Ranzi Sports

Panaji, November 4: World Junior Champion V Pranav and the highest-rated Indian GM Arjun Erigasi capitalized on mistakes made by their opponents to secure victories with the black pieces, while Vidit Gujrathi managed to escape a challenging situation against the tournament’s youngest competitor in the opening game of Round 2 at the FIDE World Cup 2025 held here on Tuesday.

In a clash between two rising stars, Pranav triumphed over Norway’s GM Aryan Tari in 41 moves, while Arjun overcame Martin Petrov from Bulgaria in 37 moves, positioning themselves as favorites to progress as they will play with white pieces in the subsequent game.

The FIDE World Cup 2025 is conducted as a single-elimination knockout tournament featuring 206 players from 82 nations competing for the prestigious Viswanathan Anand Cup, named in honor of the Indian chess legend.

Seventeen Indian players are competing in Round 2, with eight of them ranked among the top 50, commencing their journey after receiving a bye in the initial round.

Arjun was the first to secure a full point among them, despite a determined effort from Petrov. The Indian maintained pressure throughout the middle game and capitalized on a slight mistake made by the Bulgarian to clinch the victory.

“Today, it was an intriguing game. The middle game was quite tense, but starting from b4, he began to lose his way a bit, and I believe I was able to take full advantage of it,” Arjun remarked following the match.

On another board, Aryan Tari and Pranav were engaged in a fierce contest until the former opened the board for the Indian on the 40th move by pushing his pawn to g4, allowing Pranav to seize the opportunity to strike.

While Arjun and Pranav celebrated their victories, Vidit successfully navigated through a time pressure situation to share the points with Argentinian prodigy IM Faustino Oro. The 31-year-old Indian, playing with white, found himself with only 38 minutes remaining after 11 moves and appeared to be under pressure as his 12-year-old opponent played confidently.

Nevertheless, Oro opted for caution by relocating his rook from the line of attack, thereby granting Vidit a chance to salvage the situation and achieve a draw through repetition after 28 moves. They are now favored to progress to the next round as they will be playing with the white pieces in the second game.

Among the other Indian competitors, GM Diptayan Ghosh successfully managed to secure a draw against the seasoned GM Ian Nepomniachtchi while playing with the white pieces.

Additionally, GM Gukesh D, GM R Praggnanandhaa, GM P Harikrishna, and GM Narayanan SL also concluded their matches in a draw against their respective opponents.

Indian results as of 8:20 PM (Round 2, Game 1)

GM Gukesh D drew with GM Nogerbek Kazybek (KAZ) 0.5-0.5
GM Martin Petrov (BUL) was defeated by GM Arjun Erigaisi 0-1
GM R Praggnanandhaa drew with GM Temur Kuybokarov (AUS) 0.5:0.5
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) triump over GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly 1-0
GM Diptayan Ghosh drew with GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (FID) 0.5:0.5
GM Levon Aronian (USA) defeated IM Aronyak Ghosh 1-0
GM Vidit Gujrathi drew with IM Faustino Oro (ARG) 0.5:0.5
GM Karthik Venkataraman drew with GM Aravindh Chithambaram 0.5:0.5
GM Arseniy Nesterov (FID) drew with GM P Harikrishna 0.5:0.5
GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen (CZE) drew with GM Iniyan P 0.5:0.5
GM Narayanan SL drew with GM Nikita Vitiugov (ENG) 0.5:0.5
GM Dmitrij Kollars (GER) drew with GM Pranesh M 0.5:0.5
GM Aryan Tari (NOR) was defeated by GM Pranav V 0-1
GM Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM) drew with GM Raunak Sadhwani 0.5:0.5