"I expected better" - Coach Srinath Narayanan’s honest assessment of India's display at FIDE World Cup 2025

With veteran Pentala Harikrishna’s loss in the round 5 tiebreaks to the lesser-fancied Jose Martinez of Mexico, the second-seeded Arjun Erigaisi was the only Indian left standing in the tournament on Sunday.

"I certainly expected better," said Indian coach GM Srinath Narayanan to The Bridge on the sidelines of the event on Sunday. "Especially Gukesh going out very early was a bit of a shocker.

"Praggnanandhaa obviously lost to a very capable opponent, who is part of the elite chess. But still, on a good day, you would expect Pragg to march through. These are two major upsets for India at this event," he added.

While the reigning world champion and top seed Gukesh was outdone by Germany’s Fredrick Svane in Round 3, the reigning World Cup silver medallist Praggnanandhaa was sent packing in the next round by Daniil Dubov after a tie-break battle.

Vidit Gujrathi, who had reached the quarter-finals consecutively in the last two editions, too suffered an early exit in front of the home crowd, losing to Sam Shankland in Round 3. So did the fast-rising Nihal Sarin and Aravindh Chithambaram – both of whom had registered good results this year until the World Cup.

"Even Aravindh, Nihal, and Vidit also had unexpected early exits. It was four Indians in the quarter-finals of the last World Cup, and considering that at best we can have two Indians in the quarter-finals this time, it is a bit underwhelming," said Srinath, before Harikrishna's eventual tie-break loss, which left Erigaisi as the only Indian standing.

Srinath, who is helping out Indian players as a coach on demand to prepare in Goa, is also quick to point out that the disappointment is majorly due to the country’s recent success in the sport.

"It also shows how much our expectations have risen over the last few years," he said. "I remember, in the 2021 World Cup – just two editions before – just an Indian reaching the quarter-finals was a big deal post the days of Viswanathan Anand.

"Vidit reaching the quarter-finals at that time happened after many, many years. From there to the kind of expectations we have where we are disappointed that only two Indians can reach the quarter-finals shows how much we have come forward as a nation in two years," he added.

Srinath also feels that the overwhelming hype surrounding Indian chess currently is due to the country’s top three players – Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, and Erigaisi.

"Largely, it has been the brilliance of our top three players," he said. "You would normally be happy with one such player coming in one generation from one country, but now we have three such players."

"What they have done is that they have made something incredibly difficult look easy and an expected norm.

"For example, going from 2650 to 2750 is one of the most difficult climbs to do, and very few people are successful in this pursuit, and the failure rate is very high. But Arjun, Gukesh, and Pragg managed to do it in a very short time. This is the biggest reason we are dominating world chess right now," he added.

While two of the three have already crashed out of the 2025 FIDE World Cup, the onus is now firmly on Erigaisi to carry the Indian flag through and secure himself a spot at the 2026 Candidates.