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Journalism of Courage
Two Indians left in the fray at the FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 played contrasting games, only to eventually share the spoils in Game 1 of Round 5 as Friday proved a largely uneventful affair in Goa. It was a stark contrast to the mayhem of the fourth-round tiebreaks, which saw favourites R. Praggnanandhaa and Vincent Keymer getting knocked out.
Pentala Harikrishna, playing with the black pieces, made a relatively quick draw against Mexico’s Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara and was the first to finish his game. Meanwhile, the highest-seeded player remaining, Arjun Erigaisi, pushed Armenian-American veteran Levon Aronian to the wall before the two mutually agreed to a draw after 41 moves, with Arjun holding the white pieces.
FOLLOW HIGHLIGHTS | FIDE Chess World Cup 2025, Round 5 Game 1: Arjun vs Aronian, Harikrishna vs Jose Martinez ends in draw
Seven of the eight round of 16 matches ended without a decisive result. The sole exception was Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov, who defeated Germany’s Frederik Svane on the top board.
In the Italian Game between Harikrishna and Martinez Alcantara, the pair coursed through the opening and middle game, showing a clear intention to settle the matter in the endgame. However, the resulting rook endgame offered little excitement for either side, concluding in 41 moves with both players still having nearly an hour on their clocks.
Although Arjun vs. Aronian also concluded after the same number of moves in a similar rook endgame, Arjun’s intent was completely different. He tried to create chances with his light pieces, but the two-time World Cup winner was well-prepared for the Queen’s Gambit Declined. Aronian negotiated the position calmly, denying Arjun the full point.
43-year-old Aronian, who is eyeing his seventh Candidates qualification, will now carry a slight edge into Saturday’s game, where he will have the white pieces against Arjun, a familiar face as his opponent.
In the all-Russian match-up, Andrey Esipenko — exhausted from yesterday’s tiebreak elimination of tournament favourite Vincent Keymer — opted for a calm approach against compatriot Aleksey Grebnev, resulting in a quiet draw. Grebnev, who had himself just survived a taxing tiebreak against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, found the peaceful outcome mutually agreeable.
The game between Germany’s Alexander Donchenko and former World Rapid Champion Lê Quang Liêm ventured into a symmetrical variation of the English Opening before concluding in 31 moves. Donchenko had entered the round after a victory over his countryman and Candidates-qualified player, Matthias Bluebaum.
Elsewhere, Armenian Gabriel Sargissian and Uzbek Nodirbek Yakubboev played with near-perfect 99% accuracy, leading to an inevitable sharing of the spoils.
Russia’s Daniil Dubov, who knocked out last edition’s finalist R. Praggnanandhaa, had promising chances against Sam Shankland but ultimately failed to convert them. The match between seventh-seed Wei Yi and American Sam Sevian was a flawless encounter, with both players also displaying over 99% accuracy in their logically contested draw.
Arjun Erigaisi drew with Levon Aronian (USA); Pentala Harikrishna drew with Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara (MEX).
