The FIDE Chess World Cup 2025’s second round begins on Tuesday at the Resort Rio Convention Centre in Goa, featuring 17 Indian players among the competitors. In the opening round, the top fifty-seeded players, including eight from India, were granted byes. Notably, the second round marks the return of the top seed and reigning World Champion D. Gukesh, along with India No. 1 Arjun Erigaisi and third seed R. Praggnanandhaa.
A total of 24 Indian players participated in a field of 206 competitors, with the top 50 seeds receiving byes in the opening round. Sixteen Indians competed, but after the first round, only 17 remain in contention for the title, following the elimination of seven players. Notably, reigning Women’s World Cup champion Divya Deshmukh, the only female wildcard, was among those eliminated, along with Neelash Saha, Luke Leon Mendonca, Himal Gusain, and Harshavardhan GB, after the two classical games.
Two more Indian players, Lalit Babu MR and Raja Rithvik R, were eliminated during the tiebreaks, raising the total number of eliminations to seven. Meanwhile, seven Indian players, including prominent names such as Pranav V, Surya Shekhar Ganguly, and Pranesh M, advanced directly to Round 2 after winning their matches in the classical games, thus avoiding the tiebreaks.
The three top Indian chess players, Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, and Praggnanandhaa, have nearly the same amount of time remaining on their clocks, each with just under an hour left. The time control for the match is set at 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, after which an additional 30 minutes will be allotted.
International master Aronyak Ghosh triumphantly defeated Mateusz Bartel in a grueling six-game match on Monday, securing his position as one of the 17 Indian players advancing to the second round of the FIDE World Cup
The contest featured two classical games, two games with 15 minutes on the clock, and two games with 10 minutes. Notably, the Indian IM’s victory over Bartel led to a matchup against Levon Aronian. Another key outcome was IM Faustino Oro triumphing over Croatian grandmaster Ante Brkic after a lengthy eight-game battle. Oro will now face India’s Vidit Gujrathi in the second round.
