Chess
FIDE World Cup 2025: Arjun, Pranav win their first game of second round
Top seed D Gukesh opens with a draw against Kazybek Nogerbek in his opening game of second round.
GM Arjun Erigaisi went with a relatively steady queen to d2 and Wei then defended well to force a draw. (Photo credit: FIDE)
Indian players had a mixed outing on the fourth day of the 2025 FIDE World Cup with World Junior Champion V Pranav and GM Arjun Erigasi registering straight victories, while top seed D Gukesh, GM Vidit Gujrathi and R Praggnanandhaa were held to a draw in the opening game of the second round in Goa on Tuesday.
In a battle of two young stars, Pranav defeated Norway’s GM Aryan Tari in 41 moves, while Arjun got the better of Martin Petrov of Bulgaria in 37 moves and will be the favourites to advance as they play white in the second game.
The FIDE World Cup 2025 is played as a single-elimination knock-out tournament with 206 players from 82 countries vying for the coveted Viswanathan Anand Cup, named after the Indian legend.
A total of 17 Indian players are in the fray in Round 2, with eight of them, ranked among the top-50, starting their campaign after a bye in the opening round.
Arjun was the first among them to bag the full point despite a spirited fight from Petrov. The Indian kept up the pressure in the middle game and then took advantage of the Bulgarian’s slightly erroneous move to win the game.
“Today, it was an interesting game. It was a tense middle game battle, but starting from b4, he started to drift a bit, and I think I managed to make full use of it,” said Arjun after the match.
Meanwhile, reigning World Champion D Gukesh had a disappointing start to his campaign as he drew with GM Kazybek Nogerbek from Kazakhstan.
Vidit did well to dig himself out of the time pressure hole to split points against Argentinian prodigy IM Faustino Oro. The 31-year-old, playing white, Indian, had just 38 minutes on the clock after 11 moves and looked under pressure as his 12-year-old opponent played with confidence.
However, Oro tried to play safe by moving his rook away from the attacking line and gave Vidit an opportunity to save the day and draw by repetition after 28 moves and will now be the favourites to advance to the next round as they play white in the second game.
Runner-up from the previous edition, Praggnanandhaa, also shared points with Temur Kuybokarov of Australia after a hard-fought game.
Among other Indians in the fray, GM Diptayan Ghosh did well to hold the experienced GM Ian Nepomniachtchi to a draw with white pieces, while GM P Harikrishna, GM Narayanan SL also split the point with their respective opponents.
The second classical game of round two will be held on Wednesday.
Some Indian Results (Round 2, Game 1)
GM Gukesh D drew with GM Nogerbek Kazybek (KAZ)
GM Martin Petrov (BUL) lost to GM Arjun Erigaisi
GM R Praggnanandhaa drew with GM Temur Kuybokarov (AUS)
GM Vidit Gujrathi drew with IM Faustino Oro (ARG)
GM Karthik Venkataraman drew with GM Aravindh Chithambaram
GM Aryan Tari (NOR) lost to GM Pranav V
GM Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM) drew with GM Raunak Sadhwani
