FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 Round 4 Tiebreaks Highlights: Praggnanandhaa, Vincent Keymer knocked out; Arjun, Harikrishna reach Round 5

FIDE Chess World Cup 2025: Praggnanandhaa walks into trap set by Daniil Dubov, knocked out in fourth round; two Indians survive

A home FIDE World Cup that began with great deal of enthusiasm for the Indian contingent was dealt another sombering blow after last iteration’s finalist, R Praggnanandhaa, was knocked out in the fourth round tiebreaks by Russia’s Daniil Dubov on Thursday.

Dubov’s strategy was as unorthodox as it was deliberate. One of chess’s most creative minds, ironically, he adopted an approach that seemed both tedious and risky. For the third straight round, Dubov effectively conceded the classical games, not even remotely playing for a win. Instead, he shut down the board, forcing draws to steer his opponents toward his preferred territory – the shorter time controls where he holds a decisive advantage over most of the field.

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Andrey Esipenko has delivered the final blow! He knocks out Vincent Keymer after beating him in back-to-back games. Both trainer Peter Leko and his protege Keymer are eliminated from the Goa event on the same day.

Are we in for another upset? Russian Andrey Esipenko has beaten Vincent Keymer with white pieces in the first 10+10 rapid tiebreak game. The German, who was indeed one of the big favourites not just to win this tie but also to win the whole event, suddenly finds himself in a must-win position.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 Nc6 8. e3 g5 9. Bg3 Ne4 10. Bd3 f5 11. Ne2 O-O 12. f3 Nxg3 13. hxg3 Kg7 14. a3 Bxc3+ 15. Nxc3 Be6 16. O-O-O Ne7 17. e4 fxe4 18. fxe4 Bg4 19. Rde1 c6 20. Qd2 Qd6 21. exd5 cxd5 22. Re5 Nf5 23. Rxd5 Qxg3 24. Rd7+ Rf7 25. Ne4 Qf4 26. Rxf7+ Kxf7 27. Qxf4 gxf4 28. Nf2 Ne3 29. Nxg4 Nxg4 30. Rh4 Nf6 31. Rxf4 Ke7 32. Be4 Nxe4 33. Rxe4+ Kd7 34. Rg4 Rf8 35. Kd2 Rf6 36. Kd3 Kc6 37. a4 Kd5 38. Rh4 Rg6 39. g4 a6 40. a5 Ke6 41. Ke4 Kd6 42. b4 Re6+ 43. Kd3 Rg6 44. Kc4 Rf6 45. Rh5 Rg6 46. Rf5 Rxg4 47. Rf6+ Kc7 48. Rxh6 Rg1 49. Rh7+ Kc6 50. d5+ Kd6 51. Rxb7 Rc1+ 52. Kd4 Rd1+ 53. Kc3 Rc1+ 54. Kb2 Rf1 55. Rb6+ Kxd5 56. Rxa6 Kc4 57. Rb6 Kd5

Arjun Erigaisi beats Peter Leko and joins Harikrishna in Round 5; meanwhile, it's heartbreak for Praggnanandhaa, who loses to Daniil Dubov and has been knocked out of the event

Praggnanandhaa has a completely losing position against Dubov. He is on the cusp of getting knocked out from the event.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 h6 5. c3 d6 6. O-O a6 7. a4 g6 8. b4 Bg7 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. Ba3 Re8 11. b5 Na5 12. Ba2 b6 13. Re1 Nb7 14. Bb4 Be6 15. Bxe6 Rxe6 16. d4 Qd7 17. Qe2 a5 18. Ba3 exd4 19. cxd4 Rae8 20. Qd3 Nd8 21. Rac1 R6e7 22. d5 Nh5 23. g3 Qg4 24. Qc4 Rd7 25. e5 Qxc4 26. Nxc4 dxe5 27. d6 e4 28. Nce5 Rxd6 29. Bxd6 cxd6 30. Nc4 Nb7 31. Nxb6 Nc5 32. Nd2 Nd3 33. Rxe4 Rxe4 34. Rc8+

And here comes the confirmation. Harikrishna is through to Round 5! He becomes the first Indian to reach the round of 16 after beating Sweden's Nils Grandelius in a decisive game. The endgame maestro is just peaking at the right time.

A decisive edge for Harikrishna as well. He pushes his central pawn, offering a queen exchange vs Nils Grandelius. This should end in Indian's favour.

Peter Leko's defence is slowly crumbling down. Arjun can smell a win here.

The match-up between Andrey Esipenko and Vincent Keymer moves to second (10+10) rapid tiebreaks after they ended up drawing both of their 15+10 rapid games.

Sam Shankland is on a roll as well! After beating Vidit Gujrathi in the previous round through tiebreaks, he goes on to hand a straight 2-0 defeat to Richard Rapport in the two rapid games.

Peter Leko, who is playing with black pieces in a must-win game, has an exposed king and Arjun is looking a prime contender to either win or draw this game and confirm his qualification for Round 5.

First few moves in Arjun vs Peter Leko

1. d4 Nf6

2. c4 e6

3. Nc3 Bb4

4. Qc2 d5

5. cxd5 exd5

6. Bg5 h6

7. Bh4 Nc6

8. e3 g5

9. Bg3 Ne4

10. Bd3 f5

11. Ne2 O-O

12. f3 Nxg3

13. hxg3 Kg7

14. a3 Bxc3+

15. Nxc3 Be6

16. O-O-O Ne7

17. e4 fxe4

18. fxe4

Big upset. Aleksey Grebnev has beaten Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 1.5-0.5 and is through to the round of 16.

We are all set for the second game of the first tiebreak. The players are back at the playing venue, fixing the pieces on their boards. The game should start at any time now.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Bc5 5. c3 Nge7 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 Bb4+ 8. Bd2 Bxd2+ 9. Qxd2 d5 10. exd5 Qxd5 11. Nc3 Qe6+ 12. Ne5 O-O 13. O-O-O Nxe5 14. Rhe1 Qb6 15. Rxe5 Ng6 16. Ree1 Be6 17. h4 Nxh4 18. Rh1 Ng6 19. d5 Rad8 20. Qg5 h6 21. Qh5 Bd7 22. Bxd7 Rxd7 23. Rd2 Re8 24. g3 Ne5 25. Qf5 Qg6 26. Qxg6 fxg6 27. b3 Nf3 28. Rd3 Rf7 29. Kd1 g5 30. Na4 b6 31. d6 cxd6 32. Nxb6 Ne5 33. Rxd6 Rxf2 34. Rd2 Ng4 35. Nc4 Rf3 36. Rg1 h5 37. Rd5 Nf2+ 38. Kc1 Re2 39. Nd2 Rc3+ 40. Kb2 Ne4

Arjun tightened the screws on Peter Leko, went a pawn up and slowly converted the position for a near-perfect win. He now needs just a draw to qualify for Round 5.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 b4 9. a5 d6 10. c3 Rb8 11. h3 h6 12. d4 bxc3 13. bxc3 exd4 14. Nxd4 Nxd4 15. cxd4 c5 16. d5 Nd7 17. Nd2 Ne5 18. Nc4 Bf6 19. Ra2 Nxc4 20. Bxc4 Bd7 21. Bxa6 Ra8 22. Qd3 Bd4 23. Be3 Bxe3 24. Rxe3 Qc7 25. e5 Rfb8 26. exd6 Qxd6 27. Bc4 Rb4 28. Qc3 Bb5 29. Bxb5 Rxb5 30. Qe5 Qxe5 31. Rxe5 Rbxa5 32. Rxa5 Rxa5 33. d6 Ra1+ 34. Kh2 Rd1 35. Rxc5 Rxd6

Nils Grandelius had just 8 seconds left when he offered a queen exchange. The position has simplified and equalised as well. Close escape for Hari, who should be ending this game in a draw anytime soon.

Harikrishna appears to be in trouble against Nils Grandelius as the Swede is a pawn up against the Indian. The only good thing for Hari is his time situation as he has nearly double the time compared to Grandelius.

Peter Leko is down to 4 minutes 58 seconds, whereas Arjun still has over 11 minutes. A big time advantage considering you only get 15 minutes for the entire game. The Indian has a fairly good time edge, will he be able to convert it to positional edge as well?

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. Bb5 a6

4. Ba4 Bc5

5. c3 Nge7

6. d4 exd4

7. cxd4 Bb4+

8. Bd2 Bxd2+

9. Qxd2 d5

10. exd5 Qxd5

11. Nc3 Qe6+

12. Ne5 O-O

13. O-O-O Nxe5

14. Rhe1 Qb6

15. Rxe5 Ng6

16. Ree1 Be6

17. h4 Nxh4

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf 3d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 h6 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bf4 Bd6 7. Bxd6 Qxd6 8. e3 O-O 9. Qc2 Bg4 10. Ne5 Nbd7 11. Nxg4 Nxg4 12. Be2

Wow, we are just underway in the first 15+10 rapid time control, and Daniil Dubov instantly ends his game in a draw against Praggnanandhaa in just 12 moves. His thought process is quite clear, risk it all in the shortest time control. Till then, just go ahead and draw everything.

FIDE Chess World Cup 2025: Pragg, Arjun Erigaisi and Harikrishna left to carry Indian hopes in tie-breaks

The FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 in Goa began with 206 players, including 24 Indians. Now, only three from the host country remain in contention: second seed Arjun Erigaisi, third seed R. Praggnanandhaa, and veteran Pentala Harikrishna. Indian representation dwindled on Wednesday after Pranav V and Karthik Venkataraman crashed out of the competition....

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José Eduardo Martínez Alcántara (MEX)

Levon Aronian (USA)

Alexander Donchenko (GER)

Le Quan Liem (VIE)

Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB)

Arjun Erigaisi vs Peter Leko (HUN)

R. Praggnanandhaa vs Daniil Dubov (FID/RUS)

Pentala Harikrishna vs Nils Grandelius (SWE)

Hello and welcome back to our continued live coverage of the FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 happening in Arpora, Goa. We started with 24 Indians and are now left with just three from the host nation -- Arjun Erigais, R. Praggnanandhaa and Pentala Harikrishna.

21 Indians have been eliminated in the course of the first four rounds, and we are not halfway yet. These three Indians are fighting in tiebreaks for their survival.

Stay tuned as we bring you all the live action as it unfolds in Rio Resort Convention Centre.