Giri kicks off the game with the English Opening, setting the stage for a strategic battle.
Mishra advances his pawn, aiming to fianchetto his bishop and control the long diagonal.
Giri places his knight on a natural square, a standard developing move that strengthens his position.
Mishra develops his knight to a natural square, mirroring Giri’s development.
Giri pushes his central pawn, and with this move the game has transposed into the dynamic King’s Indian Defense!
Mishra develops his bishop with a fianchetto, eyeing the long diagonal and preparing to castle kingside.
With a subtle pawn push, Giri signals his intention to fianchetto his kingside bishop.
Mishra prepares for a central pawn advance, signaling his intention to challenge Giri’s setup.
Giri brings his knight toward the center, reinforcing his central control.
As expected, Mishra pushes his central pawn, contesting the center.
Giri brings his queen into play, simultaneously defending his c-pawn.
Mishra castles short, tucking his king safely on the kingside.
Giri develops his bishop with a fianchetto, also preparing to castle on the kingside.
By moving his queen to challenge Giri’s, Mishra is offering an exchange that could simplify the position while maintaining central tension.
Giri ignores the queen trade and castles kingside, prioritizing king safety over immediate exchanges. With his monarch secure, he can now focus on building a harmonious and flexible middlegame structure.
Mishra lifts his rook to the d-file, subtly increasing pressure on the center.
Giri develops his bishop, smoothly connecting his rooks and improving coordination across the board. The queens remain locked in a tense standoff, neither side willing to initiate the trade just yet.
Mishra decides it’s time to resolve the tension and initiates the queen exchange!
Giri takes back with his pawn. There’s a hint of surprise in his expression, Mishra’s queen trade was unexpected for him.
Mishra develops his knight from the flank, aiming to reposition it to more influential squares.
Giri repositions his rook to the queenside, reinforcing his control of that flank and preparing for potential pawn breaks or piece activity on that side of the board.
Mishra develops his light-squared bishop, immediately putting pressure on Giri’s c-pawn.
Giri advances his pawn, offering a calculated positional sacrifice. If Mishra captures, Giri gains dynamic compensation with active pieces and increased control over key squares.
Mishra sidesteps the tempting pawn! He prefers a solid setup over immediate material, keeping the tension alive and showing a careful, strategic mindset.
Giri repositions his knight, aiming to improve coordination of his minor pieces.
By moving his knight to a central post, Mishra increases his influence over the board while restricting Giri’s knight’s forward options.
Giri brings his bishop into play, immediately targeting Mishra’s undefended e-pawn. Mishra now faces a decision on how to safeguard his pawn.
Mishra brings his king into the defense of the e-pawn!
Giri maneuvers his knight to challenge Mishra’s central knight.
Mishra captures the opposing knight.
Giri recaptures the exchanged knight with his bishop.
Mishra once again repositions his knight, to limit Giri’s knight’s forward options.
Giri activates his bishop, putting Mishra’s rook under immediate threat. Mishra now faces a critical decision: where to reposition his rook!
Mishra safely moves his rook out of attack, but Giri now enjoys a subtle advantage. His pieces are better coordinated, and he holds slightly more space, giving him the initiative in this position.
Giri captures in the center, opening the c-file for his rook.
By recapturing with the bishop, Mishra challenges Giri’s bishop and offers an exchange.
Giri declines the exchange and repositions his bishop to a new, more active diagonal. From this post, he exerts pressure on Mishra’s knight on the flank.
Mishra snatches a pawn with his bishop, but Giri is well-positioned to recover it soon.
By exchanging bishop for knight, Giri alters Mishra’s pawn formation. The resulting structural weaknesses could become a long-term strategic target.
By exchanging his bishop for Giri’s knight, Mishra avoids losing material to a fork.
Giri recaptures the bishop with his rook.
By recapturing the minor piece, Mishra accepts a compromise in his pawn structure. Giri now has potential long-term positional advantages to exploit.
Giri retreats his bishop without immediately recapturing the pawn, instead pinning Mishra’s e-pawn. This subtle maneuver restricts Mishra’s central options while maintaining pressure on the queenside pawns.
The clocks show around 19 minutes each for Giri and Mishra. Plenty of moves remain until the second time control, so the tension isn’t just on the board, it’s on the clock too!
A critical inaccuracy by Giri allows Mishra to neutralize the slight edge he had built. The position now evens out!
Mishra shifts his rook to the b-file, setting up a latent tactical idea: a potential central bishop sacrifice!
Giri recognizes Mishra’s tactical idea and calmly retreats his bishop.
Mishra’s rook steps in to defend his pawns, holding onto his extra pawn, for the moment.
Giri repositions his rook to defend his b-pawn, simultaneously preparing his bishop for active play.
Mishra retreats his bishop, aiming to advance his e-pawn and challenge Giri’s bishop for a potential trade.
As anticipated, Giri activates his bishop, attacking Mishra’s rook and simultaneously threatening to recover his pawn.
By moving his rook out of attack, Mishra protects it while keeping it active.
Giri captures the pawn, restoring material equality. This move not only recovers what was lost but also keeps his pieces active and maintains balance in the position.
Mishra wisely refrains from taking the e-pawn with his rook, as it would have allowed a discovered attack after Giri’s d-pawn advance. Instead, he pushes his central pawn boldly, preparing to exchange the dark-squared bishops and simplify the position strategically.
Giri’s rook swoops in to grab a pawn!
Although Mishra has given up a pawn, his position is free of weaknesses and strategically sound. The evaluation bar indicates equality, highlighting the resilience of his setup and active pieces.
Giri’s pawn captures the bishop, forming a passed pawn! The tension rises as this new pawn could become a decisive factor if mobilized effectively.
Mishra swings his rook into action, delivering a check.
Giri moves his king out of check.
Mishra trades his pawn, which was under attack and undefended.
Giri takes back the pawn with his e-pawn.
Mishra shifts his rook to attack Giri’s undefended h-pawn.
Giri moves his king to protect his h-pawn while simultaneously attacking Mishra’s rook.
Mishra swings his rook to the queenside, immediately eyeing Giri’s b-pawn!
By moving his rook, Giri threatens Mishra’s a-pawn and clears the way for his passed pawn to progress.
By capturing the b-pawn and initiating a rook exchange, Mishra aims to neutralize threats and simplify the endgame.
Giri swaps rooks, and the board simplifies!
The pair of rooks is traded off, and pawns are now equal. With the material and structure balanced, a draw seems likely but any slip could still change the outcome in this rook endgame.
Giri moves his king out of check, opting to give up the h-pawn. By prioritizing king activity over material, he improves his king position for the endgame.
Mishra avoids capturing the h-pawn and instead positions his rook behind Giri’s passed pawn. This defensive setup prevents the pawn from advancing freely and keeps the balance in the position.
By pushing his passed pawn that is now defended, Giri strengthens his endgame position.
Mishra’s king strides toward the center, aiming to become an active participant in the endgame.
Giri brings his king into the center, maximizing its activity in the endgame.
Mishra advances his king, willingly giving up the a-pawn, which could be captured with check.
Giri captures the a-pawn with a check, gaining material.
Mishra moves his king out of check to the only safe square, maintaining equality!
Giri pushes his passed pawn forward. Despite holding a material edge with an extra pawn, the eval bar remains balanced, indicating that Mishra’s defensive setup and piece activity keep the position equal.
Mishra pushes his pawn on the flank, following a classic endgame principle.
Giri activates his king, moving it closer to Mishra’s rook.
Both players have now reached move 40, triggering the second time control. An additional 50 minutes have been added to each clock, giving Giri and Mishra more time to think.
Giri brings his king toward the center, improving its activity in the endgame. By waiting to see Mishra’s next move, he keeps flexibility while controlling key central squares.
Mishra retreats his rook to its previous square, observing Giri’s intentions. This cautious maneuver tests whether Giri will repeat moves.
Giri avoids repeating his king move and instead advances his kingside pawn.
By advancing his kingside pawn, Mishra fixes the pawn structure, limiting Giri’s potential breakthroughs.
Giri repositions his rook, making a waiting move to test Mishra’s defenses.
Mishra shifts his rook with a quiet waiting move, a signal that neither side has a clear plan to break through.
No clear winning chances remain for either side, the position is locked, and we’re heading toward repetition. A draw seems inevitable as both players circle back to familiar moves.
Round 7 brought us an intriguing clash on board 3 as Anish Giri faced Abhimanyu Mishra. The game began with an English Opening that soon transposed into a King’s Indian Defense. Queens came off the board early, steering the game into a long, strategic battle.
Giri found himself with a small advantage and a window of opportunity to press, but one slip was all Mishra needed to equalize. From that point onward, Mishra played with accuracy and composure, refusing to give Giri any second chances. The game transitioned into a level rook endgame, and with no breakthroughs in sight, the players eventually repeated moves and agreed to a draw after 49 moves.
For Giri, this result might feel like a missed chance. For Mishra, it’s another confident display of resilience, holding one of the most solid players in the world without ever faltering.
We head into Round 8 tomorrow as the tension only rises. Remember, the top two finishers here qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament. The stakes couldn’t be higher, and every half-point counts. Stay tuned!
Welcome back after the rest day to our live coverage of the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025! We’re heading into Round 7, and on board 3 we have a fascinating clash:
🔹 Anish Giri 🇳🇱 vs. Abhimanyu Mishra 🇺🇸
Both players come in unbeaten so far, sitting on 4.5/6 and sharing second place. Only Parham Maghsoodloo leads the field outright, on 5 points. Giri, fresh off a beautiful 27-move Najdorf win against Maurizzi, is looking sharp and climbing the leaderboard. Mishra, the youngest-ever GM, is also in excellent form, already scoring a huge win over World Champion Gukesh earlier in the event, among others, and showing remarkable composure with strong, confident play.
On paper, Giri is the clear favorite: rated over 100 points higher than Mishra. But this is the Grand Swiss, and anything can happen. Will Abhimanyu score another massive upset against one of the world’s most solid elites? Or will Giri’s class and experience bring him yet another victory?
Stay tuned, Round 7 promises fireworks. Let’s go!