There has been a lot of buzz recently (including in this space) about a rising generation of young Indian chess stars poised to dominate the game in the coming years.
Don’t look now, but the U.S. may be about to give the Indians a run for their money.
At this month’s FIDE Grand Swiss tournament in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Dutch GM Anish Giri and German GM Mathias Bluebaum claimed the coveted two slots for next year’s candidates tournament to pick a challenger to Indian world champ GM Dommaraju Gukesh. But five American players, all under the age of 25, were in the large group of players just a half-point out of contention in the super-strong, high-stakes event.
GM Hans Moke Niemann (22) lost a tough last-round game to Giri — his only defeat of the tournament — to just fall short of qualifying. His final 7-4 score was matched by fellow Yank GMs Abhimanyu Mishra (16), Awonder Liang (22), Sam Sevian (24) and Andy Woodward (15). All five near-qualifiers will be in the 12-player field for next month’s U.S. open national championship tournament in St. Louis, which we will cover extensively here.
The play of Woodward, the reigning U.S. junior champ, was particularly impressive, tying for fifth in Samarkand after entering the tournament seeded 108th and earning a boatload of rating points.
The young Texan’s late surge in Uzbekistan was propelled by a nice Round 10 win over Iranian GM Parham Maghsoodloo, the tournament leader at the halfway point. Woodward as White sacrifices a pawn early in this Open Catalan, but is never less than equal with his bishop pair, pressure on the half-open b-file, and his repeated targeting of the exposed enemy queen.
After 17. Bb2 Qg5 (Qxa2?? 18. Ra1) 18. h4 Qh6 (to this point, the queen has made fully a third of Black’s total moves, with his king still uncastled and his queenside still undeveloped) 19. Be5 f6 20. Bc7 f5!?, Black’s position inspires unease — the central pawns are weak and the bishop on c8 and rook on a8 remain spectators to the action.
With 27. Qc2 Be7 (Re8 28. exf5) 28. Bxe5 a4 29. Bd6 Bxd6 30. cxd6 Be6 31. e5, White has reclaimed the sacrificed pawn and boasts a dangerous pair of connected central passed pawns. With just a small hiccup, White turns the positional edge into a decisive advantage.
Thus: 31…f4 32. d7?! (White’s only real misstep in a nicely played game; 32. Rd2 Qd7 33. Qc3 fxg3 34. fxg3 Rf7 35. Rdb2 Rb8 36. a3 keeps a clamp on the position) fxg3 33. fxg3 Bxa2? (showing the strain of defending an inferior game, Maghsoodloo returns the favor, as the Black b-pawn is far more critical that White’s a-pawn; tougher was 33…Bf5!, when White’s edge is less clear after 34. Be4 Bg4 35. Bxh7+ Kh8 36. Rd6 Bxd7) 34. Rxb7 Bb3 (see diagram) 35. Rxb3!, a nice tactic that will leave Black helpless.
It’s over on 35…axb3 (Qxb3 36. Qxb3 axb3 37. Bxc6 Rad8 38. e6, and the White pawns decide) 36. Qxc6 (threatening both 37. Bd5 and 37. Qxa8!, exploiting Black’s back-rank vulnerabilities) Qf2+ 37. Kh2 b2 38. Qd5+ Qf7 (Kh8 39. Qxa8! b1=Q 40. d8=Q Qb4 41. Qxf8+ Qfxf8 42. Rd8 and wins) 39. Qxa8!, and Black resigned facing lines like 39…b1=Q (Rxa8 40. d8=Q+ Rxd8 41. Rxd8+ Qf8 42. Bd5+) 40. Qxf8+! Qxf8 41. Rxb1 g5 42. Ra1 Kg7 43. Ra8, and White will get a new queen.
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Sevian also enjoyed a dramatic finish, balancing a loss to world No. 5 GM Arjun Erigaisi with three wins in his final four games, including a sharp win over young Turkish GM Ediz Gurel from the White side of a Petroff’s Defense.
In a heavily explored variation, White with 10 Qb3 Qd7 11. c5!? decides to ease the central pressure in order to grab space and pressure Black on the queenside. Gurel’s subsequent kingside buildup looks imposing, but White counters just in time on 11…Bc7 12. Nbd2 (Qxb7?? Bxh2+ wins at once) Be6 13. Nf1 h6 14. Ng3 f5  15. Ne2 (and now 15. Qxb7? is bad owing to 15…Bxg3 16. Qxa8 Bxf2+ 17. Kf1 Bxe1 18. Kxe1 Qc7, entombing the White queen) g5 16. h4!, pressuring Black’s own weaknesses on the kingside.
Sevian pounces when his opponent becomes a little too cavalier about his own weak points: 18. Ng3 Re8? (now was the time for 18…Bxg3 19. fxg3 Re8 30. a4 Qg7, with roughly equal play) 19. Bxg5! Nxg5 20. Nxg5 Qxg5 21. Bxf5! (again not tempted by 21. Qxb7? Bxg3 22. Qxa8 Bc7 23. Re3 f4 24. Rxe6 Rxe6 25. Qb7 Re7, and Black is much better), and Black’s game is hanging by a thread.
One nice finesse finishes the job — 21…Bf7 22. Rxe8+ Bxe8 23. Qxb7 Bxg3 24. fxg3 Qxf5 25. Re1! (winning a critical tempo; taking the rook throws away the win on 25. Qxa8 Qe4! 26. Qxb8 Qxd4+ 27. Kh2 Qh8+ 28. Kg1 Qd4+ 29. Kf1 Qd3+, and the White king can never escape the harassing checks) Bg6 (Nd7 26. Qxa8 Nf6 27. Rxe8+! Nxe8 28. Qxe8+ Kg7 29. Qe7+ Kg6 30. b4, and White’s four extra pawns will prove decisive) 26. Qxa8 Qf8 27. Qxa7 Be4, and Sevian has accumulated four pawns and a rook for two minor pieces while his king is notably safer.
Black’s reduced army can never coordinate to meet White’s threats. In the end, after 31. b4 Qd8 32. Ra3, Black resigns as there is no good way to parry the threatened 33. Ra8.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Woodward-Maghsoodloo, FIDE Grand Swiss, Samarkand, Uzbekistan, September 2025
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 a6 6. O-O Nc6 7. Qc2 Nxd4 8. Nxd4 Qxd4 9. Nd2 c3 10. bxc3 Qc5 11. Rb1 Bd6 12. c4 Qh5 13. Ne4 Nxe4 14. Bf3 Qa5 15. Bxe4 c6 16. Rd1 Be7 17. Bb2 Qg5 18. h4 Qh6 19. Be5 f6 20. Bc7 f5 21. Bg2 O-O 22. Qc3 a5 23. c5 Bf6 24. Qc4 Qg6 25. e4 Qf7 26. Bd6 e5 27. Qc2 Be7 28. Bxe5 a4 29. Bd6 Bxd6 30. cxd6 Be6 31. e5 f4 32. d7 fxg3 33. fxg3 Bxa2 34. Rxb7 Bb3 35. Rxb3 axb3 36. Qxc6 Qf2+ 37. Kh2 b2 38. Qd5+ Qf7 39. Qxa8 Black resigns.
Sevian-Gurel, FIDE Grand Swiss, Samarkand, Uzbekistan, September 2025
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 c6 9. Re1 Bf5 10. Qb3 Qd7 11. c5 Bc7 12. Nbd2 Be6 13. Nf1 h6 14. Ng3 f5 15. Ne2 g5 16. h4 Qe7 17. hxg5 hxg5 18. Ng3 Re8 19. Bxg5 Nxg5 20. Nxg5 Qxg5 21. Bxf5 Bf7 22. Rxe8+ Bxe8 23. Qxb7 Bxg3 24. fxg3 Qxf5 25. Re1 Bg6 26. Qxa8 Qf8 27. Qxa7 Be4 28. Qc7 Qe8 29. Re3 Na6 30. Qb7 Nb8 31. b4 Qd8 32. Ra3 Black resigns.
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