Chess World Cup, Round 2: Kolkata’s Diptayan ousts Nepomniachtchi; Gukesh, Erigaisi advance
It is only the second round, and the chess World Cup has already heated up.
On a dramatic Wednesday evening at Resort Rio in Arpora, Goa, two seeds were knocked out and one of those giant-killers was an Indian. Diptayan Ghosh stunned 12th seeded Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi with black pieces to ensure a place in the third round. The Kolkatan had drawn the round’s first game and won the match 1.5-0.5.
That was also the score by which Titas Stremavicius of Lithuania shocked the fifth-seeded American Wesley So. The top two seeds, D. Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi, however, advanced.
Gukesh bounced back to form, with black pieces, against Kazakhstan’s Kazybek Nogerbek, who had held him to a draw in the opening game. Arjun posted his second win against Bulgarian Martin Petrov for a 2-0 score.
D. Gukesh (left) seen in action against Kazakhstan’s Kazybek Nogerbek.
| Photo Credit:
FIDE
D. Gukesh (left) seen in action against Kazakhstan’s Kazybek Nogerbek.
| Photo Credit:
FIDE
P. Harikrishna, who beat Arseniy Nesterov of Russia (1.5-0.5), and Karthik Venkataraman, who overcame the much higher-rated Aravindh Chithambaram in an all-Indian battle, have also entered the third round, where five Indians have assured their places.
Another eight Indians will play in Thursday’s tie-breakers — third seed R. Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi, Nihal Sarin, V. Pranav, S.L. Narayanan, M. Pranesh, Karthikeyan Murali and Raunak Sadhwani.
The day also saw the end of the campaigns for Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Aronyak Ghosh and Pa. Iniyan. But Diptayan ensured there was much to cheer about for India.
“To beat a player like Nepomniachtchi, who has been a challenger for the World title, was great,” he said. “It is the best win of my career.”
Important results (second round):
Kazybek Nogerbek (Kaz) 0.5 lost to D. Gukesh 1.5; Arjun Erigaisi 2 bt Martin Petrov (Bul) 0; Temur Kuybokarov (Aus) 1 drew with R. Praggnanandhaa 1; Anish Giri (Ned) 1.5 bt Bojan Maksimovic (Bih) 0.5; Titas Stremavicius (Lit) 1.5 bt Wesley So (USA) 0.5; Grergely Kantor (Hun) 1 bt Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze) 1; Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) Dennis Makhnev (Kaz); Vincent Keymer (Ger) 2 bt Vladislav Kovalev (Blr) 0; Kacper Piorun (Pol) 0 lost to Wei Yi (Chn) 2; Hans Niemann (USA) 1 drew with Lorenzo Lodici (Ita) 1; Surya Shekhar Ganguly 0 lost to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra) 2; Richard Rapport (Hun) 2 bt Lorenzo Luis Supi (Bra) 0; Baadur Jobava (Geo) lost to Le Quang Liem (Vie) ); Aronyak Ghosh 0.5 drew with Levon Aronian (USA) 1.5; Lorenzo Lodici (Ita) 1 drew with Hans Niemann (USA) 1; Ian Nepomniachtchi 0.5 (Rus) lost to Diptayan Ghosh 1.5; Faustino Oro (Arg) 1 drew with Vidit Gujrathi 1; Aravindh Chithambaram 0.5 lost to Karthik Venkataraman 1.5; Nihal Sarin 1 drew with Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (Gre) 1; V. Pranav 1 lost to Aryan Tari (Nor) 1; P. Harikrishna 1.5 bt Arseniy Nesterov (Rus) 0.5; M. Pranesh 1 drew with Dmitrij Kollars (Ger) 1; Pa. Iniyan 0.5 lost to Thai Dai Van Nguyen (Cze) 1.5; Karthikeyan Murali 1 drew with Pouya Idani (Ira) 1; Raunak Sadhwani 1 drew with Robert Hovhannisyan (Arm) 1.
Published on Nov 05, 2025