Swiercz Wins 125th Annual U.S. Open, Qualifies For U.S. Championship

Normally, it would be cruel to describe anybody’s tournament as “heartbreaking” or even disappointing because they “only” tied for second place. Similarly, a top grandmaster winning a tournament hardly counts as a shocking upset.

But GM Darius Swiercz’s defeat of GM Joshua Friedel in the final round of the 125th Annual U.S. Open to claim first place and a spot in October’s U.S. Championship was a shocking result for Swiercz and a heartbreaking one for Friedel.

Swiercz won with 8/9. He was never far from the tournament lead, but draws in Rounds 5 and 7 with GM Andrew Hong and IM Sam Schmakel, respectively, meant he would need to win each of his final two games to have any chance at the top spot. And that’s exactly what he did.

Friedel entered the final round as the tournament’s sole leader, and, after a red-hot 6/6 start that included wins over GM Jianchao Zhou and Varuzhan Akobian, he was clearly the player to beat. But his last-round loss meant he tied for second with nine other players on 7½/9.

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2025 U.S. Open Chief TD Jeffrey L. Smith (L) and 2025 U.S. Open Champion Dariusz Swiercz (Photo by David Llada)

This is Swiercz’s first U.S. Open title, and he will make his fifth appearance in the U.S. Championship, having competed annually from 2020 through 2023 before failing to qualify last year. 

Entering the final round, Friedel led by a half-point over five players: Swiercz, Schmakel, Ukrainian IM Olexiy Bilych, Indian GM Harsha Bharathakoti, and German GM Tanguy Ringoir. The stakes were clear: A Friedel win would give him clear first; a Swiercz win or a Friedel draw would guarantee that player at least a share of first — outright first if both Schmakel – Ringoir and Bilych – Harsha ended peacefully.

Of the top six players, only Friedel, Swiercz, and Schmakel were eligible for the qualification spot. When Schmakel’s game ended in a tame draw, the qualification spot came down to Swiercz – Friedel. When Harsha failed to convert his advantage on Board 3, this meant the result on Board 1 would determine the outright champion as well.

At that point, Swiercz had not yet managed to gain any advantage as White against Friedel. Opting for a tame London System, it appeared Swiercz’s strategy was to just play chess rather than trying to surprise his opponent with anything sharp. As WGM Sabina Foisor wrote, the daring strategy paid off, as one strategic error from Friedel was all it took for Swiercz to take over:

Swircz won $9,545 for first, while the seven GMs tied for second each took home $1,745 and the three IMs tied for second each earned $1,900. Full standings, including class prizes, are here. With 475 full entries, the tournament paid out 95% of the projected prize fund, as detailed here.

Rounding out the week’s packed schedule of side events, Gnanadatta Rambha and Shawn Nevalainen shared top honors by each finishing with 4½/5 in the Weekend Swiss. The two experts entered the final round with a full-point lead over the rest of the field and clinched shared first with their draw, netting $180 each.

John Blomer and Sivavishnu Srinivasan are the U.S. Open National Scholastic Junior High/High School Co-Champions, each finishing with 3½/4. Krish Mahajan is the Elementary Champion, also finishing with 3½/4. Click here for full standings.

For those hungry for more coverage from Middleton, fear not! In the coming weeks, follow our YouTube channel for Sabina’s live commentary. Also, the top 30 boards of the Open were broadcast online during Rounds 6 through 9, meaning a ton of tactical highlights to come in future Tactics Tuesdays and Wednesday Workouts.

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