Anish Giri has played thousands of high-level games, and his reputation is for control rather than chaos — but his best work is genuinely gorgeous chess: precise, deeply prepared, and quietly ruthless. Here are the moments that best capture who he is at the board. We’re keeping this in prose and pointing you to reliable databases for the full move-by-move, so nothing here is a made-up score.
The 2023 Tata Steel Masters: finally, the crown
If you only learn one thing about Giri’s career, make it this. The Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee is the most prestigious annual tournament in chess — an event Giri grew up attending in his own country. And for years it was his heartbreak: he finished runner-up there five times before finally breaking through.
In January 2023 he did it. Giri won the 85th Tata Steel Masters, scoring 8½/13 and finishing undefeated with four wins. The story of the event was dramatic: Nodirbek Abdusattorov led for most of the tournament, but a final-stretch collapse opened the door, and Giri walked through it. In the last round he needed a win, sat down against Richard Rapport, and delivered exactly the result the moment demanded.
What makes the run so impressive is who he beat on the way. In the same tournament Giri defeated the two highest-rated players in the field — and in the world at the time — Magnus Carlsen and Ding Liren. Beating the reigning World Champion and the man who would soon become World Champion, in the same event, while never losing a game, is elite-level chess at its finest. You can replay the full games from the tournament on Chess.com and other databases.
The 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss: a nerveless finish
Two years later, Giri authored another headline result. At the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand, Uzbekistan — a massive, brutally tough open event where a single stumble can end your tournament — Giri took clear first with 8/11.
The finish showed a side of him people don’t always associate with the “solid” label: steel nerves under maximum pressure. Needing to perform in the final round to lock up the title outright, he won on demand against Hans Niemann, sealing first place and, with it, a spot in the 2026 Candidates Tournament — his third career qualification for the event that decides who challenges for the world crown. Winning a swiss this strong is partly about preparation and partly about not cracking when it counts, and Giri did both. The games are available on the official event coverage and the major databases.
Beating the best in his signature style
Across his career, Giri has taken down essentially every top player of his era in classical, rapid, and blitz — including multiple encounters with Magnus Carlsen. His wins tend to share a signature that’s the opposite of flashy: airtight opening preparation that hands him a pleasant, well-understood position, followed by patient, accurate play that slowly turns a small edge into a full point. He rarely beats himself; he waits for you to crack, and then he pounces.
That’s true whether he’s nursing a tiny advantage out of a slow Catalan or generating counterplay with the dynamic Grünfeld as Black. When he does decide to sharpen things up, it’s often a Sicilian Najdorf knife-fight — proof that the “draw master” tag was always only half the picture.
Why his games are worth studying
Even if you’re nowhere near super-grandmaster strength, Giri’s games are some of the best learning material out there — for a few concrete reasons:
- Solidity as a strategy. Giri shows that being hard to beat is a weapon in itself. When you don’t hand your opponent chances, you get to play for a win with zero risk. That’s a mindset any club player can borrow.
- Preparation that does the heavy lifting. His games are a clinic in “winning the opening” — arriving at a comfortable middlegame before the real thinking even starts.
- Converting tiny edges. Like the very best, Giri takes a marginal advantage — a slightly better structure, a marginally more active piece — and refuses to let it slip. His technique is patient and clean.
- Choosing the right gear. Watch how he decides when to keep things calm and when to switch to a sharp opening and play for the throat. Knowing which mode a position calls for is a huge part of strong chess.
Keep exploring
Want to see how the pieces of his game fit together? Read about his playing style, dig into his opening repertoire, trace his rating history, or head back to the full Anish Giri profile. You can also compare him with a rival he’s famously sparred with, on the board and on Twitter — Magnus Carlsen.
Written and fact-checked by the Chess Lab Academy Editorial Team · Facts verified against Wikipedia, the 2023 Tata Steel record, and Chess.com, as of July 2026 · Game moves should be replayed from those databases · Last verified 2026-07-10 · How we verify content.