• Source:JND
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FIDE World Cup 2025: India's journey in the FIDE World Cup 2025 ended in the quarterfinal stage on Wednesday as GM Arjun Erigaisi fell to China’s GM Wei Yi in the tiebreak round. After the ouster of all other Indian candidates, Arjun remained the sole Indian Chess player at the quarterfinal stage. The tiebreak was bound to be challenging with both classical games ending in draws.

The Warangal-born Grandmaster opted for the French defense in the first tiebreak game with black pieces, and it seemed like he was in a precarious position during the middle game. However, Wei's mistake on the 27th move, as he opted for a relatively safe play, enabled Arjun to stage a comeback, leading to a draw after 66 moves.

However, the Chinese stuck to his plan and had grabbed a winning advantage by move 28. Knowing that it was a fight for survival, Arjun continued to toil but Wei ultimately ended India’s hopes after 79 moves as he promoted his C pawn to become a queen and forced Arjun to resign.

“I am happy and excited that I could beat such a strong structure. In the first game, I had many chances in the middle and end game but I couldn’t find the way. In the second game, he wanted to win and played some risky moves and I realised I had chances to win,” said Wei after the match.

In the other tiebreaks, GM Andrey Esipenko defeated GM Sam Shankland in the second stage of the tiebreak to advance to the semifinals. Esipenko and Shankland had won a game each in the first set of rapid games.

But in the second set, Esipenko first defeated Shankland with black and then drove home the advantage to win against with white to set up a semifinal clash against Wei Yi. GM Javokhir Sindarov clinched the final semifinal spot after overcoming Martinez Alcantara Jose Eduardo in the second set of tiebreaks.

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