Chess World Cup, Round 3: Arjun Erigaisi wins in 30 moves; Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa play out draws
If there is a prize for the best start to the chess World Cup, Arjun Erigaisi should win it hands down. The second seed posted his third win on the trot, moving a step closer to the fourth round.
He took just 30 moves to beat Shasiddin Vokhidov of Uzbekistan in the first game of the third round at Resort Rio in Arpora on Friday. All he now needs is a draw in the second game to win this match.
Things haven’t gone as perfectly for fellow-Indians seeded on either side of him, D. Gukesh and R. Praggnanandhaa, who both drew. The top-seeded Gukesh was held by Germany’s Frederik Svane, while Praggnanandhaa split the points with Robert Hovhannisyan of Armenia.
There were, however, wins for the impressive V. Pranav, the reigning World junior champion, and P. Harikrishna, a former World junior champion; they posted wins over Titas Stremavicius of Lithuania and Daniel Dardha of Belgium. M. Pranesh also did well to draw with the sixth-seeded German Vincent Keymer, who is the new World No. 4.
S.L. Narayanan too took half-a-point from a much stronger opponent — Yu Yangyi of China.
The top-seeded Gukesh (right) was held by Germany’s Frederik Svane in the first game of Round 3 at the FIDE World Cup.
| Photo Credit:
FIDE
The top-seeded Gukesh (right) was held by Germany’s Frederik Svane in the first game of Round 3 at the FIDE World Cup.
| Photo Credit:
FIDE
The day’s biggest upset was authored by Mexico’s Jose Martínez Alcantara, who, with black pieces, beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov, the eighth seed from Uzbekistan.
On the second board, Erigaisi once again displayed his excellent preparation in the Queen’s Gambit Declined Semi-Tarrasch game. Vokhidov made things easier for White with some dubious moves. The Uzbek’s decision to take his rival’s pawn, on the 22nd move, with the knight was, as Arjun would say, “just suicide”.
Right after that blunder, Vokhidov’s king faced a check with Arjun’s castling. There was only one way the game could have gone from there on.
Arjun said that he had been planning this line opening for a while. “I was actually looking to play it at Norway Chess,” he said. “But it was here that I got to play this.”
He said that it was nice to see the support from the fans here. “It is nice that so many fans are rooting for the players, especially the Indians,” he said.
“Everything is fine here,” he added, speaking about the tournament conditions.
Erigaisi admitted there was some momentum going for him. “But it is too early,” he pointed out. “So far, so good.”
Important results (third round):
Frederik Svane (Ger) drew with D. Gukesh; Arjun Erigaisi bt Shamsiddin Vokhidov (Uzb); Robert Hovhannisyan (Arm); Anish Giri (Ned) drew with Alexander Donchenko (Ger); V. Pranav bt Titas Stremavicius (Ltu); Vincent Keymer (Ger) drew with M. Pranesh; Benjamin Gledura (Hun) drew with Wei Yi (Chn); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) lost to José Martínez Alcántara (Mex); Nils Grandelius (Swe) drew with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze); Lorenzo Lodici (Ita) drew with Michael Adams (Eng); Vladilsav Artemiev (Rus) drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra); Diptayan Ghosh drew with Gabriel Sarissian (Arm); Jeffrey Xiong (USA) lost to Le Quang Liem (Vie); Richard Rapport (Hun) drew with Yagiz Erdogmus (Tur); Salem Saleh (UAE) lost to Levon Aronian (USA); Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb) drew with Nikolas Theodorou (Gre); Sam Shankland (USA) drew with Vidit Gujrathi; S.L. Narayanan drew with Yu Yangyi (Chn); Vladimir Fedoseev (Slo) lost to Radoslaw Wjtaszek (Pol); Karthik Venkataraman drew with Bogdan-Daniel Deac; P. Harikrishna bt Daniel Dardha (Bel); Peter Leko (Hun) bt Kirill Alekseenko (Rus).
Published on Nov 07, 2025