FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 Round 5 Game 2 LIVE Updates: Follow Indians in action in Goa. (PHOTO: FIDE/Michal Walusza)
FIDE Chess World Cup 2025, Round 5 Game 2 Highlights: The FIDE Chess World Cup 25 Game 2 of Round 5 saw India’s Arjun Erigaisi beat Levon Aronian to reach the quarterfinals, whereas Pentala Harikrishna and Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara played a second consecutive draw and move to tiebreaks at Resort Rio Convention Centre in Arpora, Goa, on Saturday.
Earlier in Game 1, both Arjun and Harikrishna drew their respective games, albeit in contrasting fashions. Where Arjun pushed Aronian to the wall, looking to press for a win with white pieces but the Armenian-American was solid in his defences and forced the Indian to share the spoils. On the other hand, Harikrishna and Martinez Alcantara played a relatively quick draw.
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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.
Earlier, R. Praggnanandhaa was knocked out in Round 4 tiebreaks by former World Rapid Champion, Russian Daniil Dubov.
ALSO READ | FIDE Chess World Cup 2025: Arjun, Harikrishna play out contrasting draws as fifth round gets off to an uneventful start in Goa
SCROLL PAST THE INTERACTIVE BOARDS AND THE LIVE STREAM VIDEOS TO FOLLOW OUR UPDATES IN REAL-TIME FROM THE FIDE WORLD CUP’S ROUND 5 GAME 2
INTERACTIVE: Arjun Erigaisi vs Levon Aronian (USA)
INTERACTIVE: P. Harikrishna vs Jose Martinez (MEX)
FIDE World Cup: R Praggnanandhaa’s early exit a consequence of ‘brutal, unforgiving’ format?
Praggnanandhaa was knocked out of the FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 by Daniil Dubov.
(PHOTO: Michal Walusza/FIDE)
The perennial debate whether winning the Chess World Cup is a more arduous task than clinching the World Championship has been reignited by the 2025 FIDE World Cup in Goa. In a tournament notorious for its brutal knockout format, this edition has been a graveyard for favourites, with eight of the top ten seeds already eliminated by the halfway stage. Among the most startling upsets was the exit of R Praggnanandhaa, the last edition’s finalist and one of the heavy favourites this time around, in the absence of Magnus Carlsen.
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