Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Goa
On a day the eyes of the chess world were fixated on the young and happening hipsters of India, a player from the country made heads turn in an unexpected manner. Unknown Kolkata boy Diptayan Ghosh caused the biggest upset of the event so far by beating Russian superstar Ian Nepomniachtchi in the second round of the FIDE World Cup in Goa. This sends the two-time Candidates champion, ranked 19th in the world, home. Advancing to the third round of the world’s most prestigious knockout chess event is the player ranked 237th.
It’s undoubtedly the most jaw-dropping outcome in the recent history of the competition. R Praggnanandhaa had caused a stir by reaching the final of the previous edition of this completion held in 2023. That was massive. Ghosh has not reached that far yet, but what he has done is a statement of India’s growing power in this game. Nepomniachtchi, who played two World Championship bouts and lost to Magnus Carlsen and Ding Liren, is a big name. Ghoshis practically a nobody.
“Definitely, this will motivate me to go further, not only in the World Cup, but in my chess career as well,” said the 27-year-old, who had given up on a career in chess a few years ago to pursue livelihood in the banking sector. “This is the biggest win of my career. Because it’s a match, it’s not like one game,” added Ghosh who is in Goa with his parents. Before meeting media after the tumultuous result, he handed over his tournament accreditation to them. The first game between the two held a day ago had ended in a draw. On Wednesday, Ghosh was playing black pieces.
Did he feel the nerves? Yes, Ghosh did. “There is always tension when you are playing such a big guy. But, this is a big tournament. We will have to face them anyway. So, I mean, like you can’t complain not playing against them and playing in the World Cup. So, either you will face them or you are out. I thought I was alright after yesterday’s draw and today, he made a mistake. After that, it became a routine thing. I had to make the right moves from that position and I’m glad I was about to do that,” said Ghosh, who is a graduate from the Delhi School of Economics.
Gukesh and Erigaisi through, Pragg and Vidit go to tie-breakers
There was good news for the Indian camp from expected quarters well. D Gukesh overcame a draw in the first round and defeated Kazybek Nogerbek of Kazakhstan to move into the third round. Arjun Erigaisi also lived up to expectations and beat Martin Petrov for the second time in as many days to make progress. Pentala Harikrishna also won, against Arseniy Nesterov of Russia.
It was not the same for R Praggnanandhaa, the runner-up from 2023, and Vidit Gujrathi. Both were held to draws by their lower-rated opponents. Following a second successive stalemate, both head for the tie-breaker. Praggnanandhaa split the point with Temur Kuybokarov of Uzbekistan, who represents Australia. He will be the favourite to go ahead. The same can’t be said about Vidit, who has been unable to put it across against the 12-year-old Faustino Oro of Argentina.
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