Panaji (Goa), Nov 2 (NationPress) The seasoned Surya Shekhar Ganguly, GM Raunak Sadhwani, and GM Karthik Venkatraman achieved convincing wins, while M. Pranesh secured a draw to progress to the next round. In an exciting turn of events, IM Aronyak Ghosh managed to defeat GM Mateusz Bartel from Poland, resulting in a tie-breaker during the opening round of the FIDE World Cup 2025 held here on Sunday.

The 42-year-old Ganguly, a former assistant to five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand, understood that his rival, Ahmed Ahmadzada of Azerbaijan, needed to take risks to equalize after losing the initial game. The Indian player seized control by launching an attack on his opponent’s kingside, forcing him to resign after just 28 moves. This victory made him the first Indian to advance to the second round, where he will face French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in another two-game match.

Karthik, who had drawn his opening encounter against GM Roberto Garia Pantoja on Saturday, compelled his opponent to resign after 39 moves, setting up a second-round showdown with fellow Indian GM Aravindh Chithambaram VR.

Also moving on to the next round was Sadhwani. The 19-year-old from Nagpur managed to draw his opening match against FM Daniel Barrish from South Africa despite some mistakes. However, on Sunday, he made no errors and clinched victory with the black pieces in 39 moves.

While Ganguly, Sadhwani, and Karthik celebrated their wins, 19-year-old Pranesh opted for caution against Kazakhstan’s Satbek Akhmedinov, resulting in a draw after 36 moves in a rook-pawn endgame.

The FIDE World Cup 2025 is structured as a single-elimination knockout tournament featuring 206 players from 82 nations competing for the prestigious Viswanathan Anand Cup, named in honor of the Indian chess legend.

In another noteworthy match, GM Aronyak Ghosh, who lost the first game playing with black pieces against Bartel, displayed exceptional skill in the middle game and capitalized on his advantage to win in 41 moves, keeping his tournament hopes alive.

Four additional Indian players, Raja Rithvik R, Diptayan Ghosh, Lalit Babu MR, and Narayanan SL, will also pursue the rapid route to advance after their respective games ended in draws. Rithvik was held to a draw by Kazakhstan’s Kazybek Nogerbek in 30 moves, while Diptayan could not overcome China’s GM Peng Xiongjian after 39 moves.

In contrast, wildcard participant Divya Deshmukh saw her journey end in the first round after suffering a 0:2 defeat against Greek GM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis. After losing the initial game with white pieces, the 19-year-old Women’s World Cup champion needed to win on Sunday but fell short in a grueling 73-move match, where her opponent’s extra pawn in the endgame proved decisive.

Indian results (Game 2-Round 1)

GM Pranav V bt Ala Eddine Boulrens (Alg) 2:0; GM Raunak Sadhwani bt FM Daniel Barrish (RSA) 1.5:0.5; M Pranesh bt IM Satbek Akhmedinov (Kaz) 1.5:0.5; GM Karthik Venkataraman bt GM Roberto Garcia Pantoja (Cub) 1.5:0.5; GM Diptayan Ghosh drew with GM Peng Xiongjian (CHN) 1:1; GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly bt GM Ahmad Ahmadzada (AZE) 2:0; GM Iniyan Pa bt GM Dylan Berdayes (Cub) 1.5:0.5; GM Raja Rithvik R drew with Kazybek Nogerbek (Kaz) 1:1; IM Aronyak Ghosh drew with GM Mateusz Bartel (Pol) 1:1; GM Lalit Babu MR drew with GM Max Warmerdam (Ned) 1:1; GM Narayanan SL drew with IM Steven Rojas (Per) 1:1; IM Himal Gusain lost to GM Andy Woodward (USA) bt 0:2; IM Harshavardhan GB lost to GM Mustafa Yilmaz (Tur) 0.5:1.5; IM Neelash Saha lost to GM Georg Meier (Uru) 0.5:1.5; GM Leon Luke Mendonca lost to IM Shixu B Wang (Chn) 0.5:1.5; GM Divya Deshmukh lost to GM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (Gre) 0:2.