GM Divya Deshmukh upsets 2600-rated Egyptian to score first win of Grand Swiss

GM Divya Deshmukh is on a roll in the Grand Swiss 2025 as she secured her first win on the back of consecutive draws at Samarkand in Uzbekistan on Sunday.

The 2478-rated teenage sensation stunned 2636-rated Egyptian GM Bassem Amin in the fourth round. Divya had held GMs Alexander Donchenko and Murali Karthikeyan to draws in the previous rounds. The World Cup-winner has improved her tally to 2 points.

Meanwhile, the Indian top three of R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and D Gukesh settled for draws to remain unbeaten and take their tally to 3 points each. Pragg was held to a draw by American GM Abhimanyu Mishra, while Gukesh and Erigaisi split a point on the third board.

GMs Nihal Sarin and S L Narayanan, the Malayali grandmasters in the event, settled for draws against V Pranav and Volodar Murzin respectively.

Iranian GM Parham Maghsoodloo (3.5) maintained his position at the top of the points table after a draw with local favourite Nodirbek Abdusattorov.