Arjun keeps Indian flag flying high in FIDE World Cup, plays out fast-paced draw against Wei in Game 1 of quarters

Arjun Erigaisi played out a quickfire draw against Wei Yi as he kept the Indian flag flying high at the FIDE World Cup in Goa on Monday. Arjun and Wei, who are the Indian No 1 and the Chinese No 1 respectively, achieved a draw via repetition in just 31 moves in the first Classical game of their quarter-final meeting at Resort Rio in Arpora, Goa on Monday.

Game 1 of their quarter-final meeting, which began with a Ruy Lopez Opening, concluded inside just under the hour mark, with Arjun having an hour and 35 minutes left on the clock – more than what he had started with.

The two also unleashed a flurry of exchanges in the middle game – losing a rook, a knight and their queens in quick succession in this period – and were left with a rook each towards the end. Both Arjun and Wei played with high accuracy (99 and 99.5 per cent respectively), and are expected to produce another tense battle in the second Classical game that takes place on Tuesday.

Arjun a couple of wins away from a place in the Candidates

Arjun is the lone Indian remaining in the World Cup – which is the biggest event taking place on Indian soil since the 2022 Olympiad in Chennai. He had defeated veteran American GM Levon Aronian 1.5-0.5 in the fifth round , in which GM Pentala Harikrishna was eliminated by Mexico’s Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara in the tie-breaks.

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The 22-year-old will be hoping to not only progress into the semi-finals with a victory over Wei, whether in the second Classical game on Tuesday or in the tie-breaks on the following day, he will be hoping to secure his place in next year’s Candidates with a top-three finish in the World Cup.

Two other quarter-final meetings also witnessed draws on Monday, with Alcantara and USA’s Sam Shankland shaking hands with Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov and Russia’s Andrey Esipenko respectively.

The only game that ended in a decisive result was between Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Yakubboev and Germany’s Alexander Donchenko in which the former won in 44 moves while playing as white.