Indian grandmasters advance to second round of FIDE World Cup 2025

India’s grandmasters Ganguly, Sadhwani, and Venkatraman scored comfortable victories in the FIDE World Cup 2025, advancing to the second round. Aronyak Ghosh won his tie-breaker, while Pranesh settled for a draw. Divya Deshmukh’s campaign ended after a loss

Hyderabad: Experienced Grandmasters Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Raunak Sadhwani, and Karthik Venkatraman scored comfortable victories, while M. Pranesh played out a draw to advance to the second round of the FIDE World Cup 2025 in Panaji on Sunday. Meanwhile, IM Aronyak Ghosh defeated Poland’s GM Mateusz Bartel, forcing a tie-breaker.

The 42-year-old Ganguly, playing from behind, knew that his opponent, Ahmadzada, had to take risks to level the match after losing the opening game. Ganguly capitalized on this by launching an attack on his opponent’s kingside, forcing Ahmadzada to resign after just 28 moves. This victory made Ganguly the first Indian to advance to the second round, where he will face French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

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Karthik Venkatraman, who had drawn his opening game against GM Roberto Garia Pantoja on Saturday, forced his opponent to resign after 39 moves, setting up a second-round clash against compatriot GM Aravindh Chithambaram VR.

Also advancing to the next round was Raunak Sadhwani, the 19-year-old from Nagpur. After a draw in the opening game against FM Daniel Barrish of South Africa, Sadhwani played a flawless game on Sunday, clinching victory with black pieces in 39 moves.

While Ganguly, Sadhwani, and Karthik advanced, 19-year-old M. Pranesh did not take any risks against Kazakhstan’s Satbek Akhmedinov, opting for a draw after 36 moves in a rook-pawn endgame.

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

In another exciting match, GM Aronyak Ghosh, who had lost the first game with black pieces against Bartel, turned the tables with a solid middle game performance. Ghosh seized the initiative and won the second game in 41 moves, keeping his campaign alive.

Four other Indian players—Raja Rithvik R, Diptayan Ghosh, Lalit Babu MR, and Narayanan SL—will now take the rapid route to the next round after drawing their respective games. Rithvik was held to a draw by Kazakhstan’s Kazybek Nogerbek in 30 moves, while Diptayan Ghosh, playing with white, couldn’t break through China’s GM Peng Xiongjian after 39 moves.

Unfortunately, wild card entrant Divya Deshmukh’s campaign ended in the first round. She lost 0-2 against Greek GM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis. Having lost the opening game with white, the 19-year-old Women’s World Cup champion needed a win on Sunday to stay alive. Deshmukh fought valiantly but was ultimately defeated in a marathon 73-move game, with her opponent’s extra pawn in the endgame proving decisive.