Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Goa
Daniil Dubov is a chess player from Russia. He is unconventional in the sense that he doesn’t like going into hiding before his games. While most players spend time in their rooms doing last-minute preparations, he is seen in the lobby or cafe areas of the hotel where the FIDE World Cup is taking place. He is usually in torn jeans and having black coffee before changing into formals and entering the playing zone.
Dubov caused the upset of the fourth round of the championship by knocking out R Praggnanandhaa in the tie-breaker. The two had settled for draws in the two classical games. It was the same in the first rapid game of the tie-break segment before the 29-year-old outgunned the Indian, who had finished runner-up in the previous edition of this meet in 2023.
Arjun Erigaisi and Pentala Harikrishna advanced to the pre-quarterfinals by defeating Hungary’s Peter Leko and Nils Grandelius of Sweden, respectively. While Erigaisi prevailed in both rapid games of the first set, Harikrishna won the second following a draw in the first. These two had been the most in-form Indian players in this knockout event from where the top three will qualify for next year’s Candidates Championships.
This means that from this event from India, only Erigaisi and Harikrishna can make it to the elite eight-player event, the winner of which will earn the right to challenge D Gukesh in the World Championship bout. Praggnanandhaa is almost assured of a berth because of his huge lead in the FIDE Circuit 2025 standings. The leader of that list also makes it to the Candidates.
Praggnanandhaa’s ouster from this event was not completely unexpected, although he is the world No. 7 and Dubov 45th. The winner of three major titles this year, the Indian was not at his best in this event. Having qualified directly for the second round by virtue of his superior world ranking, the 20-year-old was taken to the tie-breakers in both previous rounds. In fact, he was on the verge of elimination in the second-round tie-breaker. He was unbeaten in the classical format alright, but he didn’t win any game in the longest format either.
Erigaisi has been one of the most consistent players in this competition. He had won three of his four games in the last two rounds. Against Leko the veteran, he couldn’t post a win in the games played in the classical format, but was hardly in trouble. That’s understandable because Leko is a tough nut to crack. Once it went to the tie-breaks played under shorter time control, the Indian youngster had an edge and he made that count.
It’s been a highly commendable campaign for Harikrishna so far. At the age 39, he is far from the madding crowd and not a part of the pack of Indian youngsters who have taken the world of chess by storm. However, he was in the team that won the Olympiad gold last year and continues to be a relevant force. He was in a spot of bother in the second game of the fourth round and made it through showing remarkable resilience under pressure.
There were 24 Indians in the field of 206 players when the Wold Cup began. From there, to have two in the fifth round of 16 is a bit of an underachievement, considering that there were four in the quarterfinals in 2023. However, that’s how it goes in the world of sports. Reputations are made and broken every day and it isn’t something that guarantees success.
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