GM Narayanan SL and GM Diptayan Ghosh won both their rapid games to secure their spots in the second round of the FIDE World Cup 2025, while Aronyak Ghosh joined them with a clinical performance in the second stage of the round one tiebreaks here on Monday.
Playing with black pieces in the first game, Narayanan put himself in the driver’s seat by beating IM Steven Rojas of Peru in 52 moves, and then wrapped up the match with white, winning in just 22 moves.
On the adjoining board, Diptayan Ghosh ground out a win in 70 moves in the first game against GM Peng Xiongjian of China, thanks to his two advancing pawns positioned perfectly to revive his queen. He then won the next in 46 moves as his opponent pressed hard, setting up a second-round clash against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi.
Speaking about his victory, Narayanan said, “I thought I was a favourite in the tiebreak. In the shorter format, I am pretty strong. It’s not my words, but in general. When I feel down or something, I go to ChatGPT and check who is the stronger player in tiebreaks, and this time also, according to ChatGPT, I was the favourite. My opponent played extremely well in the two classical games, and I was unsure what to expect.”
“But I pushed to win with black, and then I was confident with white,” added Narayanan, who will now face GM Nikita Vitiugov of England in the next round.
The FIDE World Cup 2025 is a single-elimination knockout tournament featuring 206 players from 82 countries, competing for the coveted Viswanathan Anand Cup, named after the Indian legend.
Six Indians – Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Pranav V, Raunak Sadhwani, Pranesh M, Karthik Venkatraman, and Iniyan Pa – had already booked their second-round spots on Sunday. They will join eight others who received a bye in the first round by virtue of being among the top 50 ranked players in the competition.
India is already assured of one spot in the third round, as Karthik will face GM Aravindh Chithambaram in the second round on Tuesday.
On Monday, Indian players put their best foot forward in the first game of the tiebreaks, with Aronyak Ghosh, Diptayan Ghosh, and Lalith Babu MR winning their respective matches with white, while Narayanan SL won with black.
Aronyak, who had registered an upset win over Polish GM Mateusz Bartel in the second classical game on Sunday to stay alive in the match, pinned his opponent’s queen and king to a corner and forced a resignation after just 19 moves.
Rithvik was the only Indian player to lose the opening game of the tiebreak, but he made amends by beating Kazybek Nogerbek of Kazakhstan with black pieces in 52 moves to stay in contention, while Aronyak suffered a reversal in the second game.
In the second stage of rapid games, Aronyak played white and won the first game in 54 moves, then capitalised on Bartel’s errors to win the second in just 20 moves to advance to the next round. He will now face GM Levon Aronian of the USA.
—IANS