GM Pranav V, Ganguly, and Pranesh start FIDE World Cup 2025 campaign with wins

GM Pranav V, GM Pranesh M, and GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly began their FIDE World Cup 2025 campaigns with comfortable wins, while Divya Deshmukh’s spirited fight fell short against GM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis. Local favorite Mendonca also drew his match

Hyderabad: World Junior Champion GM Pranav V, GM Pranesh M, and the experienced GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly began their FIDE World Cup 2025 campaign with comfortable victories, while Women’s World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh’s spirited fight wasn’t enough to salvage a draw in the first match of the opening round in Arpora on Saturday.

Local favorite Leon Luke Mendonca was unable to convert his chances and settled for a draw against China’s Shixu B. Wang after 50 moves.

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Pranav, the highest-ranked Indian player in action on day 1 of the competition, defeated IM Ala Eddine Boulrens of Algeria. Ganguly controlled the middle game against GM Ahmad Ahmadzada of Azerbaijan to eke out a hard-fought win, while Pranesh defeated IM Satbek Akhmedinov of Kazakhstan in 48 moves.

In their respective games, Pranav faced the Slav Defense and maintained control throughout to clinch the point. Ganguly opted for a Ruy Lopez against Ahmadzada and wrapped up the point in just 37 moves.

The FIDE World Cup 2025 is being played as a single-elimination knockout tournament, with 206 players from 82 countries vying for the coveted Viswanathan Anand Cup, named after the Indian legend.

With the top 50 players in the competition receiving a bye in the opening round, all eyes were on the next group of Indian players, particularly Divya, the only woman in the fray, and whether she could spring a surprise against the higher-rated GM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis.

Divya came under pressure as Stamatis outplayed her in the midgame, and after she blundered with a pawn exchange on the 17th move, salvaging half a point became a difficult task.

To her credit, the 19-year-old didn’t give up and forced a rook-pawn ending despite time pressure. However, Stamatis always retained the upper hand with an advancing pawn on the b-file and ultimately forced the Indian player to resign after 41 moves.

While Divya succumbed, GM Raunak Sadhwani survived a mistake against South African FM Daniel Barrish and settled for a draw in 56 moves.

Among the foreign stars in the competition, Argentina’s Faustino Oro, the youngest player in Goa, held Brkic Ante with black pieces, while Turkey’s rising star GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus showed his brilliance by taking control of his opening match against Nagi Abugenda as early as the 10th move and then forcing him to resign seven moves later.