Panaji: Grandmasters Arjun Erigaisi and P Harikrishna had another good day as they sent veteran Peter Leko of Hungary and Swede Nils Grandelius packing in the fourth-round tiebreaker here Thursday.
Arjun dumped Leko 3-1 in the first set of tiebreaker itself while Harikrishna drew the first and then won the second for an overall 2.5-1.5 victory that took him to round of 16.
R Praggnanandhaa meanwhile could not maintain the parity and lost to Daniil Dubov of Russia to mark his exit from this year’s WC. It may be recalled that in the previous edition held in 2023, the young Indian had made it all the way to the finals before losing to eventual winner Magnus Carlsen of Norway. For Arjun the next round will be crucial as he will take on in-form Levon Aronian of United States. Aronian has been peaking at the right time and could be a tough opponent for anyone in the event. The former Armenian is the only player in his tory to have won the World Cup twice.
German Frederic Svane meanwhile continued with his brilliant run and ousted Shant Sargsyan of Armenia 2.5-1.5.
Svane who had earlier defeated world champion D Gukesh in the tournament did not disappoint his fans and scored another important victory to be in contention for a berth in the Candidates.
The USD 2 million prize money tournament also saw a big upset when Aleksey Grebnev defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France 2.5-1.5. The exit of Vachier-Lagrave also means that the road ahead could be easier for the last two remaining Indians if they cross the next hurdle. agencies