Arjun Erigaisi, Harikrishna Advance In World Cup; Praggnanandhaa Exits

Last Updated:November 13, 2025, 20:30 IST

Arjun Erigaisi and P Harikrishna advanced in the World Cup, defeating Peter Leko and Nils Grandelius, while R Praggnanandhaa exited after losing to Daniil Dubov.

R Praggnanandhaa. (Picture credit: X @rpraggnachess)

Grandmasters Arjun Erigaisi and P Harikrishna had a successful day as they defeated veteran Peter Leko of Hungary and Swede Nils Grandelius in the fourth-round tiebreaker on Thursday.

Arjun overcame Leko 3-1 in the first set of the tiebreaker, while Harikrishna drew the first game and won the second, securing a 2.5-1.5 victory that advanced him to the round of 16.

Meanwhile, R Praggnanandhaa couldn’t keep up and lost to Russia’s Daniil Dubov, marking his exit from this year’s World Cup.

Notably, in the 2023 edition, the young Indian had reached the finals before losing to the eventual winner Magnus Carlsen of Norway.

In the next round, Arjun faces a crucial match against the in-form Levon Aronian of the United States. Aronian, a former Armenian player, is the only person in history to have won the World Cup twice and poses a significant challenge.

Germany’s Frederic Svane continued his impressive performance by defeating Shant Sargsyan of Armenia 2.5-1.5. Svane, who had earlier beaten world champion D Gukesh, scored another key victory, keeping his hopes alive for a Candidates berth.

The USD 2 million prize money tournament also witnessed a major upset when Aleksey Grebnev beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France 2.5-1.5. Vachier-Lagrave’s exit potentially paves the way for the remaining two Indian players if they overcome the next hurdle.

Arjun played solidly with the black pieces, capitalising on Leko’s ambitious but flawed complications. After winning a pawn, Arjun easily navigated the ensuing rook and minor piece endgame. Leko lost the second game when he overextended again, allowing Arjun to secure a winning position with a well-placed Nimzo-Indian defence.

Harikrishna once again demonstrated his class. Having won two matches under standard time control, he was pushed to a tiebreaker for the first time in this event but outplayed Grandelius in the rapid section’s second game.

Praggnanandhaa couldn’t turn the complexities in his favour against Dubov, an expert in faster time controls. After drawing the first game, Pragg needed to demonstrate his preparation with the white pieces but fell short on time, losing a pawn and a rook for a minor piece, thus concluding his campaign in the knockout event.

Available results round 4 tiebreak: Arjun Erigaisi beat Peter Leko (Hun) 3-1; P Harikrishna beat Nils Grandelius 2.5-1.5; R Praggnanandhaa lost to Daniil Dubov (Fid) 1.5-2.5; Frederic Svane (Ger) beat Shant Sargysyan (Arm) 2.5-1.5; Matthias Bluebaum (Ger) lost to Alexander Domchenko (Ger) -0.5-1.5; V Pranav lost to Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzb) 0.5-1.5; Andrey Esipenko (Fid) playing Vincent Keymer (Ger) 1-1 goes to tiebreak; Wei Yi (Chn) playing Parham Maghsoodloo (Iri) 1-1; Alexey Sarana (Fid) lost to Jose Eduardo Martinez Alacantra (Mex) 0.5-1.5; Samuel Sevian (Usa) playing Lorenzo Lodici (Ita) 1-1; Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra) lost to Aleksey Grebnev (Fid) 1.5-2.5; Awonder Liang (Usa) lost to Gabriel Sargissian (Arm) 1.5-2.5; Le Quang Liem (Vie) beat V Karthik 1.5-0.5; Sam Shankland (Usa) beat Richard Rapport (Hun) 3-1; Levon Aronian (Usa) beat Radoslav Wojtaszek (Pol) 1.5-0.5; Yu Yangyi (Chn) lost to Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb) 1.5-2.5.

News sports Arjun Erigaisi, Harikrishna Advance In World Cup; Praggnanandhaa Exits

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