Panaji (Goa), Nov 7 (IANS) GM Arjun Erigaisi and P Harikrishna came up with near-perfect play with white, while world champion Gukesh D played out a draw with black pieces in the opening game of Round 3 in the FIDE World Cup 2025 here in Panaji on Friday.

Arjun, the highest-ranked Indian in the fray, defeated Uzbekistan’s Shamsiddin Vokhidov in 30 moves, while Harikrishna once again showed his command of preparation to beat GM Daniel Dardha of Belgium in 25 moves to put themselves in the driver’s seat to reach the fourth round.

A total of 10 Indians have made it to the third round of the FIDE World Cup 2025, which is being played as a single-elimination knock-out tournament with 206 players from 82 countries vying for the coveted Viswanathan Anand Cup, named after the Indian legend.

Arjun and Harikrishna once again showed why they are among the favourites to win the title.

Arjun, who had won both his matches in the second round after getting a bye in the first, never looked in any trouble against Vokhidov and the only time he pondered over his move for more than 10 minutes was when he was on the verge of winning and was looking at ways to finish it quickly and make it three wins in three games in the competition.

A few minutes earlier, Harikrishna had become the first player to register a win in the third round. The 39-year-old caught his opponent by surprise in a Sicilian Classical variation and forced him to resign very quickly.

“I had prepared something new. Of course, there was help for me, but I could not recall all the moves in this variation. But there were some nice tricks that happened and some moves my opponent missed. Basically, he didn’t realise the danger properly in the game,” said Harikrishna after the match.

Among the other Indians in the fray, world champion Gukesh D., R. Praggnanandhaa, and Vidit Gujrathi played out draws with black pieces and will now have a chance to go for a win with white to reach the next round.

Indian Results (Round 3, Game 1):

GM Frederik Svane (GER) drew with GM Gukesh D 0.5-0.5; GM Arjun Erigaisi bt GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB) 1-0; GM Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM) drew with GM R Praggnanandhaa 0.5-0.5; GM Sam Shankland (USA) drew with GM Vidit Gujrathi 0.5-0.5; GM P Harikrishna bt GM Daniel Dardha (BEL) 1-0

–IANS

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