FIDE Grand Swiss 2023: ‘Candidates’ Vidit, Vaishali give India historic ‘double’

What a sensational Sunday evening it turned out to be for Vidit Gujrathi and R. Vaishali in the FIDE Grand Swiss – the world’s toughest Swiss league chess event – at Royal Hall of the Villa Marina in Isle of Man.

In a 113-player field comprising 106 Grandmasters and seven International Masters, 15th seed Vidit produced the performance of his life.

Vidit started the final round in the third spot with fellow leaders Russian Andrey Esipenko and USA’s Hikaru Nakamura at 7.5 points. The fitting finale came when Vidit scored a much-needed win in 47 moves over Russian Alexandre Predke. Compatriot Arjun Erigaisi and good friend Anish Giri also played their part by keeping Vidit’s nearest challengers at bay. Arjun held Nakamura on the top board and Giri defeated Esipenko.

This combination of results left Vidit as the champion at 8.5 points and Nakamura, the runner-up, at 8. The duo also qualified for the 2024 Candidates Tournament, aimed at finding the challenger to the world crown, currently held by Ding Liren. Esipenko came third after heading a five-way tie – including Arjun – at 7.5 points.

Rated 2716, Vidit performed at 2876 and gained 8.5 rating points to become 16th in live World rankings. After starting his campaign with a loss to Dutchman Erwin L’ami, Vidit posted a hat-trick of wins over teammate Abhijeet Gupta, Germany’s Dmitrij Kollars and Spain’s Alexie Shirov.

After a draw with Russian Evgeniy Najer, Vidit resumed his winning run by accounting for USA’s Hans Moke Niemann and Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov.

Once at the business end of this premier competition, Vidit drew with Nakamura and Esipenko and defeated Romania’s Bogdan-Daniel Deac to go into the final round as a joint leader. On the final day, the timely victory over Predke and the roles played by Arjun and Giri set up Vidit’s memorable triumph.

The action in the women’s section was less exciting, with overnight leader 12th seed Vaishali holding Mongolian Batkhuyag Munguntuul on the top board to reach 8.5 points. The biggest title of her life came a day after she ensured a place in the 2024 Women’s Candidates tournament.

Fifth seed Anna Muzychuk (8) came second following a draw with veteran Pia Cramling. Former World champion China’s Tan Zhongyi – Vaishali’s victim in the 10th round – took the third spot, ahead of Munguntuul, after being tied at 7.5 points.

Since two spots are available from this event to the Candidates and with Muzychuk already qualified from the World Cup quota, Zhongyi joined Vaishali as the second qualifier.

Vaishali, who started the event with a published rating of 2448, performed way above at 2658 to collect 30 rating points.

Armed with a third and final Grandmaster norm from last month’s Qatar Masters, Vaishali’s live rating stands at 2497.1. That places her 14th in live World rankings and just 2.90 points from becoming a Grandmaster – only the third Indian woman to achieve the coveted title after K. Humpy and D. Harika.

Vaishali’s unbeaten run in the 50-player strong field – dotted with 16 Grandmasters, 22 International Masters and five Woman Grandmasters – from 30 countries came after facing five stronger players, including four of the top-five seeds.

She started with a victory over Poland’s Oliwia Kiolbasa, drew with Eline Roebers (Netherlands), defeated Leya Garifullina (Russia) and third seed Mariya Muzychuk (Ukraine), the 2015 World Champion. In the round, she drew with Mariya’s sister and fifth seed Anna, the 2017 World championship runner-up.

Up next was a draw with the top seeded Russian Aleksandra Goryachkina, followed by a win over 10th seed Kazakh Bibisara Assaubayeva. A draw with the seasoned French Sophie Milliet was followed with victories over two former World champions Antoneta Stefanova (Bulgaria) and Zhongyi before the draw against Munguntuul proved enough for the title.