- By Gurmeet Batra
- Sat, 08 Nov 2025 10:32 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Chess World Cup: World champion D Gukesh faced a surprising upset, bowing out of the Chess World Cup in the third round to Germany's Frederik Svane, while compatriots Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa progressed to the last-32 stage on Saturday.
Gukesh's World Cup campaign was curtailed in the second game of the third round as Svane's strategic prowess proved too seasoned for the youngster.
It was an Italian opening wherein Gukesh went wrong in assuming the place when it was just about similar. With the world champion landing in a worse knight-and-pawns endgame, it meant that only the black pieces had a chance and Svane made history by showcasing his immaculate skills in the endgame.
Erigaisi and Praggnanandhaa guided the early rounds with alleviation, securing their places in the last-32 stage with convincing wins over Shamsiddin Vokhidov of Uzbekistan and Robert Hovhannisyan of Armenia, respectively.
A draw was sufficient for Erigaisi to secure a place in the next round, while Praggnanandhaa played a good game to succeed after he had drawn the opener on Friday.
Grandmasters P Harikrishna and V Pranav also made it to the last-32 stage, destroying Daniel Dardha of Belgium and Titas Stremavicius of Lithuania by identical 1.5-0.5 margins.
Having shown sublime form so far, Harikrishna was the first Indian to secure a seat as Dardha accomplished nothing with the white pieces.
Diptayan Ghosh went out of contention after failing his way against Armenian Gabriel Sargissian. After getting an effortless draw with white pieces in the first game, Diptayan, who had expelled Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia in the previous round, just could not find his tempo in the second game and lost 0.5-1.5.
(With PTI Inputs)