Chess World Cup semifinals: Yakkuboev faces Sindarov in all-Uzbek contest, Wei takes on Esipenko

And then there were none.

India started out with 24 participants at the Chess World Cup. Among them were the top three seeds. And there were another two in the top 20.

Yet, none of them remained after the quarterfinals. The last man standing, the second-seeded Arjun Erigaisi, was ousted by Wei Yi of China at Resort Rio in Goa on Wednesday, a painful blow for him, as he needed to finish inside the top three to qualify for the Candidates.

At the last Candidates, the qualifying event for the World Championship, there were three Indians, with D. Gukesh, who went on to win it, eventually bagging the World title.

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R. Praggnanandhaa, who was knocked out in the fourth round here by Russia’s Daniil Dubov, is most likely to retain his slot in the Candidates, as he is leading the FIDE Circuit – one of the ways to qualify – comfortably at the moment.

What is even more certain is that at least one of the eight Candidates will be from Uzbekistan, a country that is second only to India in terms of top young chess talents.

Jovakhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Yakubboev will face off in the World Cup semifinals starting on Friday. The best-known Uzbek and eighth seed, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, was stunned by Mexico’s Jose Martinez Alcantara in the third round.

In the other semifinal, Wei, at No. 7, is the highest seed left in the tournament. He is currently the World No. 11 and will take on Andrey Esipenko. The 23-year-old Russian is ranked 41st in the world, Yakubboev is 37th, while Sindarov is 25th.

The knockout format of the World Cup doesn’t care much for ranking, actually, as the Indian players have found.

Published on Nov 20, 2025