FIDE Grand Swiss
An 11-round Swiss tournament of the world’s strongest players, with two Candidates places at stake.
- Founded
- 2019
- Held
- Every two years
- Where
- Varies
- Format
- 11-round Swiss, with a separate women’s event; the top finishers qualify for the Candidates
- Champion
- Anish Giri (2025)
History
The Grand Swiss grew out of the Isle of Man International and has been FIDE’s official Candidates qualifier since 2019. A field of more than a hundred elite players plays eleven rounds, and the top two qualify for the Candidates.
Every open winner so far has gone on to play the Candidates, and Vaishali Rameshbabu has won the women’s event twice: in 2023, and again in 2025 on her way to winning the 2026 Women’s Candidates.
How it works
Who plays. 116 players in the 2025 open section, 100 of them invited by rating, with a separate women’s event alongside it.
The format. An 11-round Swiss: players are paired each round against others on a similar score, so nobody plays everyone. Classical time control, 100 minutes for 40 moves plus extra time after. Ties are broken by tiebreak scores, starting with the average rating of opponents.
What is at stake. The top two qualify for the Candidates, and the women’s event sends its top two to the Women’s Candidates. The 2025 open prize fund was $625,000.
Part of the World Championship cycle: World Cup → Grand Swiss → Candidates → World Championship. Last checked 3 October 2026 against the 2025 edition.
FIDE Grand Swiss in The Chess Herald
Winners
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Anish Giri · Women: Vaishali Rameshbabu |
| 2023 | Vidit Gujrathi · Women: Vaishali Rameshbabu |
| 2021 | Alireza Firouzja · Women: Lei Tingjie |
| 2019 | Wang Hao |
Source: Wikipedia.
Page last reviewed October 3, 2026.