 "Arjun Erigaisi’s missed knockout blow came back to haunt him at FIDE World Cup, feels Wei Yi")
Chinese Grandmaster Wei Yi feels that Arjun Erigaisi’s failure to recover from missing a golden opportunity in Round 2 of the FIDE World Cup 2025 quarter-finals could have led to his elimination from the tournament. The India No 1 Erigaisi was knocked out of the FIDE World Cup 2025 in Goa on Wednesday after losing to Wei Yi in the Rapid tie-breaks.
The two Classical matches between Arjun Erigaisi, the highest-rated player in the FIDE World Cup quarter-finals, and Wei Yi had ended in draws.
Arjun Erigaisi suffers tie-break heartbreak
On Wednesday, Erigaisi started with Black pieces in the tie-breaks and showed tremendous fighting spirit to secure a draw in the first Rapid game from a losing position with Black pieces. But the 22-year-old Indian chess prodigy from Warangal failed to stamp his authority with the White pieces as he suffered a decisive loss to Wei Yi in 79 moves.
Erigaisi’s elimination also ended India’s campaign at a home World Cup, with world champion D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa getting eliminated in earlier rounds.
🇨🇳 Wei Yi reaches the semifinals after a 2.5–1.5 victory over Arjun Erigaisi 🇮🇳#FIDEWorldCup #Goa pic.twitter.com/8mlKjxVYDe
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) November 19, 2025
Arjun had a big chance to reach the semi-finals on Tuesday in the second Classical game while playing with White pieces. A victory in that game would have allowed the Indian Grandmaster to avoid the tie-breaks, but as we analysed here, Erigaisi failed to find the winning 24.Bxd5 move after Wei Yi committed a blunder. He soon settled for a draw, hoping to clinch the match in tie-breaks.
Arjun pays the price for past mistake
After winning the highest-rated matchup in the quarter-finals, Wei Yi was asked if the blunder from Round 2 was still playing on Erigaisi’s mind. He admitted that Erigaisi found it tough to recover from his previous blunder.
“After yesterday, I thought, if I lost then I have no chance, so today it’s my real chance, so I will try my best and also maybe he felt upset after yesterday,” Yi said in an interview with FIDE.
Analysing the tie-breaks, Wei Yi said: “I missed all the chances (of winning). I was upset. But then I tried to adjust my mentality and in the second game, luckily, it worked.”
Yi also praised Arjun, underlining the magnitude of his victory.
“When you play a player like Arjun, you cannot think you are better. He is a top player and in every time control, he is very good,” said the Chinese GM.
With his defeat to Wei Yi, Arjun has once missed out on qualifying for the FIDE Candidates.
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