FIDE World Cup 2025: Pragg survives a scare

Panaji

Grandmaster (GM) Arjun Erigaisi, GM Karthik Venkataraman, and GM P. Harikrishna split points with black pieces while R. Praggnanandhaa survived a scare with white against GM Daniil Dubov in the first game of Round 4 in the FIDE World Cup 2025 in Panaji, Goa, on Tuesday.

Second seed Arjun Erigaisi, playing black, earned a quick 20-move draw against experienced Hungarian GM Peter Leko, while Harikrishna held Swedish GM Nils Grandelius in 32 moves and Karthik drew with GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam in 36 moves. In other matches, two-time World Cup winner GM Levon Aronian defeated GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek in 37 moves with white, while GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara outplayed GM Alexey Sarana in 39 moves with black pieces.

On one of the top boards, Praggnanandhaa made an error by pushing his d-pawn on the 14th move and was under time pressure till Dubov failed to find a move that could have given him a winning advantage, as both players needed to play quickly to meet time control before they finally shook hands for a draw after 41 moves.