The candle might be flickering for some, but battles in Samarkand are just getting spicy!

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Tags: Divya deshmukh, Fide grand swiss, Chess, Samarkand, Indian chess players,