Gukesh to face Divya Deshmukh in eighth round of FIDE Grand Swiss 2025
World champion D. Gukesh will face women’s World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh in an exciting clash between two 19-year-old Indian Grandmasters in the eighth round of the FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Friday.
The list of pairings, following the Swiss format, was released following the conclusion of the seventh round on Thursday in which Gukesh, the youngest-ever world champion, suffered a third straight defeat while Divya, the youngest-ever women’s World Cup winner, clinched her second win of the event.
When and where to watch FIDE Grand Swiss’ round-eight clash between D. Gukesh vs Divya Deshmukh?
The FIDE Grand Swiss’ round-eight clash between D. Gukesh (white pieces) and Divya Deshmukh (black pieces) will begin at 3:45 p.m. IST on September 12 and can be watched live on the official YouTube channel of FIDE.
How have Gukesh and Divya performed in the tournament so far?
Gukesh began the tournament with two wins and two draws. However, he enters the eighth round after three straight losses against USA’s Abhimanyu Mishra, Greek Nikolas Theodorou and Turkiye’s Ediz Gurel. Overall, he has three points.
READ | FIDE Grand Swiss 2025: Gukesh loses again, Nihal becomes joint leader after seventh round
On the other hand, Divya has suffered two defeats, managed three draws and stunned two higher-rated players in Egypt’s Bassem Amin and Serbia’s Velimir Ivic. She has 3.5 points and is currently ahead of Gukesh.
Why is Divya playing in the Open section and not the Women’s section?
FIDE Grand Swiss (Open) and FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss are significant events as the top two players in both qualify for next year’s FIDE Candidates, a tournament which will decide the challengers for the reigning men’s and women’s world champions.
In normal circumstances, Divya would have played in the women’s section. However, with her historic triumph at the FIDE Women’s World Cup in July, she has already qualified for the Candidates tournament.
She received a wildcard from FIDE to take part in the men’s section at the prestigious tournament in Uzbekistan. Competing against higher-rated players will help her in her preparation for the Candidates.
What are the FIDE ratings of Gukesh and Divya?
Gukesh’s FIDE rating is 2767 while Divya’s rating is 2478.
What is Swiss Format?
Swiss format is a prominent way of conducting a chess tournament, in which players/teams aren’t eliminated over the course of the competition.
In the opening round, teams/players with a higher rating are manually paired with lower-rated ones.
After this, pairings are based on the performance in the initial round: teams/players who win are matched with other winners, and losers with losers, with an effort to avoid colour repetition.
Published on Sep 12, 2025