Panaji (Goa), Nov 21 (IANS) China’s Grandmaster (GM) Wei Yi and Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Yakubboev could not breach the defences of their respective opponents with white pieces as both their semifinal encounters in the FIDE World Cup 2025 ended in draws in Panaji, Goa, on Friday.

While Nodirbek signed the truce pact with compatriot GM Javokhir Sindarov immediately after the mandatory 30 moves, Wei Yi and GM Andrey Esipenko had their chances but could not convert and ended up splitting the point after 33 moves.

Wei Yi, who had defeated India’s best hope GM Arjun Erigaisi in the quarterfinals, faced a rare variation of the French defence from Esipenko and, just like in the quarterfinals, had some early advantage.

But to Esipenko’s credit, the Russian-born Grandmaster equalled the position quite well, and it looked like the Chinese was coming under some time pressure.

However, Wei managed to set up a three-pronged attack with a rook, bishop, and queen, only for Esipenko to respond with a perfect defensive move to take the game towards a pawn endgame, when the two players agreed to draw.

Earlier, India’s challenge in the FIDE World Cup 2025 came to an end on Wednesday after GM Arjun Erigaisi went down against China’s GM Wei Yi in the quarterfinal tiebreak. Other top players like R. Praggnanannadhaa and P Harikrishna lost in the previous round.

Arjun Erigaisi was the only Indian left in the fray at the quarterfinal stage, and after drawing both the classical games, the tiebreak was always going to be a tricky contest.

The 22-year-old from Warangal went for the French defense in the first tiebreak game with black, and it looked like the Indian was in trouble in the middle game. But Wei’s error on the 27th move, choosing a rather safe move, allowed Arjun to mount a comeback and ensured that the game ended in a draw after 66 moves.

Result:

GM Wei Yi (CHN) drew with GM Andrey Esipenko (FIDE) 0.5:0.5

GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) vs GM Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) 0.5:0.5

–IANS

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