As many as 15 Indians, including world champion D Gukesh, R Praggnanandha, Vaishali R and Koneru Humpy, have qualified for the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss, to be held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from September 3-16. Besides Gukesh and Praggnanandha, the other nine Indians taking part in FIDE Grand Swiss (Open) are: Arjun Erigaisi, Chithambaram Aravindh, Vidit Gujrathi, Pentala Harikrishna, Nihal Sarin, Raunak Sadhwani, Murali Karthikeyan, Abhimanyu Puranik and Aryan Chopra.

Vaishali and Humpy will be joined by Harika Dronavalli and Divya Deshmukh in the Women’s Grand Swiss. Vantika Agrawal has been named as a reserve player.

As one of the most significant events in the chess calendar, the FIDE Grand Swiss offers players a direct pathway to the Candidates Tournament, the game’s world governing body said. “The top two finishers in the Grand Swiss will secure spots in the 2026 Candidates Tournament, while the top two players in the Women’s Grand Swiss will qualify for the 2026 Women’s Candidates Tournament,” the FIDE said on Thursday.

The Candidates Tournament determines the challenger for the World Chess Championship. In addition to its importance as a qualifier, the event will feature an increased prize fund. “The Open prize fund has been boosted from USD 460,000 to USD 625,000—a 36% increase—while the Women’s prize fund sees an even larger jump, from USD 140,000 to USD 230,000, up 64%,” the FIDE said.

Both tournaments will follow an 11-round Swiss format with 170 players participating from across the globe: 114 in the Grand Swiss and 56 in the Women’s Grand Swiss. So far, 100 players have qualified for the 2025 Grand Swiss by rating, while the Women’s Grand Swiss has 44 qualifiers. Only players who played at least 30 rated games are eligible.

The final lists of participants will be confirmed after Continent spots, players nominated by the FIDE president and players nominated by the organiser are announced.