The FIDE Grand Swiss is chess’s biggest open door to the top. Instead of a cosy invitational for eight elite players, it throws 100-plus grandmasters into a single 11-round Swiss and lets them fight it out — and the reward for the top finishers is a golden ticket to the Candidates Tournament, one step from a shot at the World Championship. As of July 2026, the reigning Grand Swiss champions are Anish Giri (open) and Vaishali Rameshbabu (women’s), both crowned in Samarkand, Uzbekistan in September 2025.
Quick facts
- Governing body: FIDE · Format: 11-round Swiss open + parallel women’s section
- First held: 2019 (Isle of Man) · Frequency: every two years
- Reigning champions: Anish Giri (open) & Vaishali Rameshbabu (women’s) — as of July 2026
- Why it matters: the top finishers in each section qualify for the Candidates
What is the FIDE Grand Swiss?
Most events at the very top of chess are closed round-robins — a fixed set of superstars, invitation only. The Grand Swiss flips that idea on its head. It’s a Swiss-system open, which means a huge field (from 108 to 154 players in past editions) all play in the same tournament, and the pairings are decided round by round: win, and you get matched against other winners; lose, and you drift down to face players on your score. Nobody is eliminated, everybody plays all 11 rounds, and your final placing is simply where your points land you.
That format makes it beautifully democratic. A lower-rated grandmaster who catches fire can play their way past the elite and finish top of a field stacked with 2700-rated players. And because the top finishers earn spots in the Candidates Tournament, the Grand Swiss is one of the few places where you can qualify for a World Championship cycle purely by winning games, no invitation required.
How the Grand Swiss works
- The format: 11 rounds of classical chess, Swiss-paired. Most points wins; a draw is worth ½. Tiebreaks separate players who finish level.
- Two sections: an open section (anyone in the field, of any gender) and a separate women’s section. The women’s Grand Swiss was added in 2021 and now runs in parallel with the open.
- The prize: in recent editions, the top two finishers in each section qualify for the Candidates Tournament — the event that decides who challenges for the World Championship. (The very first edition, in 2019, sent only its winner.)
- Serious money too: it’s one of the richest opens in the sport — Giri collected a $90,000 first prize for winning the 2025 open.
Because it’s a Swiss, the drama builds toward the final rounds, when the leaders are paired against each other in what are effectively mini title-eliminators. One last-round win can mean the Candidates; one loss can mean nothing.
A short history
- 2019 — Douglas, Isle of Man: the inaugural edition, a monster 154-player field. Wang Hao of China won on tiebreak over Fabiano Caruana, both on 8/11, and Wang qualified for the Candidates.
- 2021 — Riga, Latvia: moved off the Isle of Man because of COVID travel rules. A 20-year-old Alireza Firouzja stormed to victory in the open, and the inaugural women’s Grand Swiss was won by China’s Lei Tingjie.
- 2023 — Douglas, Isle of Man: an Indian double. Vidit Gujrathi took the open and Vaishali Rameshbabu the women’s — both qualifying for the 2024 Candidates.
- 2025 — Samarkand, Uzbekistan: the event’s first trip to Central Asia. Anish Giri won the open and Vaishali made history in the women’s (more below).
The latest edition: 2025 (Samarkand)
The 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss was played at the Silk Road EXPO in Samarkand, Uzbekistan (3–15 September 2025), with 116 players in the open section over the usual 11 rounds.
In the open, Anish Giri of the Netherlands — a player long teased for making draws — turned aggressor, winning a tense final-round game against Hans Niemann to finish clear first on 8/11. Germany’s Matthias Blübaum took second on 7½ after edging a crowd of chasers on tiebreak. Both Giri and Blübaum qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2026.
The women’s section produced the story of the event: Vaishali Rameshbabu of India tied for first on 8/11 with Kateryna Lagno and won the title on tiebreak — becoming the first player ever to win the Grand Swiss twice, and the first to win back-to-back editions in either section. Both Vaishali and Lagno booked places in the Women’s Candidates.
Famous moments
- 2019 — Wang Hao’s breakthrough. A relatively quiet top seed came through a 154-player scrum to win the first Grand Swiss and reach the Candidates.
- 2021 — Firouzja arrives. Barely out of his teens, Alireza Firouzja won in Riga and rocketed toward the world’s top five soon after — a Grand Swiss launchpad if ever there was one.
- 2023 — the Indian double, with a family twist. Vidit and Vaishali both won. Vaishali’s Candidates berth, alongside brother Praggnanandhaa qualifying in the same cycle, made them the first brother and sister to reach Candidates events at the same time.
- 2025 — Vaishali makes history. Her tiebreak win in Samarkand made her the first back-to-back Grand Swiss champion.
How to follow it
The Grand Swiss is broadcast live during its two-week run, with move-by-move coverage and grandmaster commentary on the official FIDE channels and Chess.com, plus recaps across YouTube and the major chess-news sites. Because it’s classical chess, individual games can run four, five, even six hours — and in the final rounds, when a Candidates spot is on the line, the tension is genuinely nerve-shredding. The next edition is expected in 2027 (as of July 2026, host to be confirmed).
FAQ
What is the FIDE Grand Swiss? A huge 11-round Swiss-system open run by FIDE, with open and women’s sections, whose top finishers qualify for the Candidates Tournament.
Who won the 2025 Grand Swiss? Anish Giri won the open and Vaishali Rameshbabu won the women’s, both in Samarkand, Uzbekistan (as of July 2026).
How do you qualify for the Candidates through the Grand Swiss? In recent editions, the top two finishers in each section earn Candidates spots — you qualify simply by finishing near the top of the field.
Where has the Grand Swiss been held? Isle of Man (2019 and 2023), Riga, Latvia (2021), and Samarkand, Uzbekistan (2025).
How is it different from the Candidates? The Candidates is a small, invitation-only round-robin of eight players; the Grand Swiss is a large open anyone in the field can win — and it’s one of the ways players earn their Candidates invitation.
Explore more
See every champion in the full list of Grand Swiss winners · Learn what the qualifiers are playing for at the Candidates Tournament · Meet the players who’ve won their way through.
Researched and fact-checked by the Chess Lab Academy Editorial Team · Verified against FIDE, Wikipedia, and Chess.com · Latest edition (2025, Samarkand) current as of July 2026 · Last verified 2026-07-11 · How we verify content.