List of arbiters for green, blue, red, and yellow panels in FIDE Events 2024-2025 published

Dear Chess Friends, Chess Arbiters,

The FIDE Arbiters’ Commission is pleased to release the List of arbiters for the green, blue, red, and yellow panels, which will be used for making appointments to FIDE events during the 2024-2025 cycle. We would like to thank the hundreds of Arbiters from around the world who responded to the Call of Interest for Arbiters in World Events 2024-2025 (almost 600 colleagues from 116 Federations).

The panel system is described in the FIDE Handbook, B06.4 – FIDE Regulations for the Appointment of Arbiters in World Events, including Appendix B06.4.B – Arbiter Selection Procedural Rules. 

There are four panels named by colour:

  • Green Panel , containing 25 International Arbiters of category A
  • Blue Panel, containing 45 International Arbiters of category A or B
  • Red Panel, containing 60 International Arbiters of category A or B
  • Yellow Panel, containing the remaining International Arbiters or FIDE Arbiters of any category

The Arbiters’ Commission started the procedure by releasing a Call of Interest for all International Arbiters and FIDE Arbiters who hold a valid FIDE arbiters’ license. The Call of Interest was open for more than a month, from July 25th to August 24th, 2023, and was then extended until August 28th, 2023. In total, 143 Arbiters with IA-A and IA-B categories responded to the Call for Interest.

During the meeting on September 2nd 2023, the voting members (FIDE Arbiters Commission councilors, ARB Chairman, ARB Secretary), discussed the criteria for selecting arbiters for panels. 

The meeting was also attended by the Team of Consultants (FIDE Council, FIDE Management Board, Global Strategy Commission, and Events Commission representatives). 

The following criteria were used to select arbiters: gender (the total number of arbiters must be at least 25% female and at least 25% male), experience and level of arbiters’ category, undergone preparation for the appropriate arbiter position, software skills, language (English), leadership skills, teamwork skills, activity as an arbiter in the last few years, previous behaviour or misbehaviour during chess events.

These selection criteria were applied by a team of voting members who used consensus as a decision-making method. The panels were formed following the FIDE Regulations, particularly B.06.4 FIDE Regulations for the Appointment of Arbiters in World Events (effective July 20th, 2023) and selection criteria. 

Each voting member received a list of 143 arbiters (arbiters Category A and B who participated in the Call of Interest for World Events 2024-2025) and voted for every other arbiter on it (on a scale of 143 points to 1 point). For the initial draft, the lowest score was dismissed as none of the voting members could vote for themself. Voting members discussed the draft with the Team of Consultants so as to be able to present you the final version of the List of arbiters for the green, blue, red, and yellow panels.

The Arbiters’ Commission believes that this list was made in the best interests of FIDE and arbiters worldwide. Moreover, we expect that its content and integrity will be proved over the following two years when these arbiters complete their duties at FIDE World Events.

Ivan Syrovy, ARB Chairman 

Nebojsa Baralic, ARB Secretary

According to the FIDE Regulations for the Appointment of Arbiters in World Events (B.06.4), arbiters selected for the Green Panel are eligible to be appointed as:

 1) Chief Arbiter of category A tournaments

 2) Any role that members of the Blue Panel, Red Panel or Yellow Panel may be appointed to

The Green Panel will be composed of 25 arbiters, all of whom must be Category A.

The Green Panel will be used to appoint:

 1) The Chief Arbiters of all Category A tournaments

 2) The equivalent number of positions as Chief Arbiters in Category B tournaments

LIST OF ARBITERS / GREEN PANEL (alphabetical order):

Name

Federation

Title

Category

Continent

Abd Hamid Bin Abd Majid

MAS

IA

A

Asia

Abdulrahim, Mahdi

UAE

IA

A

Asia

Bansod Swapnil

IND

IA

A

Asia

Baralic, Nebojsa

SRB

IA

A

Europe

Bertagnolli, Gerhard

ITA

IA

A

Europe

Brokko, Margit

EST

IA

A

Europe

de San Vicente, Sabrina

URU

IA

A

America

Delega, Tomasz

POL

IA

A

Europe

Escafre, Stephane

FRA

IA

A

Europe

Freyd, Laurent

FRA

IA

A

Europe

Gopakumar M S

IND

IA

A

Asia

Holowczak, Alex R

ENG

IA

A

Europe

Japaridze, Marika

GEO

IA

A

Europe

Mena Sarasola, Jesus

ESP

IA

A

Europe

Munoz Solis, Carolina

CRC

IA

A

America

Nikolopoulos, Panagiotis

GRE

IA

A

Europe

Pahlevanzadeh, Mehrdad

IRI

IA

A

Asia

Sorokina, Anastasia

AUS

IA

A

Asia

Srebrnic, Ana

SLO

IA

A

Europe

Syrovy, Ivan

SVK

IA

A

Europe

van den Bergh, Gunther

RSA

IA

A

Africa

Vardapetyan, Ashot

ARM

IA

A

Europe

Wolter, Jens

GER

IA

A

Europe

Zhu, Jiaqi

CHN

IA

A

Asia

 

 

 

 

 


Note: one spot is not occupied and during the cycle one arbiter can be added to green panel


According to the FIDE Regulations for the Appointment of Arbiters in World Events (B.06.4), arbiters selected for the Blue Panel are eligible to be appointed as:
1) Deputy Chief Arbiter of category A tournaments
2) Chief Arbiter of category B tournaments
3) Any role that members of the Red Panel or Yellow Panel may be appointed to

The Blue Panel will be composed of 45 arbiters, all of whom must be Category A or B.

The Blue Panel will be used to appoint:
1) The Chief Arbiters of all Category B tournaments not assigned to the Green Panel
2) The Deputy Chief Arbiters
a) in all Category A tournaments
b) of twice the equivalent number of positions from a) in Category B tournaments

LIST OF ARBITERS / BLUE PANEL (alphabetical order):

Name

Federation

Title

Category

Continent

Alhammadi, Faisal

UAE

IA

B

Asia

Andrikopoulou, Efstathia

GRE

IA

B

Europe

Bailleul, Geert

BEL

IA

A

Europe

Bayat, Shohreh

ENG

IA

A

Europe

Biagioli, Marco

ITA

IA

A

Europe

Bird, Christopher

USA

IA

B

America

Boyd, Stephen

FRA

IA

B

Europe

Brustman, Agnieszka

POL

IA

B

Europe

Caliskan, Ismail

TUR

IA

B

Europe

Cimina, Andra

LAT

IA

A

Europe

Dapiran, Franca

ITA

IA

A

Europe

Deventer, Klaus

GER

IA

A

Europe

Dimitrijevic, Aleksandra

ITA

IA

B

Europe

Dobrotka, Martin

SVK

IA

B

Europe

Du Toit, Hendrik Petrus

RSA

IA

B

Africa

Eliens, Arno

NED

IA

A

Europe

Gnyp, Yuriy

UKR

IA

B

Europe

Hashemi, Amir Erfan

IRI

IA

A

Asia

Jevtic, Sasa

SRB

IA

B

Europe

Kadimova, Ilaha

AZE

IA

B

Europe

Karali, Tania

GRE

IA

A

Europe

Katanic-Vujic, Petar

SRB

IA

B

Europe

Kisuze, Stephen Ssemmango

UGA

IA

B

Africa

Klueners, Juergen

GER

IA

B

Europe

Kytharidis, Argyrios

GRE

IA

A

Europe

Marghetis, Aris

CAN

IA

B

America

McFarlane, Alex H

SCO

IA

B

Europe

Md Haroon or Rashid

BAN

IA

B

Asia

Messaoudi, Bechir

TUN

IA

B

Africa

Nesla, Adnane

ALG

IA

B

Africa

Nguyen, Thi Anh Thu

VIE

IA

A

Asia

Nicula, Dinu-Ioan

ROU

IA

B

Europe

Nsakanya, Chanda

ZAM

IA

A

Africa

Perez Llera, Javier

ESP

IA

A

Europe

Polovina, Elena

RUS

IA

B

Asia

Press, Shaun

PNG

IA

B

Asia

Prokopova, Jirina

CZE

IA

A

Europe

Rathinam, Anantharam

IND

IA

A

Asia

Ribeiro, Pablyto Robert

BRA

IA

B

America

Shulman, Alon

ISR

IA

B

Europe

Tsai, Peter

AUS

IA

B

Asia

Turdialiev, Husan

UZB

IA

A

Asia

Vashurin, Artur

RUS

IA

B

Asia

Wang, Junnan

CHN

IA

B

Asia

 

 

 

 

 


Note: one spot is not occupied and during the cycle one arbiter can be added to blue panel


According to the FIDE Regulations for the Appointment of Arbiters in World Events (B.06.4), arbiters selected for the Red Panel are eligible to be appointed as:
1) Sector Arbiter or Pairing Officer of category A tournaments
2) Deputy Chief Arbiter of category B tournaments
3) Any role that members of the Yellow Panel may be appointed to

The Red Panel will be composed of 60 arbiters, all of whom must be Category A or B.

The Red Panel will be used to appoint:
1) The Deputy Chief Arbiters of all Category B tournaments not assigned to the Blue Panel
2) The Sector Arbiters and Pairing Officer
a) in all Category A tournaments
b) of twice the equivalent number of positions from a) in Category B tournaments

LIST OF ARBITERS / RED PANEL (alphabetical order):

Name

Federation

Title

Category

Continent

Akkour, Abdelfattah

MAR

IA

B

Africa

Alnuaimi, Ahmed M.

UAE

IA

B

Asia

Altan-Och, Genden

MGL

IA

A

Asia

Amaral, Mauro

BRA

IA

B

America

Banda Aaron

ZAM

IA

B

Africa

Barriquello Calleros, Carlos

BRA

IA

B

America

Bhardwaj, Vipnesh

IND

IA

A

Asia

Bunawan, Bong

INA

IA

B

Asia

Buonocore, Giuseppe

ITA

IA

B

Europe

Burstein, Almog

ISR

IA

A

Europe

Cornet, Luc

BEL

IA

B

Europe

Dai, Lili

CHN

IA

B

Asia

Dervieux, Dominique

FRA

IA

B

Europe

Doric, Nenad

CRO

IA

B

Europe

Eriksen, Tom

NOR

IA

B

Europe

Garcia Valer, Jesus

ESP

IA

B

Europe

Haznedaroglu, Akif Tayfun

TUR

IA

B

Europe

Howie, Andrew

SCO

IA

A

Europe

Jaeger, Frank

GER

IA

B

Europe

Johann, Gregor

GER

IA

B

Europe

Kenmure, Jamie

AUS

IA

A

Asia

Khairallah, Elias

LBN

IA

B

Asia

Kocovski, Ivan

MKD

IA

B

Europe

Krjukov, Mikhail

RUS

IA

A

Asia

Lee, Patrick

PHI

IA

B

Asia

Liendro, Beatriz

ARG

IA

A

America

Logothetis, Sotiris

GRE

IA

A

Europe

Lopez-Chavez Marino, Barbara

CUB

IA

B

America

Martinez Garcia, Jose

MEX

IA

A

America

Mete, Aykut Ilker

TUR

IA

A

Europe

Mickovic, Slavisa

SRB

IA

B

Europe

Oyunchimeg, Genden

MGL

IA

B

Asia

Palovsky, Ladislav

CZE

IA

B

Europe

Paul Arokia Raj S

IND

IA

A

Asia

Pernici Rigo, Cristina

ITA

IA

B

Europe

Pingas, Blas Mariano

ARG

IA

B

America

Plotinsky, Leandro

ARG

IA

B

America

Rimestad, Arild

DEN

IA

A

Europe

Rist, Karl-Johan

NOR

IA

A

Europe

Savic, Natasa

SRB

IA

B

Europe

Shenvi, Nitin

IND

IA

A

Asia

Sidabras, Jonas

LTU

IA

B

Europe

Sjol, Henrik

NOR

IA

B

Europe

Sokolski, Aleksander

POL

IA

A

Europe

Srivatsan R

IND

IA

A

Asia

Staratorzhskiy, Vladimir

RUS

IA

A

Asia

Strobl, Thomas

GER

IA

B

Europe

Tandashvili, Margalita

GEO

IA

B

Europe

Tissera, Thiwanka

SRI

IA

B

Asia

Tsypin, Vadim

CAN

IA

B

America

Uctu, Ahmet

TUR

IA

A

Europe

Umudova, Ulkar

AZE

IA

B

Europe

Vasanth, B H

IND

IA

A

Asia

Wijesuriya, G. Luxman

SRI

IA

B

Asia

Xu, Yaping

CHN

IA

B

Asia

Zaiats, Vladimir

UKR

IA

B

Europe

Zaruba, Petr

CZE

IA

B

Europe

Zerdali, Samir

ALG

IA

B

Africa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Note: two spots are not occupied and during the cycle one arbiter can be added to green panel


According to the FIDE Regulations for the Appointment of Arbiters in World Events (B.06.4), arbiters selected for the Yellow Panel are eligible to be appointed as:
1) Arbiters selected for the Yellow Panel are eligible to be appointed as any remaining roles, provided that their title and category of arbiter are compliant with Table B06.3.8.3.
2) There is no predefined size for the Yellow Panel as it contains all remaining applications retained by the Arbiter Appointment Procedural Rules.

LIST OF ARBITERS / YELLOW PANEL 

Note: Arbiters eligible for the yellow panel who haven’t initially answered the call of interest may still register in that panel by sending an email to the FIDE ARB Secretary, Nebojsa Baralic: secretary.arbiters@fide.com.                                                           

Four slow Slavs in Round 4 of FIDE Grand Swiss

Former prodigy Andrey Esipenko overcame the reigning World Junior Champion Marc’andria Maurizzi for a third win in four games and emerged as the sole leader in the open section. There was excitement everywhere, from Erigaisi’s king walk to b4 to the theoretical duels in the Slav and Volokitin’s touch-move rule violation. In the women’s section, Anna Muzychuk missed a huge chance to win a fourth game after spoiling her excellent opening preparation e against former World Champion Tan Zhongyi. Bibisara Assaubayeva and Rameshbabu joined the leaders with convincing wins

The Slav Defence is one of the most popular openings. Its popularity comes from its versatility, as it allows Black to choose from several set-ups according to their tastes.

However, White also has a say when it comes to the Slav. The Exchange Variation, for example, is not as dull as it may sound, but there is also the so-called slow Slav, where White intentionally slows the thigns down, thus avoiding the sharp options like the Semi-Slav, the Botvinnik Variation or the Anti-Moscow gambit.

In round four of the FIDE Grand Swiss, there was an unexpected occurrence of the slow Slav on the top boards.

On board eight, Radoslaw Wojtaszek chose the slow Slav against Anish Giri. Then, curious things started to happen early on. In the position after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3, Black has three main moves, and these are 4…Bg4, 4…Bf5 and 4…e6. Giri chose the first one.

Interestingly, Wojtaszek was on Team Anand in 2008 when Anand played the World Championship match against Kramnik. The Slav Defence was Anand’s main weapon in that match, which he won thanks to excellent preparation in the sharpest lines of the Meran. While preparing the Slav in general, the team considered the slow Slav as well, and their intention was to play the line with 4…Bg4!

Fast-forward to 2023, and here we see Wojtaszek on the white side of the line he prepared as Black in 2008!

He continued with 5.Qb3 Qb6 6.Ne5 and they followed mainstream theory for a while. Suddenly, White got a great chance.

Black’s last move 15…h5? was positionally sound – stopping possible White expansion on the kingside, but it turned out to be too inconcrete. Possibly, Giri was lulled by the “slowness” of the Slav and didn’t expect any dynamic factors. Luckily for him, so did his opponent as he continued with the “slow” 16.Rhd1? missing a great chance to put his opponent under tremendous pressure with 16.Na5! Rb8 17.e4 Nc7 18.Bf4 Kd7 19.Nc4 and Black is on the brink of defeat as White threatens Rxa7 and Ne5.

With this unexpected chance not taken, White couldn’t pose more problems, and the subsequent advance in the centre with e4 and d5 only led to simplifications and a draw.

On the next board, board nine, Hans Niemann chose the slow Slav against Richard Rapport. Black deviated quickly from the board he could easily see next to him and chose 4…Bf5. After 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Qb3 Qc7, both players followed theory, and when it ended, a complex middlegame was on the board.

This is a rather typical situation in the slow Slav, where White’s pair of bishops is compensated by Black’s solid position and better pawn structure. It was a true slow Slav until the final moves before the time-control.

Instead of continuing to manoeuvre with 39…Rc8 or 38…Bb8, Rapport took the poisoned pawn on a5 and was swiftly punished after 39…Bxa5? 40.Qa4 Qc7 41.b4 Bb6 42.Bxa6! White transferred the rook to a2 and launched a decisive attack along the a-file.

Two more slow Slavs were played on boards 14 and 15.

On board 14, Santosh Gujrathi Vidit decided to try to tame Alexey Shirov by slowing things down. Shirov played his usual choice against this line, 4….Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Be4 (deviating from Rapport’s 6…Bg6) 7.f3 Bg6. The idea of the move …Be4 is to provoke a slight weakening in White’s position with the move f3.

The game followed an earlier game by Vidit, played against Illya Nyzhnyk, and it was surprising to see Shirov not try to improve on that game and end up in the same inferior position as Nyzhnyk.

Black should have played …Nb6 before taking …c5xd4, and now both Shirov and Nyzhnyk found themselves in an inferior position. Black’s main problem is the lack of safe shelter for the king – if it stays in the centre, then f4-f5 is coming, and if it goes to the kingside, then h4-h5 is dangerous. Shirov’s time management, spending almost an hour to reach a position that his opponent had played earlier, perhaps indicated that his preparation wasn’t of the highest quality.

Shirov eventually deviated from the game Vidit-Nyzhnyk on move 22, but he was already in a very bad position. Vidit won without too many problems.

On board 15 Nikita Vitiugov and Chithambaram Aravindh followed the game Niemann-Rapport for a few moves before deviating with 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Bd2 Nbd7.

In this popular position, White chose the relatively rare 9.cxd5, transposing to a Carlsbad structure. His intentions were aggressive, as after 9…exd5 10.Qc2, he prepared long castling. Black wasn’t very precise, and White quickly built up an attack with f3 and g4. However, Vitiugov misplayed and rushed with g5, allowing Black to block the kingside with …Nh5, then it was Black who started to attack at the queenside! He achieved a winning position, but then…

Instead of 32…Qf1 or 32…Qd1 or even the prophylactic 32…Kh7, Black rushed with 32…Re1? when after 33.Qb8 Kh7 34.Qg3! suddenly, it was White who was better! The threat of mate with Rc8 forced Black to go back with the rook when Black’s attack was gone, and White could go on to collect the c4-pawn and advance his central pawns. Vitiugov exchanged rooks and entered a queen endgame, but now it was his turn to be imprecise.

White already gave checks on c8 and h3, but here he missed that after the immediate 44.Kxa6? Black has the excellent 44…f5! cutting off the white queen and advancing his own passed pawn. After this, the position is objectively a draw, and Black managed to reach it. The winning manoeuvre was 44.Qc8 Kh7 45.Qc6! supporting the advance of the d-pawn.

A truly topsy-turvy game.

To sum up the overall score in the slow Slavs, White won 3-1.

On board one, Fabiano Caruana was surprised early on by Javokhir Sindarov (who yesterday beat Aronian) in the King’s Indian Defence. It seems that nowadays, everybody plays the Be2, Be3 system against the King’s Indian and Caruana wasn’t an exception. Then, after a transposition to the Benoni with …c5, Black sprung his surprise.

Instead of the usual 7…e6 Black played the practically unknown 7….Qb6, which, understandably, made Caruana think for a while. He came up with 8.Rb1 and here the novelty 8…Qa5 was played.

Both players started to spend time as the position was unexplored and complex. The critical moment in the game came after Black’s 17th move.

White took the pawn on b4, but after 18.Qxb4?! Qb6! Black had enough counterplay and held the draw. Instead of the hasty capture White should have played 18.Nc2! and trying to take the pawn with the knight. If Black then defends the pawn with 18…a5, then after 19.f3 White has a stable advantage thanks to his superior pawn structure. A rare case of Caruana’s misevaluating a position!

On board two, Alexandr Predke introduced a novelty against Arjun Erigaisi as early as move 11 in the standard position from the Semi-Tarrasch. 

Here White has a wide choice, 11.Bc4, 11.Rc1, 11.Be2, 11.Bd3, 11.Bb5, 11.Rd1, 11.h4, 11.Rb1, to name just the most popular ones.

What did Predke come up with? 11.h3, obviously.

After natural moves by both sides White executed the thematic break d5 exd5, e5, where White sacrifices a pawn, but obtains attacking chances on the kingside.

The engine gives 0.00, indicating that White has compensation for the pawn.

Two moves later, Predke went for the throat.

The engine is quite happy to see the sacrifice 21.Bxh7, easily refuting White’s attack, but for a human in practice, things are not easy at all. Erigaisi defended well for nine moves, but in the critical moment, he decided to force a draw.

Here 30…Bc6 or 30…Na5 were still quite advantageous for Black (the engine says it’s winning), but Erigaisi went for 30…Kb4 31.Rd7 Nd2 (31…Qe5 would have still been good) 32.Rxd6 Rc1 with a perpetual check …Nf1-d2.

On board three, Samuel Sevian and Erwin L’Ami played a dynamic game in the Ruy Lopez, where White missed an accidental winning chance in time trouble. Except for that chance, L’Ami’s defence in a tricky position was beyond reproach.

On board four, Andrey Esipenko scored a notable win with the black pieces in the duel with the reigning World Junior Champion Marc’andria Maurizzi. In a complex Ruy Lopez, Black outplayed his opponent in a convincing fashion. This win made Esipenko the sole leader of the tournament.

Hikaru Nakamura scored his second win in a row using the Tarrasch Defence against Amin Tabatabaei.

Speaking of the h-pawn, the novelty of the round should definitely go to Jorden Van Foreest. In his game against Frederik Svane, he chose the Catalan, and in the so-called open variation of the Catalan, he uncorked…

7.h4!?, what else!

An unfortunate moment happened in the game between Andrei Volokitin and Vincent Keymer. The position was a draw, but then the following happened. 

White’s intention was to take the pawn on b6, but instead, he picked up the pawn on c5! Then he played 35.Rxb6, but Keymer called the arbiter and explained the situation. The touch-move rule had to be enforced, so Volokitin had to take the pawn on c5 and immediately resigned as he loses the rook after 35…Qd1.

In the women’s section, the derby on board one between Anna Muzychuk and Tan Zhongyi was an exciting theoretical duel where White caught her opponent in a very deeply prepared line. The curious thing is that Muzychuk had two games in this line, played in back 2018, and Tan Zhongyi must have hoped that her improvement would keep her safe.

Muzychuk’s previous games against Pia Cramling and Peter Svidler saw the capture on e4, which is dangerous after Nxb5, but both times Black survived.

Tan Zhongyi deviated with 11…Qb8, the engine’s preference. The surprise came on the next move because after White’s best move 12.d3 Black should have played 12…e6, and yet Tan Zhongyi went for the risky and not very good 12…cxd3?! 13.Bxd3 Bxe4?! and after 14.Bb5 e5 15.Re1 White was almost winning!

A very strange case of a very bad preparation from the former World Champion. However, Muzychuk’s problems with her technique, which were also visible in the previous two rounds, where she allowed saving chances to her opponents Tsolakidou and Bulmaga, finally caught up with her. This time Tan took advantage of her mistakes and saved the game.

On board two Bibisara Assaubayeva chose a Reti set-up against Elisabeth Paehtz’s Grunfeld development. Black didn’t have problems out of the opening but somewhat prematurely gave up the pair of bishops. White used the bishops to open the game and started pressuring Black.

Black found it very difficult to defend and decided to transpose to a position with opposite-coloured bishops at the expense of damaging her structure. It didn’t help since White’s bishop on d5 was exerting tremendous pressure on the f7-pawn.

White confidently converted her advantage without allowing any chances.

On board three Mariya Muzychuk suffered a disaster against Rameshbabu Vaishali. In the Rossolimo Sicilian, the players followed theory until move 14, when it appears that Muzychuk couldn’t remember her preparation.

Instead of 15.Be3 or 15.Ne4 tested previously, White played 15.Qh4? and after 15…Bb7 was immediately in trouble! The pawn on e5 is under attack (Black threatens …Bxf3) and Black’s pieces quickly come to life!

Muzychuk lunged forward with 16.e6, but after 16…f5 17.Bg5 Bxf3 18.gxf3 Qb7 with a double attack on b2 and f3 the end was nigh. White took the pawn on e7 but allowed …Qxf3 and …Rd2 when all she could do was to resign three moves later.

Top seed Aleksandra Goryachkina won her second game in a row and is only half a point behind the leaders, but so is 18-year-old Meruert Kamalidenova, who delivered a mate with bishop and knight against Polina Shuvalova.

There is a sole leader in the open event, and that is Andrey Esipenko, with 3.5/4. He is closely followed by a bunch of players sitting on 3/4. In the women’s section, four players share the lead with 3.5/4: Tan Zhongyi, Anna Muzychuk, Rameshbabu Vaishali and Bibisara Assaubayeva, with five players trailing by a half-point. 

Fans can follow the Grand Swiss 2023 by watching live broadcasts of the event on FIDE Youtube and Twitch with expert commentary by GM David Howell and IM Jovanka Houska.

Round 5 starts tomorrow at 14:30 PM local time.

Standings after Round 4 Open

Standings after Round 4 Women

Written by GM Alex Colovic

Photos: Anna Shtourman

Official website: grandswiss.fide.com


About the event:

The FIDE Grand Swiss and FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss 2023 takes place from the 23rd of October to the 6th of November at the Villa Marina, Douglas, Isle of Man.

Both tournaments are part of the qualifications for the World Championship cycle, with the top two players in the open event qualifying for the 2024 Candidates Tournament and the top two players in the Women’s Grand Swiss qualifying for the 2024 Women’s Candidates.

Eleven rounds will be played under the Swiss System, with 164 players participating from all continents: 114 in the Grand Swiss and 50 players in the Women’s Grand Swiss.

The total prize fund is $600,000, with $460,000 for the Grand Swiss and $140,000 for the Women’s Grand Swiss.

The first Grand Swiss was held in 2019 in the Isle of Man and was won by GM Wang Hao, who scored 8/11. The 2021 edition was moved from Isle of Man to Riga due to Covid restrictions on the island and was won by GM Alireza Firouzja.

This is the second time that a Women’s Grand Swiss event will be held. The inaugural edition in Riga was won by GM Lei Tingjie.
 

Organizers and Partners: