World Cup 2025 R4.1: Jose Martinez outplays Sarana, Praggnanandhaa makes a narrow escape against Dubov
All five Indians drew the first game of the fourth round of FIDE World Cup 2025. R Praggnanandhaa is still struggling to find his footing at his event. After a questionable choice of opening against a creative player like, Daniil Dubov, Praggnanandhaa landed himself in trouble out of the opening. Somehow he managed to escape with a draw when the former World Rapid champion traded queens when he missed a winning tactic. Arjun Erigaisi made the fastest draw of the round in just 20 moves against Peter Leko (HUN) and the game lasting barely an hour. Pranav Venkatesh, Pentala Harikrishna and Karthik Venkataraman played solid draws. Round 4 Game 2 starts tomorrow at 3 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed
Five draws by five Indians
Only one Indian player, out of the three, survived the tie-breaks. He is the two-time National champion, GM Karthik Venkataraman. Karthik qualified for the FIDE World Cup on both occassion by winning the National championship. His previous appearance was in 2023 where he got eliminated by Hikaru Nakamura (USA) in Round 2 after a valiant effort. This time, he has advanced to the fourth without having a coach, trainer or a second. You can visit the venue and watch the games live in person. Check the buy tickets link at the end of the article for all details.
Leko - Arjun: 0.5-0.5
GM Peter Leko (HUN, 2660) and GM Arjun Erigaisi (2769) signed a quick draw in 20 moves.
Praggnanandhaa - Dubov: 0.5-0.5
GM R Praggnanandhaa (2768) got himself in trouble right out of the opening against GM Daniil Dubov (2674). He played into Dubov's hands but somehow managed to avert any kind of disaster.
Computer recommends 17...e3 to be the best choice for Black 18.Rxe3 Ne7. However, Dubov opted for 17...Nf6 18.Bc2 Bg3 19.Re2 e3 20.Ndf1 Bxh2+ 21.Nxh2 f4 22.Qd3 Ne7 soon Black got a firm grip on the position.
There was a nice tactic White needed to find to equalize 29.Be7! Qxe7 30.Qe4 Qe6 31.Qxa8 and White is in the game. Instead, the game continued 29.Rd1 Ng3 30.Ree1 Bf5 31.Qc3
31...Nh4 32.Bxf5 Ngxf5 would have been a better choice for Black. Instead, 31...Bxc2 32.Qxc2 Qe8 33.Bb2 Rd8 the game ended in a draw in the next few moves after the queens got traded.
Before the game ended in a draw, Dubov missed a nice tactic 39...Nf5-+ 40.Rxf4 Rxg2+ 41.Kxg2 Qg6+ 42.Kh2 Qg3+ 43.Kh1 Qxf4 and Black would have won.
Pranav - Yakubboev: 0.5-0.5
GM Pranav Venkatesh (2641) faced GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB, 2689) twice in Classical rated games. Pranav won the first encounter last year and their recent battle at Grand Swiss two months ago ended in a draw. This time, it was a well contested draw.
Sarana - Jose Martinez: 0-1
GM Alexey Sarana (SRB, 2675) and GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara (MEX, 2644) followed a game between GM Aditya Mittal and GM Samuel Shankland (USA) which took place at Fujairah Open, few months ago. Despite having a bishop pair and semi-open position, the Serbia no.1 could not capitalize on it. Instead, the Mexico no.1's knights became menacing.
The counter-intuitive 31.gxf4 is what actually would have kept White afloat. Instead, 31.Rc3? e4 32.Bg4 Rd3 33.Rc2 Ne5-+ 34.Bf5 Ndf3 35.Bxe4 Nxg1 36.Bxd3 Ngf3 37.Bc3 Rxd3 38.b4 Nd4 39.Bxd4 f3+ and Black won.
Grandelius - Harikrishna: 0.5-0.5
GM Nils Grandelius (SWE, 2661) played a solid draw against his Novy Bor teammate, GM Pentala Harikrishna (2690).
Awonder - Gabriel
GM Awonder Liang (USA, 2701) had a substantial advantage at one point 37.Qf6 Kd7 38.g5 would have been winning for White. Instead, 37.Qh6 was played. The difference is neither obvious nor easy to find. White's advantage dissipated and the game eventually ended in a draw.
Liem - Karthik: 0.5-0.5
GM Karthik Venkataraman (2576) played a solid draw against World Blitz 2013 champion, GM Liem Quang Le (VIE, 2729).
Aronian - Wojtaszek: 1-0
GM Levon Aronian (USA, 2728) and GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (POL, 2660) played six Classical rated games each other - five of them ended in draws and Aronian won the sole one nearly a decade ago. Aronian played 3.a3, a sideline in the Vienna Game.
In a difficult endgame, Wojtaszek misplayed 29...Kg6? 30.d5 c6 31.Bc5 Bd8 32.d6 Kf5 33.Ba7 Ke6 34.c5 f5 35.Bb6 Bf6 36.Nb4 Bxb2 37.a4 it's over as a6-drops and the a-pawn will become unstoppable.
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Round 4.1 results
GM Peter Leko (HUN) - GM Arjun Erigaisi : 0.5-0.5
GM R Praggnanandhaa - GM Daniil Dubov : 0.5-0.5
GM Pranav Venkatesh - GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) : 0.5-0.5
GM Nils Grandelius (SWE) - GM Pentala Harikrishna : 0.5-0.5
GM Liem Quang Le (VIE) - GM Karthik Venkataraman : 0.5-0.5
