World Chess Cup: Grandmaster Diptayan Ghosh ousts Ian Nepomniachtchi

NEW DELHI: Grandmaster Diptayan Ghosh pulled off the biggest upset of the World Chess Cup, stunning former world championship challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia with a brilliant win in the second game of their second-round clash on Wednesday.In a completely one-sided encounter, Ghosh gave Nepomniachtchi no room to recover. Playing with the black pieces, the Indian grandmaster capitalized on his opponent’s uncharacteristically erratic play and took control early in the middlegame.

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The opening led to a complex position, but Nepomniachtchi blundered a simple tactic, losing a pawn — an error that proved decisive. Ghosh seized the opportunity, simplifying into a rook-and-pawn endgame, where his technique and precision shone through.

The Russian had no counterplay as Ghosh methodically converted his advantage into a memorable victory.“This is certainly the biggest victory of my chess career, beating Nepo in a match,” Ghosh said after his win.Earlier, Grandmaster P Harikrishna became the first Indian to enter the third round, outclassing Russian Arseniy Nesterov, while world junior champion V Pranav faltered against Aryan Tari of Norway.Pranav, who had taken the lead with black in the first game, squandered his advantage in the return leg.

His defeat means the two will now face each other in the tiebreaks to decide who advances.Top-seeded Indian Arjun Erigaisi also progressed to the last 64 after another commanding performance, beating Martin Petrov of Bulgaria for his second consecutive victory. Arjun dominated right from the opening as Petrov burned through his clock trying to complicate the position. In the endgame, a single pawn loss sealed Petrov’s fate as Arjun wrapped up the win confidently.World Champion D Gukesh too advanced smoothly, defeating Nogerbek Kazybek of Kazakhstan with the black pieces. After drawing the first game, Gukesh played a clinical positional battle, steadily increasing his advantage before forcing resignation in the endgame.Meanwhile, R Praggnanandhaa will return for tiebreaks after drawing both his games against Temur Kuybokarov of Australia. Playing the Pirc Defence as black in the second game, Pragg pressed for a win but Kuybokarov held firm until a draw was agreed after 46 moves.Among other Indians, Surya Shekhar Ganguly and Aronyak Ghosh bowed out of the tournament, losing 0.5–1.5 to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian respectively.INDIAN RESULTS ROUND 2 GAME 2:Nogerbek Kazybek (Kaz) lost to D Gukesh 0.5-1.5; Arjun Erigaisi beat Martin Petrov (Bul) 2-0; Temur Kuybokarov (Aus) drew with R Praggnanandhaa 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Surya Shekhar Ganguly drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra) 0.5-1.5; Ian Nepomniachtchi (Fid) lost to Diptayan Ghosh 0.5-1.5; Aronyak Ghosh drew with Levon Aronian (Usa) 0.5-1.5; Oro Faustino (Arg) drew with Vidit Santosh Gujrathi 1-1 goes to tiebreak; Aravindh Chithambaram Karthik Venkataraman; Nihal Sarin Kourkoulos-Arditis Stamatis (Gre); P Harikrishna beat Arseniy Nesterov (Fid) 1.5-0.5; Pa Iniyan Nguyen Thai Dai Van (Cze); Murali Karthikeyan drew with Idani Pouya (Iri) 1-1 goes to tiebreak; Nikita Vituigov (Eng) drew with S L Narayanan 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Dmitrij Kollars (Ger) M Pranesh; V Pranav lost to Aryan Tari (Nor) 1-1 goes to tiebreak; Raunak Sadhwani drew with Robert Hovhannisyan (Arm) 1-1 goes to tiebreak.