Grandmasters Arjun Erigaisi, Karthik Venkataraman, and P. Harikrishna split points with the black pieces, while R. Praggnanandhaa survived a scare with white against GM Daniil Dubov in the first game of Round 4 of 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 Vietnamese GM Le Quang Liem 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 the black pieces.
The 46-year-old Leko, playing in an individual event after a six-year gap, chose not to take any risks with Arjun’s rook controlling the ‘a’ file. He opted for a draw by repetition and will now have to play with black to continue his impressive run in the competition, while the Indian is likely to go all out for a win to advance to the pre-quarterfinals.
“It was a very interesting game. Arjun came up with a big surprise. I knew the lines, but I had not analysed them deeply. So, being too low on the clock, I decided to draw by repetition,” said Leko, adding that he enjoys playing with black and will try his best to win.
On one of the top boards, Praggnanandhaa made an error by pushing his d-pawn on the 14th move and came under time pressure until Dubov failed to find a move that could have given him a winning advantage. Both players had to play quickly to meet the time control before they finally agreed to a draw after 41 moves.
India results (Round 4, Game 1):
GM Peter Leko (HUN) drew with GM Arjun Erigaisi 0.5–0.5
GM R. Praggnanandhaa drew with GM Daniil Dubov (FID) 0.5–0.5
GM Nils Grandelius (SWE) drew with GM P. Harikrishna 0.5–0.5
GM Le Quang Liem (VIE) drew with GM Karthik Venkataraman 0.5–0.5
–IANS