On September 8, the 2025 Grand Swiss chess tournament in Uzbekistan witnessed a big surprise when 16-year-old American idol Abhimanyu Mishra defeated the "Flag King" Gukesh Dommaraju in the 5th match. This was the first time Gukesh had lost to such a young opponent in the standard chess format.
During the match, Mishra took the lead and took full advantage of Gukesh's tactical mistake when the Indian player took a risk to push the king well. This move disrupted the black king's defensive position, paving the way for Mishra to dominate. Although the game reached 61 countries, Gukesh could not turn the situation around and had to accept defeat.
The victory over Gukesh extended Mishra's impressive form in the tournament, after holding the No. 1 seed Praggnanandhaa to a draw and defeating many other strong opponents. Thanks to this result, Mishra won more than 30 Elo points and climbed to the top 6 U20 young players in the world. With 4 points after 5 games, he is only 0.5 points behind leader Parham Maghsoodloo and is full of opportunities to compete for a place in the 2026 Candidates - a tournament that selects the challenger for the world championship.
Grand Swiss 2025 brings together 115 top experts, taking place from September 4 to 15. This year's tournament is missing many big names such as Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura or Fabiano Caruana, creating opportunities for young faces like Mishra to shine.
