World junior champion Pranav Venkatesh and Karthik Venkatraman’s journey at the ongoing FIDE World Cup in Arpora, Goa ended with defeats in the second games of the fourth round. Both players had drawn their games on Tuesday before defeats on Wednesday. Meanwhile, three Indians–Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa and P Harikrishna–will be back on the board on Thursday to fight it out in the rapid tiebreaks after playing out two draws in the classical games.
An unprecedented 24 Indians had started the tournament, but only three remain in contention to go past the fourth round, which is the halfway mark of the World Cup in Goa. This includes stars like world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, Women’s World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh, Nihal Sarin, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi and Aravindh Chitambaram.
FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 Live Updates, Round 4 Game 2
Pranav Venkatesh was visibly distraught after his defeat to Uzbekistan prodigy Nodirbek Yakubboev in 38 moves with black pieces. Pranav was on pressure on the board after what the engine called an inaccuracy with his queen on move 26 (26… Qf7). But his position got dire after another leap with his queen on move 30 (30…Qxb4).
On move 35, a hop with his knight (35… Ng4), which the engine classified as a blunder, was the final straw in his chances of making it to round 5.
Pranav resigned after three moves.
INTERACTIVE: Pranav V vs Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB)
It was also curtains for Karthik Venkatraman after he was handed a defeat with black pieces by Vietnam’s Le Quang Leim.
INTERACTIVE: Karthik Venkataraman vs Le Quang Leim (VIE)
India results (Round 4, Game 2)
GM Arjun Erigaisi drew with GM Peter Leko (HUN) (1:1 aggregate)
GM Daniil Dubov (FID) drew with GM R Praggnanandhaa (1:1 aggregate)
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GM P Harikrishna drew with GM Nils Grandelius (SWE) (1:1 aggregate)
GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) beat GM Pranav V (1.5:0.5 aggregate)
GM Karthik Venkataraman lost to GM Le Quang Liem (VIE) (0.5:1.5 aggregate)
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