Chess World Cup: Arjun the only top-seeded player to win; Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa settle for draws
Fans queued up to have a look at the young superstars of Indian chess at Resort Rio in Goa on Tuesday.
That queue, to see the likes of D. Gukesh, R. Praggnanandhaa, and Arjun Erigaisi, is getting longer and longer, reflecting not just the newer heights they continue to scale, but the rapid increase in popularity of the game.
Among India’s terrific trio, who are the top three seeds at the World Cup, only second-seeded Arjun was able to post a win.
Top seed Gukesh and the No. 3 seed R. Praggnanandhaa had to settle for draws. That means, they have to win on Wednesday to advance to the third round without having to play the tie-breaker games.
On the top board, Gukesh, who had white pieces, was made to play 84 moves by Kazakhstan’s Kazybek Nogerbek. The game, featuring a rook-and-minor-piece ending, went all the way, in fact, with just two kings remaining on the board.
On the third board, Praggnanandhaa, the runner-up in the last edition of the tournament, was held by Temur Kuybokarov of Australia, for whom it was an excellent result with black pieces.
On the second board, however, White prevailed, with Arjun cruising to a 37-move victory over Bulgaria’s Martin Petrov.
Arjun was the only one to get a win among the top seeds. Anish Giri of the Netherlands and American Wesley So, seeded fourth and fifth, were held by Bojan Maksimovic (Bosnia) and Titas Stremavicius (Lithuania).
Besides Arjun, V. Pranav was the only Indian to post a win on this day. He defeated Norway’s Aryan Tari.
Published on Nov 04, 2025