Draws dominated on Friday in round eight of the $625,000 Grand Swiss in Samarkand on the ancient Silk Road, where the top two finishers after 11 rounds will qualify for the 2026 Candidates and a potential title shot at the shaky crown of the world champion, Gukesh Dommaraju.
Leaders after round eight were Nihal Sarin (India) and Matthias Blübaum (Germany) 6, Parham Maghsoodloo (Iran), Abhimanyu Mishra and Hans Niemann (US), Anish Giri and Jorden van Foreest (Netherlands), Alireza Firouzja (France), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) and Vincent Keymer (Germany) all 5.5.