Indian Grandmasters Arjun Erigaisi, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Pentala Harikrishna progressed to the tiebreaks of the FIDE World Cup 2025 after drawing their second classical games in the fourth round on Wednesday.
Erigaisi, with the white pieces, settled for a draw after 36 moves against Hungarian veteran Peter Leko. Praggnanandhaa split the point with Daniil Dubov of FIDE in 30 moves, while Harikrishna held Sweden’s Nils Grandelius to a 38-move draw despite navigating a challenging position.
With both classical games ending in draws, all three Indians will now battle for round-of-16 berths in Thursday’s rapid and blitz tiebreaks.
Peru’s Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara became the first player to reach the last 16 after drawing with Alexey Sarana, having won the first game. Two-time champion Levon Aronian also advanced, holding Radoslaw Wojtaszek to a 35-move draw with the black pieces.
Meanwhile, world junior champion Pranav V. bowed out after losing to Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Yakubboev, and Karthik Venkataraman exited the tournament following defeat to Vietnam’s Le Quang Liem.
India results (Round 4, Game 2):
Arjun Erigaisi drew with Peter Leko (HUN) – 1:1 aggregate
Daniil Dubov (FID) drew with R Praggnanandhaa – 1:1 aggregate
P Harikrishna drew with Nils Grandelius (SWE) – 1:1 aggregate
Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) beat Pranav V. – 1.5:0.5 aggregate
Le Quang Liem (VIE) beat Karthik Venkataraman – 1.5:0.5 aggregate
