By Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Goa
The sun was shining bright and lovely on the beaches of Goa. It was not exactly a sunny day for the Indian players in the second round of the FIDE World Cup, though. Eight of them were involved in tie-breakers to qualify for the third round of the world’s biggest knockout chess competition, and some of the top names crashed out. Nihal Sarin and Raunak Sadhwani were among those, big upsets indeed. On a brighter note, R Praggnanandhaa advanced after a prolonged struggle, and so did Vidit Gujrathi.
There were emotional scenes outside the playing hall. Vidit’s family members were standing there, and if one were to overhear them, they said they had been praying all the time. His opponent, Faustino Oro, is hailed as one of the best young players in the world ever. Having turned 12 recently, the wonder kid from Argentina succumbed only after a stiff fight. Vidit spent the next few hours relaxing in the cafeteria with his parents and close ones.
Vidit was a relieved figure. “It feels good to qualify for the next round. It was not an easy match, so it feels good all the more. The way young players play chess is very different because they have grown up with computers and have much more experience than the previous generation. But it’s not like there are many prodigies. He (Oro) is special because at the age of 12 he is playing like a seasoned player.”
The biggest news was the marathon battle endured by Praggnanandhaa. One of the most exciting players in the world and the runner-up from the previous edition of the World Cup in 2023, the Indian 20-year-old could not penetrate the defences of Temur Kuybokarov, a player of Uzbek origin who now represents Australia, for a long time. It was only in the penultimate set of tie-breakers that he broke through after having trailed and come close to elimination.
It must have been a crushing outcome for Nihal, who recently crossed the 2700 ELO rating mark to enter the elite league. His opponent, Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis, was rated more than 200 points below him — a significant difference. However, the player from Greece, who eliminated Divya Deshmukh of India in the first round, was in no mood to relent. Nihal had no choice but to leave the playing arena head down, possibly cursing himself. Sadhwani lost to Robert Hovhannisyan representing the USA. The two are closely rated, with Sadhwani slightly higher, though not significantly. World junior champion V Pranav and M Pranesh also made it to the next round.
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