 "Arjun Erigaisi will need to win the tie-breaks against Wei Yi to reach the FIDE World Cup 2025 semi-finals. Image: FIDE")
Arjun Erigaisi entered the do-or-die territory at the FIDE World Cup 2025 on Tuesday after missing out on a golden chance against Chinese Grandmaster Wei Yi in the second round of the quarter-finals. After settling for a quick draw in Game 1 of the quarter-finals , the lone Indian left in the tournament, Erigaisi, had a golden opportunity to beat Wei Yi with white pieces in the final Classical game of the last eight round, but the 22-year-old failed to stamp his authority.
Erigaisi will now have to depend on the unpredictable Rapid and Blitz tie-breaks to qualify for the semi-finals. A FIDE Candidates 2026 spot is at stake in the World Cup, and the Indian chess star would rue the day if he fails to reach the semi-finals. Besides the two finalists, the third-place winner would also qualify for the Candidates, which would decide the next World Chess Championship challenger for the match against D Gukesh.
Arjun Erigaisi squanders golden chance in FIDE World Cup quarters
Starting with the stronger white pieces, Erigaisi opted for a Queen’s Pawn opening before the 26-year-old Wei Yi turned the game into a Queen’s Gambit Declined. However, things seem to be moving in Erigaisi’s direction as after 10 moves – 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nc3 c6 6. Bf4 Bf5 7. Nh4 Nh5 8. Nxf5 Nxf4 9. g3 Ne6 10. e3 Nd7 – he created an opening position which he had experienced before as well.
He had the same position but with Black pieces against Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana in separate games in 2023. But on the 11th move, the Indian decided to deviate, playing 11.Qb3N. The deviation only further strengthened his hold on the match as Wei Yi made what looked like a decisive mistake on the 21st move, playing 21…Nd7?.
Chess.com’s engine said that 21…Nh5 was the best move to make, but 21…Nd7? could lead to a defeat for Wei Yi. Arjun, however, could not capitalise on the error as he missed the big chance with 24.Qd2 when 24.Bxd5 was the best option.
As a result, the game became dead and both players settled for a draw after 32 moves.
How Arjun lost his winning chance vs Wei Yi:
Arjun will now return on Wednesday with the hope of winning the tie-breaks and qualifying for the semis. A defeat would lead to elimination. The quarter-final tiebreaks would start from 3 PM IST.