Top seeded India’s number one R Pragyananda FIDG will play with American Grandmaster Jeffrey Xyong in the first round of the Grand Swiss Chess, while the current world champion D Gukesh will compete with Etienne Bakrot in France. 116 players in the open category and 56 players in the women’s category will compete for $ 855000 for a prize money, out of which 625000 awards will be in the open category.
The tournament is a qualifier for the next candidate tournament but top seed Magnus Carlson, Fabiano Karuana and Hikaru Nakamura are not participating in it. Carlson does not like classical chess and does not play the World Championship. Karuana has already qualified for candidates and Nakamura is sure that he will make a place based on the average ranking of January 2026.
Two quota places will be fixed from the open and women category. The top three preferences have been given to Indian players for not playing these three. The fourth, fifth and sixth players of the world will be strong contenders for Pragyananda, Arjun Arigasi and Gukesh title. Women’s World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh will also enter the open category, which has qualified for women candidates. She is not participating in the women’s category.
In the first round, he will face compatriot Abhimanyu Puranik. 15 players from India will enter the open and three women category. D Harika, previous winners R Vaishali and Vantika Aggarwal will participate in the women’s category. Koneru Hampi has qualified for women candidates, so she is not playing here.
