World Champion D Gukesh Makes Shocking Exit From Chess World Cup 2025, R Praggnanandhaa Advances To 4th Round

GM R Praggnanandhaa capitalised on a slight edge in the middle game to defeat Armenia’s GM Robert Hovhannisyan, securing his spot in the fourth round of the FIDE World Cup 2025. He was one of four Indian players to advance, while reigning World Champion Gukesh D suffered an unexpected exit.

R Praggnanandhaa Advances To Next Round

After encountering a lengthy tiebreak in the previous round and drawing the first game with black, the 20-year-old faced a challenging position as Hovhannisyan appeared to neutralise his early advantage. However, the 3rd-highest-ranked Indian maintained a focused strategy and seized control by move 27, using his queen and rook to exert pressure on the black king. The game concluded with Hovhannisyan’s resignation on move 42.

Ten Indian players have reached the third round of the prestigious tournament, which is being held in a single-elimination format with 206 participants from 82 nations competing for the Viswanathan Anand Cup, named in honour of the Indian chess legend.

World Champion D Gukesh Makes A Shocking Exit

Harikrishna, who had won the first game with white, was the first Indian to advance to the next round after he played out a quick draw against Belgium’s GM Daniel Dardha and was soon joined by GM Arjun Erigaisi and World Junior Champion GM Pranav V, who also did not take risks with black pieces and split the point.

Anish Giri, the highest-seeded foreign player in the competition, was knocked out after he lost the second game against GM Alexander Donchenko with black pieces in 47 moves.

World champion Gukesh D lost his third-round match against Frederik Svane. Having drawn the first game with black pieces, the Indian went for a win in the second, but Svane not only managed to wriggle out of time pressure but also forced Gukesh to resign in a knight-pawn ending.

Also Read: FIDE Chess World Cup 2025: Schedule, Timings, Live Streaming, And Here's All You Need To Know

Arjun will now face Hungarian GM Peter Leko, who defeated GM Kirill Alekseenko in both games of Round 3. Meanwhile, GM Vidit Gujrathi, Karthik Venkataraman and GM Narayanan S will now have to play the tiebreak on Sunday after they draw both the games in this round.

Also Read: FIDE Honours Viswanathan Anand, Chess World Cup Trophy Named After Legendary Indian Chess Player